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Nnedi Okorafor
Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her ''Binti Series'' and her novels '' Who Fears Death'', '' Zahrah the Windseeker'', '' Akata Witch'', '' Akata Warrior'', ''Lagoon'' and ''Remote Control.'' She has also written for comics and film. Her writing is Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism, both terms she coined and is heavily influenced by her dual Nigerian and American heritage. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Eisner Award and World Fantasy Award. She is considered to be among the third generation of Nigerian writers. Okorafor was inducted by the Museum of Pop Culture into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2024. Background and personal life Nnedimma Nkemdili Okorafor was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1974 to Igbo Nigerian parents who travelled to America in 1969 to att ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio River, Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line with Kentucky. It is the List of cities in Ohio, third-most populous city in Ohio and List of united states cities by population, 66th-most populous in the U.S., with a population of 309,317 at the 2020 census. The city is the economic and cultural hub of the Cincinnati metropolitan area, Ohio's most populous metro area and the Metropolitan statistical area, nation's 30th-largest, with over 2.3 million residents. Throughout much of the 19th century, Cincinnati was among the Largest cities in the United States by population by decade, top 10 U.S. cities by population. The city developed as a port, river town for cargo shipping by steamboats, located at the crossroads of the Nor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africanfuturism
Africanfuturism is a cultural aesthetic and philosophy of science that centers on the fusion of Culture of Africa, African culture, history, mythology, point of view, with technology based in Africa and not limiting to the diaspora. It was coined by Nigerian American writer Nnedi Okorafor in 2019 in a blog post as a single word. Nnedi Okorafor defines Africanfuturism as a sub-category of science fiction that is "directly rooted in African culture, history, mythology and point-of-view..and...does not privilege or Eurocentrism, center the West," is centered with optimistic "visions in the future," and is written by (and centered on) "people of African descent" while rooted in the African continent. As such its center is African, often does extend upon the continent of Africa, and includes the Black diaspora, including fantasy that is set in the future, making a narrative "more science fiction than fantasy" and typically has mystical elements. It is different from Afrofuturism, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Remote Control (2021 Novel)
Remote Control is a 2021 science fiction novella by Nigerian American Nnedi Okorafor. It is Okorafor's first novella after the Binti Trilogy and is set in the same universe as Okorafor's '' Who Fears Death'' and '' The Book of Phoenix''. It was a finalist for the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Science Fiction and the Locus Awards. Writing process Okorafor wrote the book during the COVID-19 pandemic, stating in an interview that travel disruptions due to the pandemic made her focus her energy on writing and editing the book. The events in the book takes place before the events in ''The Book of Phoenix'' and ''Who Fears Death''. Themes The book has been noted as a coming-of-age story, exploring themes such as solitude, grief, and what it means to be normal. The book is an Africanfuturist novella. Reception Writing for NPR, Jason Heller described the novel as "a cumulative narrative, a slow burn that builds in emotional urgency even as the scope of Okorafor's wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lagoon (novel)
''Lagoon'' is an Africanfuturist first contact novel by Nnedi Okorafor (2014, Hodder & Stoughton; 2015, Saga Press/Simon & Schuster). It has drawn much scholarly attention since its publication, some of which was written before Okorafor's important clarification that her work is "Africanfuturist" rather than "Afrofuturist." In 2014 it was chosen as an honor list title for the James Tiptree Jr. Award. ''Lagoon'' originated as a screenplay Okorafor wrote for Nollywood director Tchidi Chikere, after both were frustrated with "abysmal stereotyping" of Nigerians in the South African film ''District 9''. Summary According to Hugh Charles O'Connell: ''Lagoon'' develops its ... narrative across three acts: "Welcome" (in which the aliens make contact with the people of Lagos), "Awakening" (an explosion of violence across the city after contact is made), and "Symbiosis" (a period of utopian transformation, in which the aliens and humans come together to form a new postcapitalist Nige ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akata Warrior
''Akata Warrior'' (retitled ''Sunny and the Mystery of Osisi'' in Nigeria and the UK) is a 2017 young adult fantasy novel by Nigerian American writer Nnedi Okorafor. It is a sequel to '' Akata Witch'' (2011) and the second book in her ''The'' ''Nsibidi Scripts'' series; it's followed by '' Akata Woman'' (2022). It won the inaugural Lodestar Award in 2018 as well as the 2018 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel. Plot Set a year after the events of the first book, it follows Sunny Nwazue, an American-born Nigerian albino girl living in Aba who becomes a member of the secret Leopard society. Sunny Nwazue has recurring vision of a burning city and while picking up tainted pepper, she is given a comb by Mami Wata. She disobeys the Leopard rules, and with assistance of Chichi, uses a juju to scare the members of the cult that haunts Chukwu in the university and is sent to the Obi Library basement to face a djinn whom she defeats and reunites with her friends and parents. Then, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akata Witch
