Chioma Okereke is a Nigerian-born poet, author and short story writer. Her debut novel, ''Bitter Leaf'' (2010), was shortlisted for the

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First ...

– Africa Best First Book 2011.

Biography

Okereke was born in

Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. She moved to Britain at the age of six and attended several boarding-schools, before completing her sixth-form education at

North London Collegiate School North London Collegiate School (NLCS) is a private day school for girls in England. Founded in Camden Town, it is now located in Edgware, in the London Borough of Harrow. Associate schools are located in South Korea, Jeju Island, Dubai, Vietnam ...

in Canons, Middlesex. Okereke graduated with an LLB degree from

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. A poet and short story writer who performed internationally, Okereke had her early work published in ''Bum Rush The Page'' and ''

Callaloo Callaloo ( , ; many spelling variants, such as kallaloo, calaloo, calalloo, calaloux, or callalloo) is a plant used in popular dishes in many Caribbean countries, while for other Caribbean countries, a stew made with the plant is called call ...

'' literary magazine. She was shortlisted for the Undiscovered Authors Competition in 2006, as well as for the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'''s Write a Novel in a Year Competition 2007. Her debut novel ''Bitter Leaf'' was published in 2010 by

Virago Press Virago is a British publisher of women's writing and books on feminist topics. Started and run by women in the 1970s and bolstered by the success of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has been credited as one of several British femin ...

and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize - Africa Best First Book 2011. Her short story "Trompette de la Mort" was First Runner up for the inaugural Costa Short Story Award in the 2012

Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in United Kingdom, UK and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first ...

and her work was included in the ''Virago is 40'' anthology (2013). Her latest novel
Water Baby
(April 2024), is a coming-of-age tale set in the real life settlement of Makoko, in Lagos, Nigeria and portrays the societal pressure on a young woman trying to escape the confines of her community. Moved by the plight of the setting of her novel, Chioma Okereke founded Makoko Pearls, a UK registered charity committed to the relief of poverty in Makoko and to bringing positive change to the community.

External links

Official website

The Soho Agency - Chioma Okereke

Makoko Pearls Organisation

Water Baby at Quercus Books

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okereke, Chioma Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of University College London Writers from Benin City Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Black British women writers Black British writers Nigerian women novelists 21st-century Nigerian novelists 21st-century Nigerian women writers English-language poets Costa Book Award winners Igbo novelists Igbo poets Igbo short story writers Igbo women writers Nigerian women short story writers Nigerian short story writers Nigerian women poets People educated at North London Collegiate School English people of Nigerian descent Magic realism writers Igbo writers