Obi Nwakanma

Poet, journalist, biographer and literary critic, Obi Nwakanma was born in Nigeria. Thirsting for Sunlight, his biography of the tragic modernist poet, Christopher Okigbo, was published by James Currey (UK) in 2010. His collection of poems, The Horsemen & Other Poems, was published by Africa World Press (New Jersey) in 2007, and Birthcry (Poems) by Kraft Books (Ibadan) in 2016. Nwakanma's first collection of poems, The Roped Urn, was awarded the Cadbury Prize in 1996 by the Association of Nigerian Authors, and he received the Walter J. Ong Award for Distinguished Achievement in 2008 from Saint Louis University. His poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in various anthologies and publications including Okike, Vanguard Review, WSQ, Callaloo, Ariel, Brick, Adelaide, Antiphon, and Wasafiri. His poetry has been translated into Spanish, Dutch, German, and Turkish.