Nigeria’s Chika Unigwe bags US varsity’s associate professorship, novel finalist
* ‘Ngugi, our unfinished business’ – Unigwe
By Uduma Kalu
NIGERIAN-BORN novelist, Chika Unigwe, has been appointed associate professor by the Georgia College and State University in the United States. Unigwe, until this recent appointment, was assistant professor at the same university. News of Unigwe’s appointment filtered in through one her former classmates at English department of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr. Dokubo Goodhead.
Goodhead, in the WhatsApp message to their classmates announced, “Class, we have a brand-new associate professor in our midst. I just found out that Chi, as in our own Chika, has gained tenure and the rank of associate professor of Creative Writing at Georgia College and State University. Let us put hands together to celebrate this milestone with her. Meanwhile, I have told her that she owes the class a bottle of champagne. She has promised to deliver the bottle when she is able to get together with us. I have filed it away in my memory bank.”
A check on Unigwe’s LinkedIn profile confirms her new title, conspicuously displaced on her page. Last month also, Unigwe was named a finalist for the 2025 Townsend Prize for Fiction for her novel The Middle Daughter.
Unigwe, a professor of creative writing at Georgia College and State University, was knighted recently into the Order of the Crown at the Consulate of Belgium in Atlanta. She was also a finalist for the Christoffel Plantin Prize, a prestigious award for Belgian nationals living abroad who contribute to the reputation of their nation. Unigwe was honoured for her artistic and literary merits. Her latest novel The Middle Daughter was published in 2023.
According to the award citation: “Several of her novels and short stories are set in Belgium and were written in Dutch, then translated to many other languages. Her work touches on often difficult topics such as migration, human trafficking, marital abuse and the role of women in society, but she always holds space for humour and zest for life and the inner resolve and fortitude of women throughout her literary work.
Chika Unigwe
“Chika is someone who doesn’t pander to power, who tackles difficult topics, and more often than not puts her finger, or rather her quill, where it hurts. In times where questions around identity, freedom of speech, disinformation, the nature of truth are central, almost existential for our societies it is important that we as a country applaud and recognize voices such as hers.”
Born on June 12, 1974, in Enugu, Nigeria, Unigwe holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a Master’s degree from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. She earned her PhD in Literature from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, with a dissertation titled In the Shadow of Ala: Igbo Women Writing as an Act of Righting.
The Middle Daughter, published by Dzanc Books in April 2023, is a modern retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth set in Enugu, Nigeria. The novel follows Nani, a young woman who, after the tragic loss of her sister and father, becomes entangled in an abusive marriage with a charismatic preacher. The narrative delves into themes of family, resilience, and self-discovery.
Unigwe’s literary career includes several acclaimed works, such as On Black Sisters Street (2009) and winner of The Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2012, and Night Dancer (2012). Her writing often explores the experiences of African women, both on the continent and in the diaspora. Unigwe has won many accolades in recognition of her talent, including being selected for the Hay Festival’s Africa39 list in 2014, which honoured 39 Sub-Saharan African writers under the age of 40 with the potential to shape future trends in African literature.
The Townsend Prize for Fiction, awarded biennially, honours outstanding works by Georgia writers. Unigwe, who has previously taught at Brown University and Emory University, is currently a faculty member at Georgia College. Her nomination for this prestigious award underscores her impact on the literary scene both within and beyond Africa.
Unigwe was born and raised in Nigeria. She lived in Belgium many years, before starting her literary career there. In the United States, Unigwe taught at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Emory University in Atlanta before moving to Georgia College.
‘Ngũgĩ: Our unfinished business’ – Chika Unigwe
I remember the first time I met him—back in 2007 at the Time of the Writer Festival in Durban. What struck me immediately was his affability and warm tone, which helped ease my starstruck nerves. I thought, “See me, see me, just casually chatting with the great Ngũgĩ!”—and even disagreeing with him about his stance on African writers using indigenous languages. We had a real conversation, and at one point, he even promised me goat meat if I ever visited him in Kenya.
Over the years, I’d see him at various events, and we’d always laugh and talk about that goat meat. (By the way, I eventually had the best goat meat in Kenya—not at Ngũgĩ’s place, sadly, but in a restaurant. But that’s a story for another day).
When I heard he had moved to Atlanta, where his daughter Wanjiku lives, I told myself I must go and see him. I never did.
The opportunity to have known him—and to have been able to call him Mzee—is one of the many blessings that writing has brought into my life. And I am exceedingly thankful to God for the gift of writing. May Mzee Ngugi’s soul rest in peace!
