Nnorom Azuonye (born 12 July 1967, in

Biafra Biafara Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicized as Biafra ( ), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria ...

– 21 January 2024) was a publisher, theater director,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and advertising professional. He was also an accredited Methodist Local Preacher with the

Methodist Church in Britain The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestant Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council. Methodism traces its origins to the evangelical revival le ...

and served as Principal Networker, Global Calvary Network. He wrote ''Letter To God & Other Poems'' in 2003, ''The Bridge Selection: Poems for the Road'' (2005 & 2012) and ''Funeral of the Minstrel'' in 2015). The Founding Publishing Director & Chief Executive Officer, SPM Publications Ltd, Azuonye was the founder and administrator of ''Sentinel Poetry Movement'' and the founder and publisher of the magazines ''Nollywood Focus'', ''Sentinel Literary Quarterly'', ''Sentinel Nigeria'' and ''Sentinel Champions''.

Early life and education

Nnorom Azuonye, a native of

Isuikwuato Isuikwuato is a local government area in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. This local government area falls under the Abia North senatorial district in Abia State, Nigeria. The name Isu-Ikwu-Ato translates from Igbo as 'three Isu families or l ...

Abia State Abia is a state in the Southeastern region of Nigeria. The state's capital is Umuahia and its most populous city is Aba. Abia is bordered the west by Imo, east by Cross River, south by Rivers, northwest by Anambra and northeast by Enug ...

in the southeastern part of

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, ...

, was born at

Enugu Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

, the capital city of

Enugu State Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

in southeastern Nigeria, on 12 July 1967. He was the youngest son of Stephen Onyemaechi Azuonye MON, MBE, and Hannah Egwuime Azuonye. He attended

Government College Umuahia Government College Umuahia, or GCU, is an independent secondary school for boys located on Umuahia- Ikot Ekpene road in Umuahia, Nigeria. Twenty years after the establishment of King's College, the first government-owned high school, by the Brit ...

, Capital College,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and

University of Nigeria, Nsukka A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, where he studied Dramatic Arts.

Literary activities

In 2002, Azuonye founded the Sentinel Poetry Movement - an international community of writers and artists providing an interaction and publishing resource for poetry, fiction, drama, essays, interviews and review of the Arts. He was the Managing Editor of ''Sentinel Literary Quarterly'' - a magazine of world literature published by Sentinel Poetry Movement. He was also the publisher of ''Sentinel Nigeria'' magazine - an online magazine of contemporary Nigerian writing Sentinel's previous two publications, ''Sentinel Poetry (Online)'' and ''Sentinel Poetry Quarterly'', were later merged into the single publication ''Sentinel Literary Quarterly''.

Writing

Azuonye has been widely published internationally in journals, newspapers and anthologies including Agenda, DrumVoices Revue, Eclectica, Orbis, World Haiku Review, Nigerians Talk, African Writing, African Writers, Sketchbook, Poetry Monthly, Opon Ifa, Theatre Forum, Voices Against Racism: 100 Poems Against Racism, and Poems for a Liminal Age (Mandy Pannett ed.). Books *''Letter to God & Other Poems'' (2003), *''The Bridge Selection: Poems for the Road'' (2005 & 2012). *''Blue Hyacinths'' (2010; ed. with Geoff Stevens), *''Sentinel Annual Literature Anthology'' (2011; ed with Unoma Azuah and Amanda Sington-Williams), *''Funeral of the Minstrel'' *''The Genesis of Falcon'' (ed.) (a play, 2015).

Family

Nnorom was married to Thelma Amaka Azuonye (née Mbomi) in 2006. They lived in London, United Kingdom, with their children Arinzechukwu, Nwachiamanda, Obinna and Ugochukwu.

References

External links

Nnorom's blog
1967 births Igbo poets Nigerian male poets People of the Nigerian Civil War University of Nigeria alumni 21st-century Nigerian poets Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom Government College Umuahia alumni 2024 deaths {{Nigeria-poet-stub