Chinụa Ezenwa-Ọhaeto is a Nigerian poet and academic. He is the author of The Teenager Who Became My Mother, published in 2017.

Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto
Born
Chinụalumugo Ezenwa-Ọhaeto

Awka, Anambra
NationalityNigerian
EducationUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln (PhD)
Alma mater
Occupations
  • poet
  • academic
Years active2009–present
Notable workThe Teenager Who Became My Mother (2020)
FatherEzenwa-Ohaeto

Early life and education

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Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto was born in Awka, Anambra State, where his father Ezenwa-Ohaeto taught at Nnamdi Azikiwe University.[1] He grew up between Germany and Nigeria due to his father's profession.[1] He was named after Chinua Achebe,[1] who was his father's mentor.[2] While growing up, Ezenwa-Ohaeto envisioned becoming an inventor but changed his mind when he started reading his father's poems.[1] He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in English Language and Literature at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University.[1][3] He is currently a PhD student for Creative Writing at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.[3]

Career

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In 2009, Chinua won the ANA/Mazariyya Teen Poetry Prize as a freshman at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.[1] He was a runner-up in 2014 for the Etisalat Prize for Literature, flash fiction category.[3] In 2017, he published a chapbook, The Teenager Who Became My Mother, via Sevhage Publishers.[4] In 2018, he won the Castello di Duino Poesia Prize for an unpublished poem and was the recipient of the New Hampshire Institute of Art's 2018 Writing Award,[5] as well as the recipient of a scholarship to the institute's MFA program,[3][1] though he could not attend due to financial constraints.[1] In 2019, he was the winner of the Sevhage/Angus Poetry Prize and second runner-up in the fifth Singapore Poetry Contest.[3]

Bibliography

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Chapbooks

  • The Teenager Who Became My Mother

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Chika, Chimezie (2022). "Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto: The Shape of Dreams and Memories". AfroCritik. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b Emmanuel K. Akyeampong; Henry Louis Gates Jr., eds. (2012). "Ezenwa-Ohaeto". Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 322.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Chinụa Ezenwa-Ọhaeto | Department of English Language". University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b Michael, Bestman (7 June 2021). "Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto: Exploring the musicality of death". Vanguard. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b Augoye, Jayne (30 November 2018). "Nigerian writer wins prestigious international award". Premium Times. Retrieved 9 November 2022.