Onyekachukwu George Nwelue, born on January 31, 1988 at Ozeoke Nsu, Imo State, is a Nigerian scholar, a cultural entrepreneur, filmmaker, editor, author, publisher and jazz musician.
Nwelue's father, Chukwuemeka Samuel Nwelue, was a politician; his mother Catherine Ona Nwelue was a social scientist. His aunt, Professor Leslye Obiora, was Nigeria's former Minister of Mines and Steel.
He studied Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Known for doing things far above his age, the multiple award winner published his first book when he was 21 years old; the same year he won his first award!
He is a prolific writer and academic with well over 35 books under his belt. Some of his books include "The Abyssinian Boy", "Hip-Hop is Only for Children" and "The Nigerian Dream", a non-fiction. He also has a rich collection of short stories.
He is best known for his novel "The Abyssinian Boy", which was published in 2009 when he was just 21. In the same year, he won the TM Aluko Prize for Fiction and was first runner up at the Ibrahim Tahir Prize for First Book. One of his books, "The Strangers of Braamfontein", was described by Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, as "raunchy".
Bold and daring, at just 16, Nwelue left his family home in South-east Nigeria, and boarded a Lagos-bound night bus all alone, to attend a literary event organized by Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.
His documentary "House of Nwapa" was shortlisted in the Best Documentary category at the 2017 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). The following year, Nwelue adapted his novella "Island of Happiness" into an Igbo film, "Agwaetiti Obiụtọ", which was shortlisted in two different categories of Best First Feature Film and Best Film in an African Language at the 2018 Africa Movie Academy Awards.
In 2018, he won the Best Director Prize at the Newark International Film Festival for his film Agwaetiti Obiuto (Island of Happiness), which was shot entirely in Igbo Language and premiered at Harvard University.
In 2018, the Association of Nigerian Authors shortlisted "The Beginning of Everything Colourful" and "The Lagos Cuban Jazz Club" for their Annual Fiction Prize and Annual Poetry Prize respectively. In 2021, Nwelue was again shortlisted in both the categories, respectively for "The Strangers of Braamfontein" and "An Angel on the Piano".
He was shortlisted for the 2016 Nigeria Prize for Literature; Winner of the 2018 African Studies Association (ASA) Book Prize and Recipient of the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
In 2023, his shortlisted novel "The Nigerian Mafia Mumbai" won The Association of Nigerian Authors prose fiction prize. He has been nominated thrice for The Future Awards Africa and was a recipient of the Prince Claus Ticket Grant in 2013.
Nwelue is also the founder and publisher of Abibiman Publishing, a publishing house that promotes African literature and culture. He was the director of the inaugural edition of the James Currey Literary Festival, which took place at University of Oxford in 2022. He has also been a columnist for several newspapers, including The Guardian and This Day.
As a filmmaker, Nwelue has directed several documentaries and short films, some of which include "The Great Wave", a documentary on the Civil War, and "Other Tribes", a short film.
In an audacious show of courage, in 2024, Nwelue indicated his intention as he threw his hat in the ring to bid for the position of Chancellor, University of Oxford.
In 2024 he was reportedly signed to Katalin Mund Literary Agency, Budapest. His feature film, "The Other Side of History" had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Nwelue is the founder of the James Currey Society, under whose stable he established James Currey Prize for African Literature and the James Currey Fellowship in association with the African Studies Centre, University of Oxford.
He was an academic visitor to the University of Oxford and visiting scholar to the University of Cambridge.
Nwelue is currently an assistant professor and Visiting Fellow of African Literature and Studies at the English Language Department of the Faculty of Humanities, Manipur University in Imphal, India.
He is also a Research Fellow at the Center for International Studies, Ohio University, where he spends time in Athens, Ohio.
As he celebrated his 37th birthday today, we wish him the very in his life's endeavours.
