Echezonachukwu Nduka

Echezonachukwu Nduka
At Kingston University London, July 2015
Born	(1989-07-19) 19 July 1989 Onitsha, Nigeria
Occupation	Writer, lecturer, organist
Ethnicity	Igbo
Citizenship	Nigeria
Education	University of Nigeria, Kingston University London
Period	2012 – present
Genre	Poetry, short story, non-fiction
Notable awards	Winner of the Korea-Nigeria Poetry Feast Prize

Echezonachukwu Chinedu Nduka (born 19 July 1989) is a Nigerian poet, short story writer and musicologist.^[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Nduka was born in Onitsha, Nigeria to an Anglican clergyman and educationist. He attended several mission schools as a result of his parents' vocation as church ministers who were often transferred to various stations. As a child who spent most of his time in the vicarage and church premises, he joined The Boys Brigade, an organization founded in Glasgow, Scotland by Sir William Alexander Smith. Afterwards, he became a choir boy singing soprano and later, tenor.

Nduka attended Bishop Crowther Seminary, Awka. In 2006, he gained admission into the University of Nigeria to study Music, and graduated magna cum laude in 2010. Thereafter, he proceeded to Kingston University London, United Kingdom where he studied as a postgraduate student in Music with research interest in Popular music, Music semiology, Songwriting and Comparative musicology.

Career

Academic and Literary career

Nduka works in Nigeria as a Lecturer in Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education (now Alvan Ikoku University of Education),^[4][5][6] Owerri. In addition, he has worked as a freelance writer and columnist for The Nigerian Telegraph. He is one of the contributors on African Hadithi, a Pan-African online media platform where his essays and poetry have been published.^[7] His essay titled Preserving the Igbo Cultural Dogmas via Literature: From Chinua Achebe to Onyeka Nwelue garnered enormous readership and debates.^[8][9] An exceptional spoken word artiste and columnist on Praxis Magazine for Arts and Literature, Echezonachukwu Nduka has been listed as one of the five Nigerian contemporary writers to watch out for.^[10]

Literary Journals and Anthologies

Poetry

Nduka's poem Etude won the Bronze Prize at the 4th Korea-Nigeria Poetry Feast.^[11] In 2016, he emerged Winner of the 6th Korea-Nigeria Poetry Feast Prize for his poem Listen.^[12][13] One of his spoken word poems titled We Wear Purple Robes is a reflection on terrorism in Nigeria.^[14] His poems have been published in reputable literary journals and anthologies including Sentinel Nigeria, Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Kalahari Review, The Bombay Review, African Writer, Jalada, Saraba Magazine, Praxis Magazine for Arts and Literature, BrittlePaper, Tuck Magazine, The New Black Magazine, Black Communion: Poems of 100 New African Poets, From Here to There: A Cross Cultural Poetry Anthology, A Thousand Voices Rising: An Anthology of Contemporary African Poetry, The Solace of Nature: An Anthology of International Poetry, The Bombay Review: An Anthology of Short Fiction and Poetry.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20]} Some of his poems have been translated into Norwegian, French, and Arabic^[21]

International Poetic Project

In the summer of 2015, the 3rd edition of the international poetic project in honour of the legendary Russian poet, singer, songwriter and actor, Vladimir Vysotsky, was published in the US. The project, which is essentially a world poetry anthology compiled and edited by Marlena Zimna, the Director of Polish Vladimir Vysotsky's Museum in Koszalin, features Nduka's Igbo translations of Vladimir Vysotsky's poems alongside translations in Greek, Hindi, Maori, Xhosa, Manipuri, Peru, Fante, Georgian, Cebuano, Maltese, Gujarati, Assamese, French, and several other world languages by notable poets and translators from different parts of the world.^[22]

Fiction

• "Something from Ozumba", in The Kalahari Review, 2013
• "The Chase", in NigeriansTalk LitMag, 2014
• "Piano Blues", in ZODML, 2014
• "A Dream in August", in Tuck Magazine, 2015
• "Kizomba", in Ake Review, 2016
• "The Journey", in Afridiaspora, 2016
• "Gondola Street", in African Writer, 2016

Reviews

An emerging voice in literary criticism, Nduka's published critical reviews and appraisals are centered on contemporary African literature with emphasis on poetry and fiction by authors of African descent.^{[23][24][25][26]}

Filmography

• 2015: We Wear Purple Robes (Poetry film)
• 2016: Console Me (Short film)
• 2016: Listen (Poetry film)
• 2016: Where the Road Leads (Poetry film)

References

External links

• Poem Hunter
• Kalahari Review
• African Hadithi
• Three Poems by Echezonachukwu Nduka
• Two Poems by Echezonachukwu Nduka
• Echezonachukwu Nduka reads his poem "We Wear Purple Robes" reflecting on terrorism