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Onyeka Nwelue

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Onyeka Nwelue
Onyeka Nwelue teaching at CRAFT, 2011
Onyeka Nwelue teaching at CRAFT, 2011
BornOnyekachukwu George Nwelue
(1988-01-31) 31 January 1988 (age 36)
Ezeoke Nsu, Imo State, Nigeria
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • filmmaker
  • editor
  • poet
NationalityNigerian
Period2000 – present
Notable awards

Onyeka Nwelue (born 31 January 1988) is a Nigerian filmmaker, publisher, talk-show host, author, academic visitor and founder of the James Currey Society, at the African Studies Centre, University of Oxford.[1] He is the Dean of the School of Cinematographic Studies at Université Queensland in Haiti. [2]

Nwelue is the founder and director of James Currey Literary Festival, which takes place annually at Weston Library, University of Oxford.[3] A bust of James Currey was unveiled on the 1st September 2022.[4]

Within the authority of The Nwelue trust, he established the Henry Louis Gates Jr Fellowship, at the centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge in honour of Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr[5]. He had also instituted the Akachi Ezeigbo Price for Literature. Plus the Earl Lovelace short fiction Prize[6].

Nwelue studied sociology and anthropology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and earned a scholarship to study directing at the Prague Film School in Czech Republic. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, by Universite Queensland in Haiti in 2019.[7]

He studied ancient masterpieces of world literature, under Professor Martin Puchner at Harvard University. The Onyeka Nwelue Scholarship for outstanding Imo State Economics Students is named after him.[8]

He is currently a visiting assistant professor and visiting fellow of African literature and studies in the English Language Department of the Faculty of Humanities, Manipur University in Imphal, India. He was a visiting research fellow at the Center for International Studies, Ohio University.[9]

His second novel, The Beginning of Everything Colourful, was shortlisted for the ANA Prose Fiction Prize in 2018, and his collection of poetry, The Lagos Cuban Jazz Club, was shortlisted for ANA Poetry Prize in the same year.[10]

Early life

His grandparents are Origbudu SBC Obiora and Ogbuefi Odiso Obiora (née Nwakuche and eldest sister of Gogo Nwakuche,[11] Nwapa's second husband. His aunt, Professor Leslye Obiora, was Nigeria's former Minister of Mines and Steel.[12] His mother is the religious scholar, a social scientist and a writer, who served in the public service as a teacher for 35 years, Ona Nwelue. He is the great-great-grandson of Nze Ukwu Nnadum.[13]

Nwelue left for Lagos when he was 16 years old to attend the Wole Soyinka Festival,[14] after which he was introduced to the Nobel Laureate. A few years later, Nwelue travelled to India for the 2nd International Writers' Festival, at the invitation of the India Cultural Association. Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka remains one of Nwelue's fans. "He has read everything I have published," Nwelue says. He has organized private screenings[15][16] of his films for Soyinka.

Nwelue also identifies as a feminist; in an interview, after making The House of Nwapa, he said: "I made The House of Nwapa, because I am a feminist. I believe we are all equal."[17]

On 1 February 2018, a day after his 30th birthday,[18] Onyeka was involved in a car accident, sustaining injuries to his lower back. He was confined to a wheelchair for two months, before using a walking aid.

Career

Early in his career, Nwelue wrote for The Guardian in Nigeria, an opportunity given to him by Jahman Anikulapo, the then editor of Sunday edition popularly known as The Guardian on Sunday.[19]

He adapted his novella Island of Happiness into an Igbo-language film, Agwaetiti Obiụtọ, which won Best Feature Film by a Director at the 2018 Newark International Film Festival[20] and went on to be nominated for Best First Feature Film by a Director and the Ousmane Sembene Award for Best Film in an African Language at the 2018 Africa Movie Academy Awards. Island of Happiness was inspired by true events in Oguta.[21] Nwelue is the founder of La Cave Musik, a record label based in Paris, France, and co-founded the UK-based publishing house Abibiman Publishing.[22] Nwelue is represented by literary agent Priya Doraswamy of Lotus Lane Literary Agency, based in New Jersey.[23] In 2012, Debbie Edwards of Debbie Edwards Talent Management, became his manager.[24]

In early 2012, Nwelue was signed to the Pontas Agency in Spain.[25] In August 2016, Nwelue's documentary film on Flora Nwapa, entitled The House of Nwapa, premiered in Harare, Zimbabwe.[26][27][17][28] He is the director of the Oxford-based James Currey Society, which administers the James Currey Prize for African Literature.[29] Nwelue is a visiting fellow (academic visitor) at the University of Oxford.[30][31][32][33][34]

[35]

Bibliography

  • The Abyssinian Boy: (DADA Books, 2009)[36]
  • Wole Soyinka: Encounters with the Grey Maverick [37]
  • The Beginning of Everything Colourful: (Hattus Books, 2018).[38][39]
  • There Are No White People [40]
  • An Angel on the Piano (Griots Lounge, 2020)
  • Island of Happiness [41]
  • The Real Owners of Britain [42]
  • The Lagos Cuban Jazz Club[43]
  • The Spice Bazaar (play, 2018)
  • Outside Weston Library[47]
  • The Strangers of Braamfontein (2021)[48][49]
  • The Last Trains out of Ukraine [50]
  • Evening Coffee with Arundhati Roy[52]
  • A Country of Extraordinary Ghosts ISBN 978-1725659278[53]
  • Saving Mungo Park (with Ikenna Chinedu Okeh, Hattus Books, 2021) (children novel)[54]

