Uwem Akpan
Uwem Akpan ⓘ is a Nigerian writer. He is the author of Say You're One of Them (2008), a collection of five stories (each set in a different African country) published by Little, Brown & Company. The book inspired Angélique Kidjo to write the song "Agbalagba". It made the Best of the Year list at People magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and other places. The New York Times made it the Editor's Choice, and Entertainment Weekly listed it at No. 27 in their Best of the Decade. Say You're One of Them won the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa Region), the Open Book Prize, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. A New York Times and Wall Street Journal No. 1 bestseller, the book has been translated into 12 languages. It won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the PEN Open Book Award, and was picked by the Oprah Winfrey Book Club September 17, 2009, in Central Park. Two months later, Oprah interviewed Uwem in Chicago as part of her bookclub event with Anderson Cooper giving short commentaries on some of the African countries in Uwem's book. The interview was streamed live simultaneously from Oprah.com, Facebook and CNN.
Uwem's second book, New York, My Village, was published on Nov 2, 2021 by W. W. Norton. The book was picked by Strand Bookstore as their Pick of the Month for November 2021.