Author BIo

Nana Nkweti is a Cameroonian-American writer, Whiting Award winner, and AKO Caine Prize finalist whose work has garnered fellowships from MacDowell, Vermont Studio Center, Ucross, Byrdcliffe, Kimbilio, Hub City Writers, the Stadler Center for Poetry, the Wurlitzer Foundation, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Clarion West Writers Workshop. Her eclectic canon comprises an array of creative works, including a television script for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live series; the digi-fiction flash, “Three Bags, Full”; a libretto performance of “Cyborg Stories, Epilogue”; and the fiction collection  Walking on Cowrie Shells, which was hailed by The New York Times review as a “raucous and thoroughly impressive debut” with "stories to get lost in again and again." The book is a New York Times Editor's Choice, Indie Next pick, recipient of starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and BookPage; and has been featured in The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, Oprah Daily, The Root, NPR, Buzzfeed, and Thrillist; amongst others. The work features elements of mystery, horror, myth, and graphic novels to showcase the complexity and vibrance of African diaspora cultures and identities. Originally published by Graywolf (North America/June 2021), there are three international editions available: Indigo Press (UK/Commonwealth/May 2022), BAKWA Books (Cameroon/Sept. 2023), and Über Muscheln Laufen published by Peter Hammer-Verlag (Germany/Sept. 2024). Nana is a professor of English at the University of Alabama where she teaches creative writing courses that explore her eclectic literary interests: ranging from graphic novels to medical humanities onto exploring works by female authors in genres such as horror, Afrofuturism, and mystery.

Photography

Image Credits: Shea Sadulski / Out of Focus Studio