Chigozie Obioma

1986–

Nigerian novelist born in Akure, of Igbo descent, who grew up speaking Yoruba, Igbo and English. He studied at Cyprus International University and took an MFA in creative writing at the University of Michigan, and has taught at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the University of Georgia. His debut novel, The Fishermen (2015), set in Nigeria around the annulled 1993 elections, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, which he later judged in 2021. An Orchestra of Minorities (2019), narrated by the chi, or guardian spirit, of a poultry farmer lured to northern Cyprus, was shortlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize.

Timeline of Chigozie Obioma’s life

Works

• The Fishermen (2015)
• An Orchestra of Minorities (2019)

Prizes

• An Orchestra of Minorities — The Booker Prize 2019: Shortlist, Longlist
• The Fishermen — The Booker Prize 2015: Shortlist, Longlist