Uzodinma Iweala

Uzodinma Iweala is an award-winning Nigerian author whose diverse portfolio includes books, short stories, essays and plays. His works have been translated into multiple languages and showcased around the world, with “Beasts of No Nation” becoming a major motion picture in 2015. He has won numerous awards and accolades, including a National Book Critics Circle Award shortlist nomination and NAACP Image Awards in 2018.

Born in 1982 in Washington, DC to Nigerian parents, Uzodinma Iweala grew up under the influence of a thriving Nigerian culture in his home life. He attended Harvard and earned his degree at the tender age of 19. A medical student at the University of Pennsylvania, Iweala ultimately found himself channeling his creative energy towards writing instead of medicine.

Iweala’s first work was “Beasts of No Nation”, a novel about a child soldier in an unnamed African country. The novel was highly regarded for its raw emotion and delicate exploration into the psyche of the children forced into violence in West Africa. It was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award and won multiple literary awards and accolades from the African Studies Association and Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Additionally, the novel was adapted into a feature-length film directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and produced by Netflix.

Iweala has also authored “Our Kind of People: A Continent’s Challenge, a Country’s Hope,” which details the struggles of living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, including issues of access to drugs and treatment adherence. The book was considered “an eloquent portrait of a community in the throes of a devastating epidemic” by the New York Times. In 2010, Iweala was invited to the White House by President Obama, where he discussed the challenges of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

In addition to writing books, Iweala has also directed two short films and written for multiple publications. His “Harper’s” essay, “Sacred Cows”, addressed the challenges of globalization and the importance of the economic development of Africa.

Uzodinma Iweala has become a powerful voice for young people in Nigeria and the continent of Africa. His writing has captured the attention of a global audience, highlighting the cultural specificity of Africans, and their power to create justice, acceptance and reconciliation. Iweala has also become a role model for members of the African diaspora who also long to have their voice heard within the international community. As he eloquently states, “Our voices and ideas are necessary to contribute to the future of humanity.”