A Conversation with Nnedi Okorafor

About

A Conversation with Nnedi Okorafor

Donna Jones Associate Professor, English

in conversation with Nnedi Okorafor Artist, Olympia Fields, IL

Presented in partnership with the Department of Architecture's Studio One,the Department of African American Studies, and the Department of English and in collaboration with the Berkeley Arts and Design initiative as part of A+D Mondays @ BAMPFA

Sponsored in part by the Horst Rittel Endowment and the Craigslist Chair in New Media Endowment.

"Nature is the greatest artist and scientist. If we human beings, with our rather brilliant, often flawed, sometimes evil, creativity joined forces with our creator (nature), as opposed to trying to control it and treat it like our slave, imagine the wonders we could create. If we worked with nature, we’d also avoid being the target of nature’s epic wrath. This is why when I write about technology, I naturally (pun intended) go in the direction things are already going, i.e. organic," Nnedi Okorafor, the international award-winning novelist of African-based science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism for both children and adults, has written.

Technology and its potentials have long fascinated Okorafor, who began writing science fiction thanks to the glimpses of the future she would see in Nigeria, which were far different from those she'd been exposed to in the West.

About Nnedi Okorafor

Born in the United States to two Nigerian immigrant parents, Nnedi is known for weaving African culture into creative evocative settings and memorable characters. In a profile of Nnedi’s work titled, “Weapons of Mass Creation”, The New York Times called Nnedi’s imagination “stunning”.

Her bestselling and popular works include the Binti and Akata Witch series, Lagoon, and Who Fears Death—currently in production as a new HBO series produced by George R.R. Martin. This World Fantasy, Hugo, and Nebula Award-winning author has also penned three issues of Marvel’s Black Panther comic book, Long Live the…