Filmography

Controversy

After being invited to the Man Hong Kong literary festival, Nwelue was denied a visa to Hong Kong, sparking media outcry, the alleged reason being the colour of his skin. The decision was reversed and he got a visa to attend the festival.[59]

In 2017, Nwelue was brutalized by military men for trying to stop them from raping a sex worker.[60] A year later, Nwelue was arrested at the lobby of Onomo Hotel in Kigali and jailed for eight days, for allegedly "publicly insulting" Rwandan president Paul Kagame on Twitter and RwandAir.[61] Nwelue was released after the intervention of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. Prior to his arrest, he was a voluntary lecturer at Kwetu Film Institute, founded by the filmmaker Eric Kabera.[62]

In a May 2020 interview, Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka disclosed that some "wannabe Christian Ayatollahs" demonstrated over Nwelue's novel, A Country of Extraordinary Ghosts, carrying placards that read: "Death to Nwelue".[63]

Notable awards

  • Recipient, Institute for Research in Women, Children and Culture (IRAWCC) Grant
  • Recipient, Princ Claus Ticket Grant 2013
  • Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Universite Queensland 2019.[64]
  • ANA Prize for Fiction 2021 [65][66]
  • Best Indie Novel Winner- The Crime Fiction Lover Awards 2021 [67]

