Famous Nigerian Writers

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian poet, novelist, professor, and critic. Often described as Africa's greatest storyteller, Achebe is widely regarded as the father of modern African writing. He was the recipient of several awards and honors, including the Man Booker International Prize 2007. His novel Things Fall Apart is one of the most read books in Africa.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer and feminist. She is popular for writing novels, such as Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun. She is credited with popularizing African literature among a new generation of readers, especially in the United States. In 2015, she was named in Time magazine's list of 100 Most Influential People.

Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian playwright, poet, and essayist. In 1986, he became the first sub-Saharan African to be honored with the Nobel Prize in Literature. As a young man, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. In Nigeria, he was actively involved in the country’s freedom struggle. He has taught at various international universities.

Distinguished Nigerian poet and novelist Ben Okri OBE FRSL is counted among the leading African authors in the post-modern and post-colonial traditions. His 1991 novel The Famished Road led him to become the youngest-ever winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Other notable works of Okri includes A Way of Being Free, A Time for New Dreams and Starbook.

Nigerian-born novelist Buchi Emecheta OBE, who was based in the UK since 1962, gained critical-acclaim and recognition for her literary works with themes including child-slavery, female independence, motherhood and freedom through education. Notable works of Emecheta include novels like Second Class Citizen, The Bride Price, The Joys of Motherhood and The Slave Girl. The latter won her Jock Campbell Award. 

Nigerian-American author and doctor Uzodinma Iweala is best-known for authoring the novels Beasts of No Nation and Speak No Evil. While the first, theme of child soldiers of which draws on his Harvard thesis, won the 2005 Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and was adapted as an award-winning 2015 movie; the second explores life of a gay Nigerian-American boy.

Nigerian author, pharmacist and broadcaster Cyprian Ekwensi MFR is best-remembered for authoring novels like People of the City and Jagua Nana. His oeuvre also includes short-stories, children's books and radio and television scripts. Ekwensi served as Head of Features at Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, as Director of Nigerian Ministry of Information and as chair of Bureau for External Publicity of Biafra.   

Nigerian dramatist, mime, director, actor and playwright Kola Ogunmola, counted among most remarkable actors in Africa during the 1950s and ’60s, is best-remembered for developing Yoruba culture, particularly folk opera, into a significant theatre form. He did so by travelling extensively and staging his works through his Ogunmola Travelling Theatre. His popular plays include Love for Money and Palmwine Drinkard.