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Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki

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Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
Born19 January
Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria[1]
OccupationAuthor
EducationUniversity of Lagos, Lagos[2]
GenreScience fiction, fantasy, horror
Years active2018–present
Notable worksIfe-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (born 19 January) is a Nigerian speculative fiction writer, editor and publisher who was the first African-born Black author to win a Nebula Award.[3][4] He has also received a World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, Otherwise Award, and two Nommo Awards, along with being a multi-time finalist for a number of other honors, including the Hugo Award.

Ekpeki frequently writes about disability, class, inequality and other issues related to both colonization and decolonization.[4][1] He also coined the term afropantheology, which is a distinct genre of speculative fiction "conceived to capture the gamut of African works which, though having fantasy elements, are additionally imbued with African spiritual realities."[5]

Life

Ekpeki was born in Ughellii, Delta State, Nigeria.[1] He studied law at the University of Lagos.

In November 2024, Locus magazine reported that "allegations of unethical and unprofessional behavior by Ekpeki" had recently been made public and that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association had removed him from their board of directors.[6]

Writing

Ekpeki began publishing fiction in 2018. One of his early stories, "The Witching Hour", won the Nommo Award.[7] His 2020 novella Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon won the Otherwise Award[8] and Nommo Award,[9] along with being a finalist for the BSFA Award for Best Short Fiction,[10] Theodore Sturgeon Award,[11] and Nebula Award for Best Novella.[12]

In 2021, Ekpeki's climate fiction novelette "O2 Arena" was published in Galaxy's Edge magazine and received the Nebula Award for Best Novelette, making him the first African-born Black author to be so honored.[3] The novelette was also a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette.[13] This Is Africa described the story as a "biopolitical dystopia in which oxygen has become a commodity, with all the possible class implications."[4] His 2022 short story "Destiny Delayed", published in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, was a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Award for Best Short Story.[12]

Ekpeki and Joshua Uchenna Omenga's book Between Dystopias: The Road to Afropantheology focuses on the "study of African (and African-descended) religions, gods, and the bodies of knowledge associated with them.[14] The book contains thirteen stories and three essays "exploring the belief systems and lived experiences that inform African speculative fiction" and the "schism between Western and African perspectives on speculative fiction".[5]

Ekpeki's fiction and non-fiction have also appeared in Omenana Magazine, Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, Tor.com, Strange Horizons, Uncanny Magazine, NBC and other places.[citation needed] He is a member of the African Speculative Fiction Society, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, the Horror Writers Association, and Codex Writers Group.[citation needed]

Editing

Ekpeki has edited a number of books and magazines, starting with the 2020 anthology Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction From Africa and the African Diaspora (co-edited with Zelda Knight). The anthology won the British Fantasy Award for Best Anthology[15] and was a finalist for the 2021 Locus Award[16] and the 2020 This Is Horror award.[17]

Ekpeki also edited The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction and published it through his own Jembefola Press in 2021. In 2022, he edited and published Bridging Worlds: Global Conversations On Creating Pan-African Speculative Literature In a Pandemic. The anthology was a finalist for the Locus Award for Non-Fiction.[18][19]

In 2022 he co-edited the Tor Books anthology Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction alongside Sheree Renée Thomas and Knight.[1] The anthology won the 2023 Locus Award[20][19] and was a finalist for the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction.[21]

He has also edited individual issues of Invictus Quarterly and Interstellar Flight Press.[1]

Ekpeki has been a multi-time finalist in the editing category for the Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor and Locus Award.

Awards and nominations

Year Title Award Category Result Ref
2019 "The Witching Hour" Nommo Award Short Story Won [22]
2020 "Ife-Iyoku" Nommo Award Short Story Nominated [23][24]
Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon BSFA Award Short Fiction Nominated [10]
Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction From Africa and the African Diaspora This Is Horror Anthology Nominated [25]
Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon Nebula Award Novella Nominated [12]
Otherwise Award — Won [26][27]
2021 Nommo Award Novella Won [9]
Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction From Africa and the African Diaspora British Fantasy Award Anthology Won [28][29]
Locus Award Anthology Nominated [30]
Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon Theodore Sturgeon Award Short fiction Nominated [11][needs update]
2022 "O2 Arena" Nebula Award Novelette Won [31]
Hugo Award Novelette Nominated [13][32]
The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction World Fantasy Award Anthology Won [33]
Hugo Award Editor, Short Form Nominated [34]
2023 "Destiny Delayed" Nebula Award Short Story Nominated [35]
Asimov's Readers' Award Short Story Won [36]

Bibliography

Collections

  • Between Dystopias: The Road to Afropantheology, co-written with Joshua Uchenna Omenga (Arc Manor Books, 2023)

Short stories

  • Ekepki, Oghenechovwe Donald (2018). "The Witching Hour". Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores.
  • Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald (2019). "Ife-Iyoku". Selene Quarterly Magazine, vol. 2, issue 2.
  • Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald (2019). "The Mannequin Challenge". Omenana Magazine.[37]
  • Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald (2020). "Attack on University of Lagos, Law Faculty". Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire. Mocha Memoirs Press.
  • Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald (2021). "O2 Arena". Galaxy's Edge, Issue 53.[38]
  • Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald (2022). "Destiny Delayed". Asimov's Science Fiction, May–June 2022.

