Flora Nwapa (Flora Nwanzuruaha Nwapa) Biography

Nigerian novelist and short-story writer, born in Oguta, educated at University College, Ibadan, and the University of Edinburgh. She has held several administrative posts in Nigerian educational institutions, and cabinet posts in her home state, including the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. She was the first Nigerian woman novelist to be published, and is best known for her novels Efuru (1966) and Idu (1970). Both deal with village life, and focus on eponymous heroines, Efuru having a strong element of parable about the pivotal role of women in society, and Idu celebrating conjugal love. In Never Again (1976) the woman narrator, Kate, supports the Biafran side during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–70), but with awareness of the shortcomings in her own people. Collections of short stories include This Is Lagos (1971) and Wives at War (1980).