Nduka Onwuegbute

written by Onwuegbute!

Nduka Onwuegbute

Nduka Onwuegbute, nigerian writer, nigerian novelist, nigerian playwright, onwuegbute, nduka
Nduka Onwuegbute - African Writer

Nduka Ozegbe Onwuegbute was born on 22 May 1969 in Manchester, Lancashire, the son of Clifford Ozegbe Onwuegbute, and Lydia Onwuebugte, now Arize. Onwuegbute's Nigerian background can be traced back to the riverrine villages of Ndoni of Rivers State, and Afiankwo in Delta State.

Nigerian Writer

Onwuegbute, Nduka, Nigerian novelist
African Author, Nduka Onwuegbute

Onwuegbute's themes, though universal, are drawn from his experiences growing up in the most populous African country in pacs like Lagos, Delta, and Jos is the nothern part of Nigeria.

Onwuegbute's first literary work is the play Drums That Dance In The Dark, (2007), and his first novel, Masters of the Confluence, was published in February, 2010.

Onwuegbute's Universal Appeal

Onwuegbute, Nduka, Nigerian Author
African Author, Nduka Onwuegbute

Having lived on both the African and European cultures, writing for both cultures comes easy for Onwuegbute.

He lived in various cultural and economic settings, Onwuegbute's writing reflects the turmoil and conflicts of urban vs rural, as well as the deep cultural divide that exists intrinsically conflicted within each groups.

Reviewes ...

Nduka Onwuegbute, ...a marvelous wordsmith
- FRONT STREET REVIEW

Literary Influences

For a writer who has a wide range of style and subject matter, like Shakespear, you would expect Onwuegbute to extol the father of modern English literature. But he doesn't. Onwuegbute beleives there is too much emphasis placed on Shakespeare at the detriment of other equally literary greats. According to Onwuegbute,

More people, especially Afrricans, should be reading the works of Wole Soyinka, Bode Sowande, Ola Rotimi, Okot p'Bitek, and so on. Instead, there's a glut of Robert Ludlum, J. K. Rowling, and other hyped celebrities, who quite rightly deserve their own accolades too.

Humourist, that he is, Onwuegbute enjoys the ups and downs of Donald Westlakee's "Drowned Hopes", the writings of James Hadley Chase, and some Shirly Conran. In today's literary world, these are old school. But Onwuegbute is himself, very old school.

Writing Style

Having grwon up in the rich story-telling traditions in rural Nigeria, Onwuegbute fuses the African oral folklore with the fiction modern literature most people today can relate to more.

Onwuegbute's writing tone has a biting undertone, tinged with satire; something which has deprived him of the opportunity to write for the Nigerian Television Authority, when he was living in Nigeria.

Fortunes of the Forgotten Forest is testament to this re-telling of greed shown in Odinjo's character.

Versertile Writer

Nduka Onwuegbute cannot be pinned down to one type of literary genre. He has written political drama for the stage. A play that hits on the fabric of currupt practices. He's also written novels, and short stories.

His first novel is Masters of the Confluence is a historical fiction set at the end of the slave trade in rural Niger-Delta. But, alas, it is also a triste love triangle, with Anashi locked into the servitude of her lover's best firend.

Litersry Works ...

Educational Books

In 2011, Onwuegbute lauched himself as an educational book writer for kids with a new book, Abaci's Number Add-Ventures, for children. But appearances can be deceptive. This maths book actually is a compilation of short stories with diffficulty understanding maths in word formats.

Books for Children

Children love reading. It fires their imagination, taking them into worlds only seen in physical or digital books. Be they hardback, or the commonly available paperback edition, books can keep children away from mischief, and certainly from the threat of television and video games.

Books For Teenagers

Fortunes of the Forgotten Forest, is Onwuegbute's forage into the world of teenage fiction. African Folklore in setting, this is an insight to some of the tales Onwuegbute heard as a child, growing up in Nigeria.

Historical Fiction Books

Onwuegbute's first novel was Masters of the Confluence. Based on the exploits of slavery that went on, this book based on a history of the Onitsha Dynasy, looks at a people's zeal to free themselves from the shackles that wants to keep the status quo.

More Reviews ...

Author reviews of Onwuegbute's writing is varied. But this is hardly surprising. Onwuegbute writes for a diverse range of readers, and on a myriad of themes, and subject matters. Strange, Powerfull, & Wonderful Story are all phrase to describe Onwuegbute and his writing ability. He's also been rate Five Stars! ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆'

This is, therefore, a book of moments. Moments of struggle, pain, violence and sadness but also joy and dreams. Hard times, but of courage. War, slavery ... and love. And then we get to the last chapters, and when we have a more complete story, that of Alabo and Anashi, we finally create a connection with his strange form of love, even though we can't fully understand how their story ends.
- Carla. (Goodreads.com) 3 stars: Masters of the Confluence
What may be seen by some readers as arbitrary results disconnected from actors is really the expression of culture through more classical language, akin to the Greek Tragic experience.
- Elijah Meeks: 5 stars: Drums That Dance in the Dark

Onwuegbute is a patron of children literature. He championed Latent Creatives, a community project to help develop creative writing for young writers in primary school.

Onwuegbute is a playwright. His first known published play raised an eyebrow, or two, during his formative years in Jos, Nigeria.

Onwuegbute is a new author for the modern age. He's an African writer of sorts, yet he's a British author.

Published Play: 'Drums thet Dance in the Dark' by Nduka Onwuegbute. Historical Fiction: 'Masters of the Confluence' by Nduka Onwuegbute African Folklore: ''Fortunes of the Forgotten Forest Educational books: 'Abaci's Number Add-Ventures' by Nduka Onwuegbute
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Tags New Books, African Writer, British Writer, First Novel, Stage Play, Children Literature, Nduka Onwuegbute, African Literature