Uwem Akpan
Uwem Akpan | |
|---|---|
Akpan at the University of San Francisco | |
| Born | |
| Alma mater | Creighton University; Gonzaga University; Catholic University of Eastern Africa; University of Michigan |
| Notable work | Say You're One of Them (2008); New York My Village (2021) |
| Awards | Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa Region); PEN Open Book Prize; Hurston/Wright Legacy Award |
Uwem Akpan ⓘ is a Nigerian fiction writer who writes powerful touching stories. He is widely recognized as the author of Say You're One of Them (2008), a collection of five stories (each set in a different African country) published by Little, Brown & Company. His debut book achieved international success.
It won the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa Region), the PEN Open Book Prize, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and was picked for the Oprah Winfrey Book Club. A New York Times and Wall Street Journal No. 1 bestseller, the book has been translated into 12 languages.
Akpan's second book and debut novel, New York My Village (2021), was published by W. W. Norton. The book is widely recognized for its groundbreaking intervention in capturing the woes of minorities in the Biafran war. Oprah Daily selected it as one of the best 20 books of 2021. The iconic Strand Bookstore in New York selected it as their Pick of the Month for November 2021. It was shortlisted for the 2022 Chinua Achebe Prize and longlisted for the 2025 Nigeria Prize for Literature (NLNG) Prize.