Otosirieze Obi-Young

Otosirieze Obi-Young // ⓘ (born 1994) is a Nigerian writer, editor, culture journalist and curator. He is editor of Open Country Mag.[1] He was editor of Folio Nigeria, a then CNN affiliate,[2] and former deputy editor of Brittle Paper.[3][4] In 2019, he won the inaugural The Future Awards Africa Prize for Literature.[5][6][7] He has been described as among the "top curators and editors from Africa."[8]

Otosirieze Obi-Young
Born1994 (age 28–29)
Aba, Abia State, Nigeria
Alma materUniversity of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Iowa
Occupation(s)Writer, editor, journalist, curator
Organization(s)Folio Nigeria, Open Country Mag
Websiteotosirieze.com

Career

Obi-Young was born in Aba, Nigeria. He studied at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He taught at Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu. He attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

He has served on the judging panel of the Gerald Kraak Prize, an initiative for writing and visual art about on gender, social justice and sexuality.[9][10] He was a judge for the Miles Morland Foundation Writing Scholarship.[11] He is an editor at 14, Nigeria's first queer art collective. He is the founder of the Art Naija Series anthologies, which include Enter Naija: The Book of Places[12] and Work Naija: The Book of Vocations.[13]

Views on LGBTQ Literature

Obi-Young is an advocate for LGBTQ writing in Africa.[14][15] He has written: "To write literature humanizing queerness is only as political as it is not, because it is grounded in lived experience. How can one un-robbed of empathy say that to show these lives in literature is a 'political concession'?" He expressed scepticism about the marketing category of LGBT literature because "it has no counter-reference":

"Why should literature exploring same-sex desire be categorized based on who its characters find themselves loving or on who its writers themselves love, especially as such categorization is withheld from literature exploring desire for the opposite sex? It takes focus away from the skill of its writers and pushes it to their subject, a denial not bestowed on writers of 'heterosexual literature'."[16]

Views on contemporary African literature

In 2018, Obi-Young used the term "the confessional generation" to describe his generation of African writers.[17]." He has said:

"The next generation of writers, the ones who began to blossom last year and would peak in five years’ time, is dominated by people who are either queer or female and who have already begun to revolt against the normalized absence of their kind in literature."[18]

Fiction

In a feature, the Los Angeles Review of Books wrote about Obi-Young's short story "A Tenderer Blessing":

“Much still remains unspoken. Obi-Young relies on body language cues and the spaces between words to shape the intimacy. As readers, we feel almost as though we've been holding our breath the whole story, waiting for him to finally say it. We feel almost as though we have ourselves come out."[15]

Works

Short stories
  • "A Tenderer Blessing". Transition Magazine. 2015.
  • "Mulumba". The Threepenny Review. 2016.
  • "You Sing of a Longing". Pride and Prejudice: African Perspectives on Gender, Social Justice and Sexuality. Jacana Media. 2017.

Culture writing
  • "Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Is in a Different Place Now", Open Country Magazine, 2021 [19]
  • "How Teju Cole Opened a New Path in African Literature", Open Country Magazine, 2021[20]
  • "Cameroon's New Literary Generation Comes of Age, as Anglophone Crisis Deepens", Open Country Magazine, 2021[21]
  • "With Novels and Images, Maaza Mengiste Is Reframing Ethiopian History", Open Country Magazine, 2021[22]
  • "The Making of Ndebe, an Indigenous Script for the Igbo Language", Folio Nigeria, 2020
  • "In the Age of Afrobeats, a New Sound for Highlife", Folio Nigeria, 2020
  • "In Nigeria, Investigative Journalism Finds Culture Impact", Folio Nigeria, 2020

Awards

References
  1. de Waal, Shaun. "African literature and film in the global conversation – an interview with Otosirieze Obi-Young". News24. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  2. Clement, Phillips (18 May 2020). "Folio Group appoints Otosirieze Obi-Young as editor". Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  3. Bedingfield, William (9 April 2018). "Eight Nigerian authors discuss Nigeria's literary culture". Dazed Digital. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  4. "Otosirieze : Statement on Leaving Brittle Paper". Otosirieze. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  5. "Burna Boy, Israel Adesanya, Timini Egbuson, Simi 'Drey' Adejumo, Tolani Alli, others emerge winners at The Future Awards Africa 2019". The Future Awards Africa. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  6. "Burna Boy, Tolani Alli, Isaac Success … Meet the Winners at The Future Awards Africa 2019!". Bella Naija. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  7. Ibeh, Chukwuebuka (24 November 2019). "Otosirieze Obi-Young Wins Inaugural The Future Awards Prize for Literature". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  8. "2019: Top 10 Literary Curators and Editors from Africa Right Now". The Moveee. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  9. "Otosirieze joins Gerald Kraak Prize and Anthology judging panel". The Reading List. September 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  10. "'Beauty maintained despite violation': Queer African writing shines in fourth Gerald Kraak Anthology". News24. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  11. "Changes to MMF Judging Panel". Miles Morland Foundation. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  12. Ugwu, Emeka (20 June 2017). "A Letter from a Homeless Prodigal". The Chimurenga Chronic. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  13. Ihejirika, Uzoma (3 November 2016). "Q&A with Otosirieze Obi-Young on Enter Naija, Emerging Writers and Provincialism". Bakwa. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  14. d'Adesky, Anne-christine (3 October 2019). "On a Progressive Platform for New African Literature". Literary Hub. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  15. Gleibermann, Erik (6 January 2020). "Queer Nigerians Rewrite the Body". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  16. Obi-Young, Otosirieze (18 December 2017). "Dear Mr. Brittle: Queer Literature in Africa Is Not a Trend, Has Always Existed". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  17. Obi-Young, Otosirieze (26 January 2018). "The Confessional Generation". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  18. Mogami, Gaamangwe (24 July 2017). "A Dialogue with Otosirieze Obi-Young". Africa in Dialogue. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  19. Obi-Young, Otosirieze (20 September 2021). "Cover Story: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on Half of a Yellow Sun at 15, Her Private Losses, and Public Evolution". Open Country Mag. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  20. Obi-Young, Otosirieze (4 July 2021). "Cover Story: How Teju Cole Opened a New Path in African Literature". Open Country Mag. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  21. Obi-Young, Otosirieze (25 June 2021). "In Cameroonian Literature, a New Generation Comes of Age". Open Country Mag. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  22. Obi-Young, Otosirieze (16 January 2021). "Maaza Mengiste's Chronicles of Ethiopia". Open Country Mag. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  23. "Burna Boy, Israel Adesanya, Timini Egbuson, Simi 'Drey' Adejumo, Tolani Alli, others emerge winners at The Future Awards Africa 2019". The Future Awards Africa. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  24. "Profiles: 2019 100 Most Influential Young Nigerians". Avance Media. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
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