Uzoma Ihejirika

Staff Writer

Uzoma Ihejirika was a staff writer at Open Country Mag. He is a staff writer at Folio Nigeria. He is an editor for the AfroAnthology Series and a copy editor for Minority Africa. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming on Lolwe, Music in Africa, and Bakwa Magazine, and can also be found on Medium.

All Works

November 2, 2022

Adeola Osunkojo on Directing the Characters and Romances of Love Like This

“Love is a good point for telling stories because it brings out all the other emotions of pain, happiness, joy, euphoria, and sadness,” she said of the warmly received Ndani TV web series. “And it’s what our audience—a lot of them—want in their lives.”

Uzoma Ihejirika

October 31, 2022

Writing Omo Ghetto: The Saga, Nollywood’s Highest Grossing Film of All-Time

Collins Okoh, co-writer of the ₦636 million box office juggernaut starring Funke Akindele, tells us about his research of ghetto culture and the need for creative freedom for screenwriters. “I never thought that a gun would be referred to as ‘English’ until I started writing the movie,” he said.

Uzoma Ihejirika

October 25, 2022

Blood Sisters, Reviewed: A Rousing Murder Thriller

Like in a Nigerian Thelma and Louise, two friends are on the run in this fast-paced series by Kenneth Gyang and Biyi Bandele.

Uzoma Ihejirika

October 22, 2022

Nne, Reviewed: Two Mothers and a Son, Bound by Love

Chiege Alisigwe and Swanky JKA break hearts as a maddened mother and her lost son in Victor Iyke’s AMVCA-winning Igbo language film.

Uzoma Ihejirika

August 27, 2022

The $100,000 NLNG Prize Announces Youngest Ever Shortlist

In an unusual decision that has surprised and delighted observers, the final three poets—Romeo Oriogun, Su’eddie Vershima Agema, and Saddiq Dzukogi—come from the younger generation.

Uzoma Ihejirika

July 28, 2022

NoViolet Bulawayo’s Political Allegory Glory on Booker Prize Longlist

It is the Zimbabwean’s second novel to be longlisted, after her 2013 debut We Need New Names reached the shortlist.

Uzoma Ihejirika

June 27, 2022

Where Diriye Osman Draws His Flamboyance From

With his queerness and community as shield, the Somali writer is the rare artist who considers himself art. “We can be as weird and wonderful and brilliant and badass as we want to be,” he says in his first in-depth interview in eight years.

Uzoma Ihejirika

June 7, 2022

“I wanted ‘Love’ to be the narrator”: Roy Udeh-Ubaka on Winning the Gerald Kraak Prize

“Having grown up in a small city in Nigeria where I had to cobble communities—both queer and literary—the value is in becoming a part of this incredible anthology that makes it possible for us all to exist,” said the Nigerian writer.

Uzoma Ihejirika

November 2, 2022

Adeola Osunkojo on Directing the Characters and Romances of Love Like This

“Love is a good point for telling stories because it brings out all the other emotions of pain, happiness, joy, euphoria, and sadness,” she said of the warmly received Ndani TV web series. “And it’s what our audience—a lot of them—want in their lives.”

Uzoma Ihejirika

October 31, 2022

Writing Omo Ghetto: The Saga, Nollywood’s Highest Grossing Film of All-Time

Collins Okoh, co-writer of the ₦636 million box office juggernaut starring Funke Akindele, tells us about his research of ghetto culture and the need for creative freedom for screenwriters. “I never thought that a gun would be referred to as ‘English’ until I started writing the movie,” he said.

Uzoma Ihejirika

October 25, 2022

Blood Sisters, Reviewed: A Rousing Murder Thriller

Like in a Nigerian Thelma and Louise, two friends are on the run in this fast-paced series by Kenneth Gyang and Biyi Bandele.

Uzoma Ihejirika

October 22, 2022

Nne, Reviewed: Two Mothers and a Son, Bound by Love

Chiege Alisigwe and Swanky JKA break hearts as a maddened mother and her lost son in Victor Iyke’s AMVCA-winning Igbo language film.

Uzoma Ihejirika

August 27, 2022

The $100,000 NLNG Prize Announces Youngest Ever Shortlist

In an unusual decision that has surprised and delighted observers, the final three poets—Romeo Oriogun, Su’eddie Vershima Agema, and Saddiq Dzukogi—come from the younger generation.

Uzoma Ihejirika

July 28, 2022

NoViolet Bulawayo’s Political Allegory Glory on Booker Prize Longlist

It is the Zimbabwean’s second novel to be longlisted, after her 2013 debut We Need New Names reached the shortlist.

Uzoma Ihejirika

June 27, 2022

Where Diriye Osman Draws His Flamboyance From

With his queerness and community as shield, the Somali writer is the rare artist who considers himself art. “We can be as weird and wonderful and brilliant and badass as we want to be,” he says in his first in-depth interview in eight years.

Uzoma Ihejirika

June 7, 2022

“I wanted ‘Love’ to be the narrator”: Roy Udeh-Ubaka on Winning the Gerald Kraak Prize

“Having grown up in a small city in Nigeria where I had to cobble communities—both queer and literary—the value is in becoming a part of this incredible anthology that makes it possible for us all to exist,” said the Nigerian writer.

Uzoma Ihejirika