Lucy Dale, Staff Writer–
On April 1, the Lisska Center for Intellectual Engagement presented “An Evening with Nnedi Okorafor,” co-sponsored by the Minds Wide Open Series, the Laura C. Harris Series, the Goodspeed Lecture Series, and the Beck Series.
The conversation was moderated by Dr. Diana Mafe, director of the Lisska Center.
“The Minds Wide Open Series fosters conversations that are timely, push boundaries, ask questions, and provide fresh takes and perspectives,” Dr. Mafe said.
Dr. Nnedi Okorafor is an international award-winning New York Times bestselling novelist of science fiction and fantasy for children and adults. Acclaimed for being a Nigerian-American author, she is most known for works like “Binti,” “Who Fears Death,” and “Akata Witch.” Born in the U.S. to Nigerian immigrant parents, she draws from African cultures to create captivating stories with unforgettable characters and evocative settings.
“She encourages readers to look beyond easy categories or one-dimensional ideas about genre, culture, or identity,” Mafe said.
During the conversation, Nnedi discussed how her hybrid Nigerian-American identity and experiences have deeply influenced and shaped her creative work across genres.
“The Nigerian-American identity is this hybrid thing where you’re just, you’re this, you’re that, and you’re either outside or inside,” Nnedi said. “It’s very specific, but also universal. A lot of people can have that kind of experience in different ways.”
Nnedi’s parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1969 due to the Biafran War, leading to Nnedi being born in the U.S. but raised with strong Nigerian cultural influences. When she was growing up, her family would visit Nigeria and Nnedi found a similar struggle with identity that she felt in the U.S.
“You have a different accent. You have a different experience. You’re American, and that’s pointed out often,” Nnedi said.
Nnedi’s early exposure to Nigerian folklore, spirituality, and traditions like masquerades directly inspired her to start writing fantasy and science fiction. Nnedi recounted how the experience of navigating culture as an outsider and trying to merge identities to become something new shares many similarities with elements of science fiction.
“My writing, my storytelling, all that comes from Nigeria,” Nnedi said. “It’s interesting because I’m born and raised here, but that connection, you can’t question it. It’s very strong.”
Nnedi coined the term “Africanfuturism” to describe her brand of science fiction that centers African perspectives and worldviews, in contrast to “Afrofuturism,” which she sees as more U.S.-centric. She created this term to open up a conversation about the diversity of black speculative fiction, as she felt the existing categorizations were erasing important African elements. Nnedi’s Africanfuturism incorporates elements of Nigerian cosmology, spirituality, and the interplay of ancient and modern elements, which she sees as a distinct form of science fiction.
“Basically what was missing was Africa,” Nnedi said. “There was a centering of the United States in black science fiction that was erasing everything around it. And that’s a problem to me…it felt like my parents were being erased.”
Nnedi emphasizes the transformative power of stories, tracing her own path to becoming a writer after a traumatic injury when she started writing stories that “saved” her.
“I had a copy of Isaac Asimov’s ‘I, Robot’…and I just started telling myself this story on the edge of the print,” Nnedi said. “I had never done anything creatively before, up until that moment in the hospital.”
Her characters often emerge fully formed, with Nnedi describing them as interrupting her and demanding to have their stories told. All her protagonists are strong women and girls.
“I have strong feminist beliefs. And those come out in my stories in many different ways, but I don’t—I definitely don’t sit down to push any agenda,” Nnedi said.
Nnedi’s latest novel, “Death of the Author,” brings together many of the core elements and themes she has explored in her previous works.
She sees the novel as a culmination and focal point for her creative development, drawing on and synthesizing her decades of storytelling.