Photo sourced from University of Nebraska-Lincoln website.

Nigerian PhD student and writer Uche Okonkwo is making her debut into the publishing industry with a fascinating short story collection titled A Kind of Madness. The collection is set for publication in winter 2024 by Tin House Books.

Okonkwo’s debut short story collection features stories set in Nigeria and focusing on familial and community relationships. These include the often fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, wives and husbands, best friends, siblings, and others.” The stories explore themes of “community expectations, familial strife, and the struggle for survival.”

Okonkwo is thrilled about her debut collection and announced the book news on Twitter:

She said to us, “This has been a childhood dream and I feel very grateful that it’s finally happening. Just like I did with the stories I’ve read and loved, I hope that readers everywhere will find something in my book that they can connect with and make their own.”

Uche Okonkwo grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. She is a PhD. student in English with a focus in Creative Writing and holds an MFA in Fiction from Virginia Tech and an MA in Creative Writing from University of Manchester, UK. Her work has been published in One StoryPloughsharesA Public Space, and Lagos Noir, among others. She was the 2020-2021 George Bennett Fellow at Phillips Exeter Academy and a 2021-2022 Steinbeck Fellow.

Congrats to Okonkwo on the forthcoming book!