Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

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Adaobi Tricia Obinne Nwaubani // ^ⓘ (born 1976) is a Nigerian novelist, humorist, essayist and journalist.^[1] Her debut novel, I Do Not Come To You By Chance,^[2] won the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (Africa),^[3][4] a Betty Trask First Book award,^[5] and was named by The Washington Post as one of the Best Books of 2009.^[6] Her debut Young Adult novel, Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree, based on interviews with girls kidnapped by Boko Haram, was published by HarperCollins in September 2018.^[7] It won the 2018 Raven Award for Excellence in Arts and Entertainment, was named as one of the American Library Association’s Best Fiction for Young Adults, and is a Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2019 selection.^[8]

Nwaubani was born in Enugu, Nigeria, to Chief Chukwuma Hope Nwaubani and Dame Patricia Uberife Nwaubani on 28 March 1976.^[9] Nwaubani was raised by both parents in her hometown Umuahia,^[10] Abia State, among the Igbo people. Her family is descended from members of the Nigerian chieftaincy system; her great-grandfather Chief Nwaubani Ogogo Oriaku – the source of her surname – was a famous chief and a trader licensed by the Royal Niger Company in the late 19th century. His goods included slaves.^[11]

At the age of 10, she left home to attend boarding school at the Federal Government Girls College Owerri. She studied Psychology at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria's premier university.^[12] As a teenager, Nwaubani secretly dreamed of becoming a CIA or KGB agent.^[12] She earned her first income from winning a writing competition at the age of 13.^[13] Her mother is a cousin to Flora Nwapa, the first female African writer to publish a book.^[14] In her first year at University, she was a member of the Idia Hall Chess Team, and also a member of the university's (classical music) choir.^[15]

Nwaubani was one of the pioneer editorial staff of Nigeria's now defunct NEXT newspapers, established by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dele Olojede.^[16]

I Do Not Come to You by Chance is Nwaubani's debut novel, published in 2009.^[17] Set in the world of Nigerian email scams, the book tells the story of a young man, Kingsley, who turns to his Uncle Boniface for help in bailing his family out of poverty. In 2019, Masobe Books earned the rights to publish I Do Not Come to You by Chance in Nigeria.^[18]

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani lives in Abuja, Nigeria, where she works as a consultant.^[19]

Nwaubani has expressed concern over the largely somber tone of African novels.^[20] She credits Irish-American writer Frank McCourt's Pulitzer-winning Angela's Ashes with showing her that she could write on serious issues in a humorous tone.^[21] She is also a great admirer of British humorist P. G. Wodehouse.^[22]

• 2010: Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book (Africa)^[23]
• 2010: Betty Trask First Book Award^[24]
• 2010: Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa finalist^[25]
• 2012: Nigeria Prize for Literature shortlist^[26]
• 2009: The Washington Post Best Books^[27]
• 2018: Recipient of the Raven Award of Excellence for her book "Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree"^[28]
• 2019: Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute Reporting Award^[29][30]

• I Do Not Come To You By Chance, 2009
• Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree, HarperCollins, 2018

• Author's official website.
• We Have Decided to Help – A Short Story by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

Reviews

• Ikhide R. Ikheloa (23–24 May 2009). "Review: I Do Not Come To You By Chance". The New Black Magazine.