Uwem Akpan
AUTHOR

Uwem Akpan

Tap the gear icon above to manage new release emails.
Uwem Akpan was born in Ikot Akpan Eda in the Niger Delta in Nigeria. Uwem’s short stories and autobiographical pieces have appeared in the special editions of The New Yorker, the Oprah magazine, Hekima Review, the Nigerian Guardian, America, etc. His first book, Say You’re One of Them, was published in 2008 by Little, Brown, after a protracted auction. It made the “Best of the Year” list at People magazine, World Street Journal, and other places. The New York Times made it the Editor’s Choice, and Entertainment Weekly listed it at # 27 in their Best of the Decade. Say You’re One of Them won the Commonwealth Prize (Africa Region), the Open Book Prize, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. The collection of short stories was the 2009 Oprah Book Club selection. A New York Times and Wall Street Journal #1 bestseller, it has been translated into 12 languages. His second book and first novel, New York, My Village, will be published in Nov 2021 by WW Norton. An immigrant story, Uwem writes about NYC with the same promise and pain we saw in his African cities of Say You’re One of Them. “New York City has always mystified me since I first spent two weeks in the Bronx in 1993,” he says. “It was only when I lived in Manhattan in 2013 that I began to understand the metro system, to visit the different neighborhoods, to enjoy the endless ethnic dishes. It didn’t also take long before I discovered the crazy underbelly of this city.” Uwem teaches in the University of Florida's writing program.
Read more Read less
You're getting a free audiobook


You're getting a free audiobook.

$8.99 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Try Standard free

Best Sellers

Product List
  • Say You're One of Them Audiobook By Uwem Akpan cover art
    Preview

    $25.19 or free with 30-day trial

    Try Standard free
  • New York, My Village Audiobook By Uwem Akpan cover art
    Preview

    $22.77 or free with 30-day trial

    Try Standard free

Are you an author?

Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography.
Visit Amazon Author Central