Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian-British author of novels and short stories that often include speculative elements. She is best known for Butterfly Fish (2016), which won the Betty Trask Award, and for her story "Grace Jones," which won the 2020 Caine Prize for African Writing. Okojie is also a Fellow and vice-chair of the Royal Society of Literature.
Irenosen Okojie was born in Nigeria and moved to the United Kingdom at the age of eight. She attended boarding school in Norfolk, then completed her secondary education in East London and Stamford. Okojie later studied Communications and Visual Culture at London Metropolitan University.
She began her professional life in London as an arts project manager and curator. Her debut novel, Butterfly Fish, was published in 2016. That same year, she released the short story collection Speak Gigantular, which was shortlisted for both the Jhalak Prize and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.
Butterfly Fish (2016) follows Joy, a young woman living in London who struggles after her mother’s sudden death. She inherits a brass warrior’s head, once owned by a king in eighteenth-century Benin. As Joy investigates its history, she experiences visions of a mysterious woman and dreams that transport her to another time and place.
The novel weaves together contemporary London life with a parallel story in historic Benin. According to Simon Brett, “Benin itself is vividly imagined in a historical narrative that runs in parallel with the contemporary London one.”
Okojie’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian and the BBC. Her story Animal Parts was nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award in 2016. Her story, Synsepalum, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as part of the BBC National Short Story Award celebrations in 2018.
She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018 and named vice-chair in 2020. That year, she won the Caine Prize. In 2021, she was appointed MBE for services to literature. In 2023, Okojie served as a judge for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Irenosen Okojie is also the founder of Black to the Future, a multidisciplinary festival celebrating Black artists.
Photo credit: www.irenosenokojie.com
Irenosen Okojie was born in Nigeria and moved to the United Kingdom at the age of eight. She attended boarding school in Norfolk, then completed her secondary education in East London and Stamford. Okojie later studied Communications and Visual Culture at London Metropolitan University.
She began her professional life in London as an arts project manager and curator. Her debut novel, Butterfly Fish, was published in 2016. That same year, she released the short story collection Speak Gigantular, which was shortlisted for both the Jhalak Prize and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.
Butterfly Fish (2016) follows Joy, a young woman living in London who struggles after her mother’s sudden death. She inherits a brass warrior’s head, once owned by a king in eighteenth-century Benin. As Joy investigates its history, she experiences visions of a mysterious woman and dreams that transport her to another time and place.
The novel weaves together contemporary London life with a parallel story in historic Benin. According to Simon Brett, “Benin itself is vividly imagined in a historical narrative that runs in parallel with the contemporary London one.”
Okojie’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian and the BBC. Her story Animal Parts was nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award in 2016. Her story, Synsepalum, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as part of the BBC National Short Story Award celebrations in 2018.
She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018 and named vice-chair in 2020. That year, she won the Caine Prize. In 2021, she was appointed MBE for services to literature. In 2023, Okojie served as a judge for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Irenosen Okojie is also the founder of Black to the Future, a multidisciplinary festival celebrating Black artists.
Photo credit: www.irenosenokojie.com
years of life: 1978 – present
Books
Jeff Noon,Nicholas Royle,Hanif Kureishi,David Constantine,Zakia Uddin,Stephen Thompson,Robert Stone,David Rose,Irenosen Okojie,K.J. Orr,Andrew Hook,Helen Mort,Richard Bennett,Amanthi Harris,Tim Etchells,Luke Brown,Adrian Slatcher,Bridget Penney,Diana Powell,N.J. Stallard,Nicola Freeman,Sarah Schofield,Sonia HopeBest British Short Stories 2020- 9
Books
Jon McGregor,Joseph O'Neill,Irenosen Okojie,Sarah Hall,Chris Power,Jessie Greengrass,Mahreen SohailReverse Engineering- 1
Books
fb2epub
Drag & drop your files
(not more than 5 at once)