1. Chigozie Obioma's work has been translated into more than 30 languages.
10 Facts About Chigozie Obioma
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Chigozie Obioma now teaches at the University of Georgia as the Helen S Lanier Distinguished Professor.
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Chigozie Obioma cites his seminal influences as The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola, for its breadth of imagination; Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, for its enduring grace and heart; The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, both for the power of their prose; and Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe, for its firmness in Igbo culture and philosophy.
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Chigozie Obioma was awarded a residency at Omi's Ledig House in 2012, and completed a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan, where he received Hopwood Awards for fiction and poetry.
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In December 2020 Chigozie Obioma was named as a judge for the 2021 Booker Prize.
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Chigozie Obioma served as the James E Ryan Associate Professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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In January 2023, Chigozie Obioma announced the Oxbelly Writers Retreat, a writers retreat that he had founded with the vision of bringing writers from all over the world, no matter their means or origin, to come together, share and put their ideas together.
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Chigozie Obioma finished his first novel, The Fishermen, while completing his residency at Ledig House in 2012.
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Little, Brown and Company published Chigozie Obioma's highly anticipated second novel, An Orchestra of Minorities, in January 2019.
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Chigozie Obioma was particularly inspired by his friend Jay, who was found dead at the bottom of a lift shaft in Cyprus after having his tuition funds embezzled by fixers.