Ukamaka Olisakwe


Ukamaka Evelyn Olisakwe is a Nigerian feminist author, short-story writer, and screenwriter. In 2014 she was chosen as one of 39 of Sub-Saharan Africa's most promising writers under the age of 40, showcased in the Africa39 project and included in the anthology Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara.

Personal life and education

Ukamaka Evelyn Olisakwe was born and raised in Kano State, Northern Nigeria. Her parents are from Eastern Nigeria. She completed her secondary education in Northern Nigeria and subsequently earned a degree in Computer Science from Abia State Polytechnic, in Aba, Nigeria.
She is married to George Nwanosike Olisakwe and they live in Eastern Nigeria with their three children.

Writing career

Olisakwe's debut novel, Eyes of a Goddess, was published in 2012.
She has written numerous short stories and articles, most of which have appeared in blogs and online journals, including Olisa.tv, Saraba, Sentinel Nigeria and Short Story Day Africa. She has been featured in the BBC. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times and various magazines including the Nigerian Telegraph and African Hadithi. She wrote the screenplay for The Calabash, a television series produced and directed by Obi Emelonye and premiered in January 2015 on Africa Magic Showcase.
Olisakwe administers the blog for the "", a project of the Centre for African Cultural Excellence, and was a co-facilitator at the Lagos Workshop.
She was a guest and panel member at the 2014 Ake Arts and Books Festival and the Hay Festival.
She was also a delegate at the , which was held in Ghana.
Olisakwe was selected as one of the 39 most promising writers under the age of 40 from Sub-Saharan Africa and the diaspora, in the Africa39 project – a Hay Festival and initiative in celebration of the UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 – and is included in the anthology Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara. Olisakwe's contribution, "This Is How I Remember it", was described by one reviewer as "a clear-eyed account of a girl's romantic awakening in Nigeria" and a story "so good it leaves us wanting more", while another reviewer described it as a "gripping story about adolescent romance, deception and yearning".
In 2016, Olisakwe was a resident at the University of Iowa's International Writing Program. In 2018, Ukamaka won the Vermont College of Fine Arts Emerging Writers Scholarship to pursue an MFA in Writing and Publishing.

Lectures

Olisakwe was a guest at the 2015 Writivism Festival in Kampala, Uganda, where she taught a fiction master-class. On 28 May 2015, she spoke on how "You Could Stop The Next Maternal Death Statistic" at TEDxGarki.

Recognition

Novels

Articles