Student writers at the University of Missouri–St. Louis are already engaged in an ongoing conversation with fiction writer Chinelo Okparanta, but this week they’ll have the chance to interact with the emerging author in person.
Made possible through the MFA in Creative Writing’s Natural Bridge Debut Writers Series, Okparanta’s three-day visit to St. Louis coincides with assigned readings of her debut novel “Under the Udala Trees” in writing workshops at UMSL this semester. The book is a sparse and haunting first-person account of a young woman, Ijeoma, growing up in Nigeria during the Biafran War and the slow recovery afterwards. In 1968, Ijeoma’s father is killed in an air raid when he refuses to take shelter. Crushed with grief, Ijeoma’s mother sends her to live with a family friend for whom she becomes a servant. This is when Ijeoma meets Amina, a girl who has lost her entire family on the opposing side of the civil war. Along with joining UMSL writing students for class discussions, craft talks and coffee, Okparanta will give an on-campus reading at Gallery 210 at 12:15 p.m. Feb. 8. She will also read and sign books at the St. Louis County Library at 7 p.m. Feb. 9.
 

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