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Nkem Nwankwo // ⓘ (12 June 1936 – 12 June 2001) was a Nigerian novelist and poet.[1]
Born in Nawfia-Awka, a village near the Igbo city of OnitshainAnambra State, southeastern Nigeria, Nwankwo attended University College in Ibadan (the capital city of Oyo State, southwest Nigeria), gaining a BA in 1962.[2] After graduating he took a teaching job at Ibadan Grammar School, before going on to write for magazines, including Drum and working for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation.[3]
He wrote several stories for children that were published in 1963 such as Tales Out of School.[4] He then wrote More Tales out of School in 1965.[5]
Writer of short stories and poems, Nwankwo gained significant attention with his first novel Danda (1964),[6] which was made into a widely performed musical that was entered in the 1966 World Festival of Negro ArtsinDakar, Senegal.[3] During the Nigerian Civil War Nwankwo worked on Biafra's Arts Council.[7] In 1968, in collaboration with Samuel X. Ifekjika, he wrote Biafra: The Making of a Nation.[4] After the civil war, he returned to Lagos and worked on the national newspaper, the Daily Times.[3] His subsequent works included the satire My Mercedes Is Bigger than Yours.[8]
During the 1970s, Nwankwo earned a Master's and Ph.D. at Indiana University.[9] He also wrote about corruption in Nigeria. He spent the latter part of his life in the United States and taught at Michigan State University and Tennessee State University.[10]
He died in his sleep in Tennessee, from complications from a heart imbalance that he had been battling for some years.[11]