Rosina Umelo (born Rosina Martin, 1930) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

writer. She is known for her short stories, children's books and her

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

. She also has published under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Adaeze Madu.

Life

Rosina "Rose" Martin was born in

Cheshire, England Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shropshire to the south; to the west ...

, and educated at Bedford College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. She married Nigerian John Umelo in 1961, having met him on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

. In 1965, the two moved to

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 taught Latin at Queens School,

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 ...

, until the outbreak of the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...

(1967–70). She became a citizen of Nigeria in 1971 through marriage. She worked as a

principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

and created English-language

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

materials. Later, Umelo became a school administrator. Umelo has six children. Umelo collected 12 of her short stories for adults into ''The Man Who Ate the Money'' (1978), five of which won awards. Nancy J. Schmidt, writing for ''

Africa Today ''Africa Today'' is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary academic journal with articles about contemporary Africa. It was founded in 1954 and is published quarterly by the Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press ...

'', called Umelo's writing in ''The Man Who Ate the Money'' "fresh," even though her subject matter dealt with themes that are common in African fiction. Umelo also wrote for a popular young adult series published by Macmillan, called the Pacesetters Series. Umelo also created works for young adults for the series "Heart Beats", published by

Chelsea House Publishers Infobase is an American publisher of databases, reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, including ...

in the 1990s. In 1967, the

Eastern Region of Nigeria The Eastern Region was an administrative region in Nigeria, dating back originally from the division of the colony Southern Nigeria in 1954. Its first capital was Calabar. The capital was later moved to Enugu and the second capital was Umuahia. T ...

, whose capital was

, seceded as the newly declared nation of

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 ...

. The Umelo family fled from their home in Enugu to John Umelo's home village in the heart of Biafra. During the war, Rosina kept notes on her observations, which she wrote up as a narrative immediately after the war, which ended in 1970 with at least a million civilians dead. This account, called "A World of our Own," remained unpublished until 2018, when it formed the core of a book, ''Surviving Biafra: A Nigerwife's Story'' (Hurst Publishers, London), co-authored with anthropologist S. Elizabeth Bird. Later in her life, Umelo worked at the

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

. In 2023, she lived in Dagenham in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Awards

Cheltenham Literary Festival ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' Cheltenham Literature Festival, a large-scale international festival of literature held every year in October in the English spa town of Cheltenham, and part of Cheltenham Festivals: also responsible for th ...

Prize (1973) *

Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation The Voice of Nigeria or VON ( Yoruba: ; Hausa: ; Igbo: ; Fula: ) is the official international broadcasting station of Nigeria. History Founded in 1961, the Voice of Nigeria began as the External Service of the then Nigerian Broadcasting Corpo ...

short-story competition prize (1972 and 1974) * BBC Story Prize (1966)

References

External links

Umelo's Goodreads page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umelo, Rosina 1930 births 20th-century Nigerian women writers 20th-century Nigerian writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century short story writers 21st-century Nigerian women writers 21st-century Nigerian writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Alumni of Bedford College, London British emigrants to Nigeria Living people Naturalized citizens of Nigeria Nigerian children's writers Nigerian short story writers Nigerian women children's writers Nigerian women educators Nigerian women short story writers People from Cheshire (before 1974) People of the Nigerian Civil War Pseudonymous women writers Igbo writers