Chinelo Okparanta
Biography
Born and raised in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Chinelo Okparanta moved to the United States with her family at age 10. She earned degrees from Pennsylvania State University and Rutgers University before completing an M.F.A. at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her literary work has received international recognition, including Lambda Literary and O. Henry Prize honors.
Her debut short-story collection, Happiness, Like Water (2013), explores family, migration, sexuality, and cultural expectations and won the 2014 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction. Her debut novel, Under the Udala Trees (2015), follows Ijeoma, a young Nigerian woman navigating love, faith, and sexuality during and after the Nigerian Civil War. The novel won the 2016 Lambda Literary Award for General Lesbian Fiction and the Jessie Redmon Fauset Book Award for Fiction.
Okparanta's fiction and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, The Kenyon Review, and other literary publications. Her second novel, Harry Sylvester Bird (2022), examines race, identity, privilege, family, and contemporary American life. She is an Associate Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at Swarthmore College.
BQW Impact
Okparanta's literary work has helped expand representation of Black queer and African LGBTQ+ lives in contemporary literature. Her fiction addresses lesbian identity, religion, family, sexuality, and belonging within Nigerian and diasporic contexts.
Under the Udala Trees places a lesbian Nigerian protagonist's coming-of-age within the history of the Nigerian Civil War, while her short fiction explores sexuality, migration, family, and cultural expectations. Through her writing, Okparanta has brought queer African experiences into broader conversations about literature, identity, and representation.
Notable Works
Happiness, Like Water (2013)
Award-winning debut collection exploring family, migration, identity, and belonging across the African diaspora.
Under the Udala Trees (2015)
Acclaimed coming-of-age novel following a young lesbian during and after the Nigerian Civil War.
Harry Sylvester Bird (2022)
Satirical novel examining race, identity, privilege, and contemporary American life.
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Explore Chinelo Okparanta's official biography, books, essays, speaking engagements, and latest news.
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Read Chinelo Okparanta's fiction and essays published in The New Yorker.