Emmanuel Esomnofu

Staff Writer

Emmanuel Esomnofu is a staff writer at Open Country Mag. He is a culture journalist and has written extensively on Nigerian music and on several moving parts of popular culture. His writing appears online in Native Mag, Okay Africa, Kalahari Review, Praxis Magazine, and elsewhere. He was published in print in The Muse, the oldest student journal in West Africa. In December 2020, he worked on “Fuji: A Opera” as a copywriter, creating informative and exciting stories from Fuji’s rich history.

All Works

October 31, 2022

Nollywood Has a Storytelling Problem. Adapting These 20 Novels Can Help.

Nigerian literature has the global acclaim that Nigerian cinema need only draw from. But will filmmakers look?

Emmanuel Esomnofu

October 15, 2022

Romeo Oriogun Is the First Openly Queer Writer to Win the Nigeria Prize for Literature

The bisexual poet’s historic victory, for his second collection Nomad, is also the first time that a writer of the younger generation has won Africa’s richest prize, worth $100,000.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

September 10, 2022

Arinze Ifeakandu Leads Shortlist for $50,000 Kirkus Prize

The debut Nigerian author’s short story collection, God’s Children Are Little Broken Things, has seen him compared to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Zadie Smith and praised by Damon Galgut.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

August 13, 2022

In New Memoir, Emmanuel Iduma Traces His Family History Through the Biafran War

I Am Still with You: A Reckoning on Silence, Inheritance & History, set for 2023, is billed as “the story of countless families across the country who will never have answers for their loved ones.” Iduma calls it “the book I’ve been preparing to write for most of my life.”

Emmanuel Esomnofu

July 20, 2022

In Affectionate Open Letter, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Endorses Peter Obi for President of Nigeria

The influential culture icon had social media spinning with her birthday note to the Labour Party candidate, already the hot favourite for young Nigerians.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

July 11, 2022

The $100,000 NLNG Prize Longlist a Mix of Young and Veteran Nigerian Poets

The 11 nominees for Africa’s richest literary award, led by rising star Romeo Oriogun, include Iquo DianaAbasi and Su’eddie Vershima Agema—a departure from its tradition of ignoring newer voices.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

June 14, 2022

God’s Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu Review—A Momentous Debut of Gay Love and Human Fullness

“This book is lush with evocative passages. So real are the characters, you could almost reach out and touch them.”

Emmanuel Esomnofu

May 28, 2022

12 Publications Currently Open for Submissions

From One Story to Isele, submit your work to these magazines.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

May 25, 2022

The Gerald Kraak Prize Awarded to Roy Udeh-Ubaka

The Nigerian writer was chosen for his short story, “Until It Doesn’t,” which the judges called “brave fiction that tweaks the possibilities of the short story form.”

Emmanuel Esomnofu

May 4, 2022

Zimbabwe’s Zibusiso Mpofu Wins 2022 Brunel Prize

The judges praised his “allusive, lyrical poems [which] open a new itinerary in African poetry, drawing in Shona and Mandarin and mapping a journey of the Black body through India, Hong Kong, the Philippines and China.”

Emmanuel Esomnofu

October 31, 2022

Nollywood Has a Storytelling Problem. Adapting These 20 Novels Can Help.

Nigerian literature has the global acclaim that Nigerian cinema need only draw from. But will filmmakers look?

Emmanuel Esomnofu

October 15, 2022

Romeo Oriogun Is the First Openly Queer Writer to Win the Nigeria Prize for Literature

The bisexual poet’s historic victory, for his second collection Nomad, is also the first time that a writer of the younger generation has won Africa’s richest prize, worth $100,000.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

September 10, 2022

Arinze Ifeakandu Leads Shortlist for $50,000 Kirkus Prize

The debut Nigerian author’s short story collection, God’s Children Are Little Broken Things, has seen him compared to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Zadie Smith and praised by Damon Galgut.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

August 13, 2022

In New Memoir, Emmanuel Iduma Traces His Family History Through the Biafran War

I Am Still with You: A Reckoning on Silence, Inheritance & History, set for 2023, is billed as “the story of countless families across the country who will never have answers for their loved ones.” Iduma calls it “the book I’ve been preparing to write for most of my life.”

Emmanuel Esomnofu

July 20, 2022

In Affectionate Open Letter, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Endorses Peter Obi for President of Nigeria

The influential culture icon had social media spinning with her birthday note to the Labour Party candidate, already the hot favourite for young Nigerians.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

July 11, 2022

The $100,000 NLNG Prize Longlist a Mix of Young and Veteran Nigerian Poets

The 11 nominees for Africa’s richest literary award, led by rising star Romeo Oriogun, include Iquo DianaAbasi and Su’eddie Vershima Agema—a departure from its tradition of ignoring newer voices.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

June 14, 2022

God’s Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu Review—A Momentous Debut of Gay Love and Human Fullness

“This book is lush with evocative passages. So real are the characters, you could almost reach out and touch them.”

Emmanuel Esomnofu

May 28, 2022

12 Publications Currently Open for Submissions

From One Story to Isele, submit your work to these magazines.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

May 25, 2022

The Gerald Kraak Prize Awarded to Roy Udeh-Ubaka

The Nigerian writer was chosen for his short story, “Until It Doesn’t,” which the judges called “brave fiction that tweaks the possibilities of the short story form.”

Emmanuel Esomnofu

May 4, 2022

Zimbabwe’s Zibusiso Mpofu Wins 2022 Brunel Prize

The judges praised his “allusive, lyrical poems [which] open a new itinerary in African poetry, drawing in Shona and Mandarin and mapping a journey of the Black body through India, Hong Kong, the Philippines and China.”

Emmanuel Esomnofu