Featured Author: Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor was born in the United States to two Igbo (Nigerian) immigrant parents.  Okorafor lists her greatest influences as Octavia Butler, Stephen King, Philip Pullman, Tove Jansson, Hayao Miyazaki, and Ngugi wa Thiong'o, but Nigeria is her muse, "where many of her stories take place, either literally or figuratively".  Okorafor's writings are also filled with flora and fauna, since, as a youth, she thought she might become an entomologist. She has won the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature and the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and been nominated for many other awards and commendations, including the Andre Norton Award and the Nebula Award. Ursula K. Le Guin and Diana Wynne Jones count themselves among Nnedi Okorafor's fans!

 



 

Zahrah the Windseeker

Zahrah, a timid thirteen-year-old girl, undertakes a dangerous quest into the Forbidden Greeny Jungle to seek the antidote for her best friend after he is bitten by a snake, and finds knowledge, courage, and hidden powers along the way. Fantasy fiction for juvenile readers.

 

 

Akata Witch 

Twelve-year-old Sunny Nwazue, an American-born albino child of Nigerian parents, moves with her family back to Nigeria, where she learns that she has latent magical powers which she and three similarly gifted friends use to catch a serial killer.  Fantasy/paranormal fiction for juvenile readers.

 

 

Who Fears Death

Born into post-apocalyptic Africa to a mother whose entire tribe was slaughtered, Onyesonwu (the name means "who fears death") is tutored by a shaman and discovers that her magical destiny is to end the genocide of her people. Fantasy fiction for adult readers.

 

She is also has a short story featured in the young adult collection Life on Mars: Tales from the New Frontier - An Original Science Fiction Anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan. You can read more of her short stories online on her website, The Wahala Zone.