A writer's story, the career of Sefi Atta

Sefi Atta

I never wanted to be a writer; I just had stories I needed to tell ~ Sefi Atta

Sefi Atta was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1964 to a Muslim father an Ebira man Abdul Aziz Atta who was at a time the head of civil service in Nigeria. While the mother, a Yoruba Christain. Sefi currently divides her time between the United States, England and Nigeria, she qualified as a Chartered Accountant in England, a certified Public Accountant in the United States and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.

Her academic journey began from Queen's College, Lagos to Millfield School, then Birmingham University where she got her B.A.,1985. She proceeded to Antioch University Los Angeles, for her M.F.A. in 2001.

Atta was a juror for the 2010 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and has received several literary awards for her works, including the 2006 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa and the 2009 NOMA Award for publishing in Africa. In 2015, a critical study of her novels and short stories, Writing Contemporary Nigeria: How Sefi Atta illuminates African Culture and Tradition was published by Cambria Press.

Her books have been translated into many languages, radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC, and her stage plays have been performed internationally. She was noted as "One of the most original imaginative and gifted fiction writers in Africa, and arguably the best of her generation" - The NOMA AWARD 2009.

Books by Sefi Atta: Everything Good Will Come - 2005, Swallow - 2008, News From Home - 2009, A bit of Difference - 2012, The Bead Collector - 2018, The Bad Immigrant - 2021 among several other collection.



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