Novellas

  • Oghenechovwe Donald, Ekepki (2020). "Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon". Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction From Africa and the African Diaspora. Auriela Leo.

Anthologies

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald (20 December 2021). "Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki: Decolonizing the Mind". Locus Magazine. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  2. ^ Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald (23 November 2019). ""How Grandma's Stories Made Me a Writer"" (Interview). Interviewed by Kwaifa, Aliyu. Daily Trust. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b "First African-born Black Nebula Award winner faces death threats & hostile embassy to attend WorldCon" by Sumiko Saulson, San Francisco Bay View, 13 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Historic Nebula winner Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki came for everything" by Onai Stanely Mushava, This Is Africa, 2 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Between Dystopias: The Road to Afropantheology," starred review, Publishers Weekly, 7/27/2023.
  6. ^ "Ekpeki Allegations". Locus.com. 28 October 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Africanjujuism, fantasy and the African culture" by Franca Nwogu, The Sun, 17 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Nigeria's Oghenechovwe Ekpeki Wins $1,000 International Writing Prize" by Soonest Nathaniel, Channels TV, 8 September 2021.
  9. ^ a b "2021 Nommo Awards Winners," Locus Magazine, December 17, 2021.
  10. ^ a b "The BSFA 2020 Awards shortlists". BSFA. 26 February 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  11. ^ a b Ogunyemi, Ernest (25 February 2021). "Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki Shortlisted for Theodore Sturgeon Award 2021".
  12. ^ a b c "2020 Nebula Awards". Nebula Awards. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  13. ^ a b "2022 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Africa Revisted: afropantheology and the Best African Speculative Fiction", ArcManorBooks.com. Accessed 13 May 2023.
  15. ^ locusmag (27 September 2021). "2021 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus Online. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  16. ^ locusmag (26 June 2021). "2021 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  17. ^ locusmag (7 September 2021). "2020 This Is Horror Awards Winners". Locus Online. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  18. ^ "2023 Locus Awards Winners". Locus.com. 24 June 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  19. ^ a b "2023 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists," Locus Magazine, 28 April 2023.
  20. ^ "2023 Locus Awards Winners". Locus.com. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  21. ^ "Africa Risen Receives NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Literary Work" by Molly Templeton, Tor.com, 19 January 2023.
  22. ^ "The 2019 Nommo Award Winners - African Speculative Fiction Society". www.africansfs.com.
  23. ^ "Nomination Result for 2020 Long list". Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  24. ^ Mike Glyer (19 April 2020). "2020 Nommo Nominations Longlist". File770. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  25. ^ "2020 This Is Horror Award Nominees". 26 April 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  26. ^ "2020 Otherwise Award". Otherwise Award. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  27. ^ Mike Glyer (7 September 2021). "2020 Otherwise Award". File770. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  28. ^ "British Fantasy Awards 2021: winners announced". Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  29. ^ "2021 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus Magazine. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  30. ^ "2021 Locus Award Top Ten Finalist". May 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  31. ^ "SFWA Announces the Winners of the 57th Annual Nebula Awards®" (Press release). Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  32. ^ "Announcing the 2022 Hugo Award Finalists". 7 April 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  33. ^ "Ekpeki Wins World Fantasy Awards 2022," agency report, Daily Trust, November 20, 2022.
  34. ^ "2022 Hugo, Lodestar and Astounding Awards" (PDF). The Hugo Awards. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  35. ^ "Here Are the Winners of the 2022 Nebula Awards!" by Molly Templeton, Tor.com, May 15, 2023.
  36. ^ "2022 Analog AnLab Award and Asimov’s Science Fiction’s Readers' Award Winners," File770, June 1, 2023.
  37. ^ "The Mannequin Challenge by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki". omenana.com. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  38. ^ Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald (13 January 2022). "O2 Arena". Apex Magazine. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  39. ^ "Bridging Worlds: Global Conversations On Creating Pan-African Speculative Literature In a Pandemic". Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki. 10 September 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
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