''Akata Witch'' (retitled ''What Sunny Saw in the Flames'' in Nigeria and the UK) is a 2011 young adult fantasy novel written by Nigerian American author Nnedi Okorafor. It was nominated for the Andre Norton Award and it is the first novel in her ''The Nsibidi Scripts'' series; it is followed by two sequels, '' Akata Warrior'' (2017) and '' Akata Woman'' (2022). Background Nnedi Okorafor based the novel in Nigerian culture and politics, and African cosmology, folklore, and tradition to create many of the entities and spirits in the novel. Plot Twelve-year-old Sunny Nwazue was born in America yet lives in Aba, Nigeria. She is Nigerian, Black and albino, and cannot go out in the sun for long periods because of her albinism. Sunny discovers that she has magical abilities which makes her a "free agent" in the magical community called the Leopard People in West Africa. As a free agent, she needs to learn about the magical community. Her magical teachers connect her with three oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zahrah The Windseeker
''Zahrah the Windseeker'' is a young adult fantasy novel and the debut novel of Nigerian American writer Nnedi Okorafor, published in September 2005. It incorporates Nigerian myths, folklore, and culture. It is the winner of the 2008 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. Plot The novel takes place in the fictional northern kingdom of Ooni, located on the planet Ginen, where technology is made using plants. Children who are born with Dada (dreadlocks) are despised because of an old rumor about them possessing magical abilities. The kingdom is enclosed by the forbidden greeny jungle. Zahrah Tsami is thirteen years old and lives with her parents. She was born with Dada, which means vines grow among her hair, and she is often ridiculed by her peers, except for her best friend, Dari. Zahrah discovers her ability to fly as a windseeker, but she is afraid of heights, which makes her feel anxious. During one of their secret trips to the greeny jungle to practice and explore wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Who Fears Death
''Who Fears Death'' is a science fantasy novel by Nigerian-American writer Nnedi Okorafor, published in 2010 by DAW, then an imprint of Penguin Books. It was awarded the 2011 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, as well as the 2010 Carl Brandon Kindred Award "for an outstanding work of speculative fiction dealing with race and ethnicity." Okorafor wrote a prequel, the novel '' The Book of Phoenix'', published by DAW in 2015. The novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic Africa, where the light-skinned Nuru oppress the dark-skinned Okeke. In 2023, Okorafor announced her upcoming novella trilogy ''She Who Knows'' which would serve as a prequel and sequel to ''Who Fears Death'' and would focus on the life of Najeeba, Onyesonwu's mother. The first novella is scheduled for publication in 2024. Plot The novel follows the protagonist, Onyesonwu ( Igbo for "who fears death"), who is an ''Ewu'', i.e. the child of an Okeke woman raped by a Nuru man. On reaching maturity, she goes on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binti Trilogy
The ''Binti trilogy'' or ''Binti Series'' is a trilogy of Africanfuturist science fiction novellas by Nigerian American author Nnedi Okorafor. Beginning with '' Binti'' and ending with '' Binti: The Night Masquerade'', it follows the heroine Binti as she leaves Earth to attend a prestigious university in space. Plot Summaries ''Binti (2015)'' In '' Binti'', Binti is the first member of the Himba people to be accepted into the prestigious intergalactic university Oomza Uni. Upon being notified of her acceptance, Binti runs away from home and boards a transport ship to Oomza Uni. While in transit, the ship is hijacked by the Meduse, a jellyfish Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animal ...-like alien species that was previously at war with the Khoush, another human ethnic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, which later became fantasy literature, fantasy literature and drama. From the twentieth century onward, it has expanded into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animation, and video games. The expression ''fantastic literature'' is often used for this genre by Anglophone literary critics. An archaic spelling for the term is ''phantasy''. Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror fiction, horror by an absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these can occur in fantasy. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that reflect the actual Earth, but with some sense of otherness. Characteristics Many works of fantasy use magic (paranorma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space exploration, time travel, Parallel universes in fiction, parallel universes, and extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial life. The genre often explores human responses to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances. Science fiction is related to fantasy (together abbreviated wikt:SF&F, SF&F), Horror fiction, horror, and superhero fiction, and it contains many #Subgenres, subgenres. The genre's precise Definitions of science fiction, definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Major subgenres include hard science fiction, ''hard'' science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction, ''soft'' science fiction, which focuses on social sciences. Other no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nigerian American
Nigerian Americans (; ; ) are Americans who are of Nigerians, Nigerian ancestry. The number of Nigerian immigrants residing in the United States is rapidly growing, expanding from a small 1980 population of 25,000. The 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) estimated that 712,000 residents of the US were of Nigerian ancestry. The 2012–2016 ACS placed the Nigerian-born population at 277,000. Similar to its status as the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria is also the African country with the most migrants to the US, as of 2013. In a study which was carried out by consumer genetics company 23andMe which involved the DNA of 50,281 people of African descent in the United States, Latin America, and Western Europe, it was revealed that Nigeria was the most common country of origin for testers from the United States, the French West Indies, French Caribbean, and the British West Indies, British Caribbean. Most Nigerian Americans, like British Nigerians, predominantly originate fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