See also

References

  1. ^ African, Studies. "Academic Visitors". University of Oxford. The University of Oxford. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  2. ^ Universite Queensland, Education. "Dean of School of Cinematographic Studies". Universite Queensland (UQ). University of Oxford/Universite Queensland. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  3. ^ James, Currey. "Festival". bodleian Library. Bodleian. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  4. ^ wadham, College. "GodFather of African Literature honored at Wadham". University of Oxford. wadham college. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  5. ^ Gates, Henry. "fellowship and visitors". University of cambridge. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  6. ^ The Arts, Vanguard (8 August 2022). "Five literary prizes celebrating Akachi Ezeigbo". Vanguard Nigeria. Vanguard. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  7. ^ "uqsteg". www.uqstegnetwork.org.
  8. ^ Onyeka, Nwelue (1 January 2022). "Amazing story of Onyeka Nwelue, Nigerian Youth who founded James Currey Society in Uk". Vanguard Newspaper (Interview). Interviewed by Luminous Jannamike. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  9. ^ "What Young Africans Are Writing - an Africa Crossroads event".
  10. ^ Adebisi, Yemi (7 October 2018). "ANA Releases Shortlist Of 2018 Literary Prizes". Independent. Nigeria.
  11. ^ "As Violet Odiso 'SBC' Obiora Goes Home". The Nigerian Voice. 9 November 2011.
  12. ^ "Leslye Obiora J.S.D." The University of Arizona.
  13. ^ "The Nwelue Legacy: Emancipation of Slaves and their Education". Vanguard News. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021.
  14. ^ Okorie, Mitterand (14 September 2018). "Is the next Nobel Laureate this 30 year old Nigerian maverick?". The Italian Insider.
  15. ^ "Photos | Wole Soyinka Hosts Private Screening of Onyeka Nwelue's AMAAs-Nominated Film, Agwaetiti Obiụtọ". 4 September 2018. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Onyeka Nwelue: What Soyinka told me when I wanted to start making films". 29 October 2018. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  17. ^ a b Ibrahim, Abubakar Adam (2 October 2016). "Why I made a documentary on Flora Nwapa". Daily Trust.
  18. ^ Bivan, Nathaniel (3 February 2018). "A tale of 2 Onyekas and one birthday". Daily Trust.
  19. ^ "INTERVIEW: Why I'm Not married at 50 - Jahman Anikulapo - Premium Times Nigeria". 24 August 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  20. ^ Ndukwe, Jr., Eleanya (16 October 2018). "Onyeka Nwelue's Agwaetiti Obiụtọ: Pushing for Africa's socioeconomic and political emancipation" (opinion). The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  21. ^ a b OkadaBooks (18 April 2018). "#LiterallyWhatsHot: What Defines Happiness in Onyeka Nwelue's "Island of Happiness?"". BellaNaija. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  22. ^ Wood, Heloise (10 May 2021). "Abibiman Publishing launches with African and Caribbean focus". The Bookseller.
  23. ^ "Fiction-Literary Fiction". 30 April 2020.
  24. ^ Tolu (18 December 2014). "Hip-Hop Is Only For Children – Onyeka Nwelue". Information Nigeria.
  25. ^ "Onyeka Nwelue: a new Nigerian literary voice in English language". Pontas. 28 June 2012.
  26. ^ Dickson, Wealth Ominabo (30 December 2016). "INTERVIEW: Achebe's Things Fall Apart Is Not the Great African Novel – Onyeka Nwelue\". Premium Times. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 30 December 2016 suggested (help)
  27. ^ Igbokwe, Cheta (28 August 2016). "Onyeka Nwelue's House of Nwapa Documentary Film Premiers in Zimbabwe". State Reporters. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  28. ^ a b Ikheloa, Ikhide R. (27 November 2016). "Flora Nwapa and the house that Onyeka Nwelue built for her". Ikhide. Archived from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  29. ^ "James Currey Prize for African Literature debuts". The Nation. Nigeria. 12 November 2020.
  30. ^ "Onyeka Nwelue".
  31. ^ "Oxford University names Onyeka Nwelue Fellow". 3 August 2021.
  32. ^ "Onyeka Nwelue appointed University of Oxford Fellow". 6 August 2021.
  33. ^ "Oxford appoints Onyeka Nwelue Fellow". 6 August 2021.
  34. ^ "UK: Writer-activist, Nwelue, now Visiting Fellow at Oxford - Naija Times". Naijatimes.ng. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  35. ^ White. There Are No White People. Abibiman Publishing UK. ISBN 9781546467335.
  36. ^ Amina Alhassan (8 February 2014). "No full-time writer in Nigeria - Onyeka Nwelue". Daily Trust. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  37. ^ Wole, Soyinka. Wole Soyinka: Encounters with the Grey Maverick. Abibiman Publishing UK. ISBN 9781998995813.
  38. ^ "Award-winning Nigerian Writer & Filmmaker Onyeka Nwelue Shares Pictures to Celebrate the Release of his New Novel – the Beginning of Everything Colourful". 14 June 2017. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  39. ^ book. The Beginning of Everything Colourful. Parresia. ISBN 9781546467335.
  40. ^ White (2022). There Are No White People. Abibiman Publishing UK. ISBN 9781739774776.
  41. ^ Fiction, - Novella (2018). Island of Happiness. CreateSpace Independent Publishing. ISBN 9781983955433.
  42. ^ white (2022). The Real Owners of Britain. The Real Owners of Britain. ISBN 9781739774776.
  43. ^ Poetry (2017). The Lagos Cuban Jazz Club. CreateSpace Independent Publishing. ISBN 9781548402006.
  44. ^ Fictional (2022). Lemon Grass. Abibiman Publishing UK. ISBN 9781998995899.
  45. ^ Pulse Mix (8 October 2020). "The new voice that we call 'Mr International'". Pulse. Nigeria.
  46. ^ Richards, Oludare (15 January 2015). "Nwelue on world tour with new book, Hip-Hop Is Only For Children". The Guardian. Abuja.
  47. ^ Fictional (2022). . Outside Weston Library. Abibiman Publishing UK. ISBN 9781739693428.
  48. ^ "The Strangers of Braamfontein". Kirkus Reviews. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  49. ^ "The Strangers of Braamfontein by Onyeka Nwelue". Crime Fiction Lover. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  50. ^ Poetry. The Last Trains out of Ukraine. Abibiman Publishing UK. ISBN 9781998995868.
  51. ^ Ebenezar Wikina (23 April 2015). "Writing Is Only for Children: My Stroll with Onyeka Nwelue". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  52. ^ Fictional. Evening Coffee with Arundhati Roy. Bridge Books. ISBN 9780733426094.
  53. ^ "A COUNTRY OF EXTRAORDINARY GHOSTS - ONYEKA NWELUE". 5 September 2018.
  54. ^ "Saving Mungo Park". Vanguard News. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021.
  55. ^ "Onyeka Nwelue releases documentary feature 'House on Nwapa' on Youtube". Linda Ikeji's Blog. 13 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  56. ^ Odunsi, Wale (16 May 2017). "AMAA 2017: Nollywood movies top nominations [Full list]". Daily Post Nigeria. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  57. ^ Nwelue, Onyeka (4 September 2017). "Preying From Paris: Why Oguta Will Remain The Way It Is". Olisa Blogazine. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  58. ^ "Wole Soyinka hosts Onyeka Nwelue to a private screening of his movie 'Agwaetiti Obiụtọ' in celebration of his AMAA nominations". 4 September 2018. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  59. ^ Nwelue, Onyeka (15 August 2010). "The wrong passport". YNaija.
  60. ^ Ozikpu, Elias (25 February 2017). "Military Brutality Against Nigerians: The Incident of Bonny Cantonment by Elias Ozikpu". Sahara Reporters. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  61. ^ "Rwandan government reacts to assault allegation leveled against its investigation Bureau by writer, Onyeka Nwelue". 6 November 2018. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  62. ^ "An evening with Nigerian writer Onyeka Nwelue". New Times. 11 June 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  63. ^ "Interview Wole Soyinka 2020". www.projekt-cassandra.net. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  64. ^ "Rome2020home2".
  65. ^ "Onyeka Nwelue, Kehinde Akano, others make ANA prizes short list", Phenomenal, 21 October 2021.
  66. ^ "2021 literary prizes shortlists out - The Nation Newspaper". Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  67. ^ "The Crime Fiction Lover Awards 2021: The Winners", Crime Fiction Lover, 8 December 2021.

External links

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