FSU graduate claims Flannery O鈥機onnor Award for Short Fiction
A 糖心vlog graduate whose fiction writing draws from his experience as an immigrant from Nigeria has earned the , one of the most prestigious awards in American literature.
Iheoma Nwachukwu earned his doctorate in in 2018 and is now a professor at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania where he lives with his wife and three sons.
鈥淭he sheer astonishment of winning an award like this is almost too big for me to comprehend,鈥 Nwachukwu said. 鈥淚 have to step outside my body to confront it.鈥
The O鈥機onnor Award is bestowed by the University of Georgia Press annually and seeks to encourage talented writers of short stories by presenting their work to wider readership. The award, which includes a $1,000 prize and publication of a book-length collection of the winner鈥檚 work, has launched the careers of numerous writers.
Krafft Professor of English and Pulitzer Prize Laureate Robert Olen Butler was Nwachukwu鈥檚 doctoral adviser at FSU.
鈥淗e richly deserves it in every way,鈥 Butler said of Nwachukwu鈥檚 win. 鈥淚heoma is not only a brilliant creative talent, he is one of the most admirable, sweet-spirited, compassionate and generous people I have ever known. I could not be happier for him.鈥
Nwachukwu鈥檚 roots as a writer are grounded in Lagos, Nigeria where he grew up and earned an undergraduate degree in biochemistry, a field he joked he has no interest in.
Money and resources were scarce and corruption rife in Lagos. Nwachukwu said his father鈥檚 unwillingness to participate in corruption in his advertising business meant the family was frequently close to starting over.
鈥淲e would go years without really making a penny,鈥 he said. 鈥淭here were no opportunities to make a living. In college, I was on the chess team and I would play chess to make money to buy textbooks and food.鈥
He was a professional chess player for 10 years. During that time, he stumbled onto a book called 鈥淗ow to Reassess Your Chess,鈥 which urged readers to 鈥渇orget everything you know about chess.鈥 The refrain resonated and a familiar one would change his life.
鈥淲hen I took Bob鈥檚 class, the first day he said, 鈥楩orget everything you know about fiction,鈥欌 Nwachukwu said. 鈥淢y idea of how fiction should function basically shifted.鈥
鈥淗e continued: 鈥淭he structure of the story has to reveal the story you are telling. I focus on the rhythm of the story and the yearning of the character.鈥
Butler said Nwachukwu鈥檚 work embraces universal themes.
鈥淗is experience of growing up in a culture and political circumstance of such intensity gives him access to the enduring question all great literature attends to: 鈥榳ho the hell am I?鈥欌 Butler said. 鈥淗e is writing not just about Nigeria, not just about America; he鈥檚 writing about the human condition.鈥
Butler added: 鈥淎t this point in our history the immigrant experience has become a central issue not only politically but spiritually. That makes him, as a writer, even more important.鈥
Nwachukwu鈥檚 鈥淛apa and Other Stories鈥 will be published by the University of Georgia Press next September.