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Nduka Anthony Otiono is a Nigerian-Canadian professor, writer, poet, and a journalist.  He is the Director, Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada and his multidisciplinary research addresses how street stories —popular urban narratives in postcolonial Africa—travel through many cultural formations, such as oral tradition, the press, movies, popular songs, and social networks.

Early life

Nduka Anthony Otiono hails from Ogwashi-Ukwu in Delta State, south-southern Nigeria but was born in Kano (the capital city of Kano State, northern Nigeria). He earned his Ph.D. in English from the University of Alberta in Canada (2011) in addition to a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English and an MA in English from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 1987 and 1990 respectively.

Early career

Otiono was a journalist at the early part of his career. He worked in print media, with a focus on literary and cultural journalism, and earned expertise at the editing and management levels. During his fifteen years journalistic career, He was the National Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors (2001–2005) the founding editor of The Post Express Literary Supplement (PELS), which won Literary Column of the Year 1997 and the first ANA Merit Award in 1998. The Night Hides with a Knife (short stories), which won the ANA/Spectrum Prize, Voices in the Rainbow (poems), which was a finalist for the ANA/Cadbury Poetry Prize, and Love in a Time of Nightmares (poems), for which he received the James Patrick Folinsbee Memorial Scholarship in Creative Writing, are just a few of the works he has published. He made the transition to academia in 2004 and started working as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Ibadan's Department of English.

Career in Canada

Otiono left Nigeria for Canada in 2006. In 2011, he obtained his PhD in English from the University of Alberta and in the same year, he held a one-year postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University, where he was also appointed Visiting assistant professor.

In 2014, he became an assistant professor at Carleton's Institute of African Studies, Ottawa, Canada. In 2020, he was promoted to associate professor at Carleton's Institute of African Studies.   In  2022, he became the Director, Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, and was also appointed a Faculty Advisor for Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion by the university authority in the same year.

Research area

Otiono research interests include Cultural Studies, Oral Literature, Postcolonial Studies, Media and Communication Studies, Globalization and Popular Culture.

Awards, honours and scholarships

In 2006, Otiono won FS Chia Doctoral Scholarship at University of Alberta.  One year later, he was nominated for Trudeau Scholarship and in 2008, he was awarded Professional Development Research Grant. In the same year, he was awarded Andrew Stewart Memorial Graduate Prize for Research by the same institution. In 2009, he won Sarah Nettie Christie Research Award, William Rea Scholarship, Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship, Gordin Kaplan Graduate Student Award. In 2010, he won James Patrick Folinsbee Memorial Scholarship in Creative Writing, in 2011, he was nominee for the Governor General's gold medal. In 2015 and 2016, he received the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship and in the latter year he won Capital Educators’ award for excellence in teaching. In 2017, he won Carleton University Faculty of Arts and Social Science Early Career Research Excellence Award and in 2018, he was given the Black History Ottawa Community Builder Award. In 2022, he made it to the final list of Archibald Lampman Prize for poetry for his anthology DisPlace and in 2023, he was one of the winners of FASS Research Excellence Awards.

Publications

• The Night Hides with a Knife 1995 (Short Stories).
• Voices in the Rainbow (Poems) 1997
• We-men: An Anthology of Men Writing on Women (1998)
• Camouflage: Best of Contemporary Writing from Nigeria (2006).
• Love in a Time of Nightmares. (Poems) 2008.
• Polyvocal Bob Dylan: Music, Performance, Literature.
• Wreaths for a Wayfarer: An Anthology in Honour of Pius Adesanmi.
• Oral Literary Performance in Africa: Beyond Text.
• DisPlace: The Poetry of Nduka Otiono. (2021).

References

1. ^ Edeme, Victoria (2022-08-23). "Nigerian-born scholar shortlisted for Canadian poetry award". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
2. ^ "Dr. Nduka Otiono". carleton.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
3. "Nigeria: As Winner of Carnegie African Diaspora Scholar Fellowship, Nduka Otiono, Joins Delsu".
4. "The media cannot be captured". The Vanguard.
5. ^ "Nigeria's Nduka Otiono Wins Research Excellence Award at Canadian University – Independent Newspaper Nigeria". independent.ng. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
6. "Otiono, Nigerian-Canadian, appointed director of African studies institute at Carleton University". TheCable. 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
7. Reporter, T. S. J. (2022-08-24). "Nigerian-born scholar, Nduka Otiono shortlisted for Canadian poetry award". The Street Journal. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
8. ^ "The portrait of an artist as a scholar". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2018-09-23. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
9. ^ Soyombo, 'Fisayo (2022-06-16). "Nigerian Academic Nduka Otiono Appointed Director at Canadian University". Foundation For Investigative Journalism. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
10. ^ "Nduka Otiono".
11. "African-Writing Online; Poetry; Nduka Otiono". www.african-writing.com. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
12. "Nigerian writer, Nduka Otiono, appointed Director at Canadian University -". The NEWS. 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
13. ^ "Saturday Sun: Nduka Otiono-Odyssey Of Nigerian Scholar-writer In Canada | Sahara Reporters". saharareporters.com. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
14. "Community Builder Awards". Black History Ottawa. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
15. "Ottawa community honours Otiono". The Nation (Nigeria).
16. "FASS Research Excellence Awards Recipients". Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
17. N., Otiono (1995). The Night Hides with a Knife (Short Stories). Ibadan: New Horn Press and Critical Forum. ISBN 978-978-8033-59-2.
18. N., Otiono (1997). Voices in the Rainbow (Poems). Lagos: Mace Books Ltd. ISBN 978-978-8033-60-8.
19. Osondu, E.C.; Otiono, N., eds. (1998). We-men: An Anthology of Men Writing on Women. Ibadan: New Horn Press and Critical Forum. ISBN 978-32518-5-6.
20. N., Otiono; E., Okonyedo (2006). Camouflage: Best of Contemporary Writing from Nigeria. Yenagoa: Treasure Books & Mace Associates Ltd. ISBN 978-978-8033-62-2.
21. N., Otiono (2008). Love in a Time of Nightmares. (Poems). Maryland, USA: Publish America. ISBN 978-1-60474-033-2.
22. N., Otiono; J., Toth (2019). Polyvocal Bob Dylan: Music, Performance, Literature. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-030-17042-4.
23. N., Otiono; U., Umezurike (2020). Wreaths for a Wayfarer: An Anthology in Honour of Pius Adesanmi. Lagos: Narrative Landscapes Press. ISBN 978-978-56990-0-5.
24. N., Otiono; C., Akọma (2021). Oral Literary Performance in Africa. Oxon and New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780367482145.
25. N, Otiono (2021). DisPlace: The Poetry of Nduka Otiono. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 9781771125383.

• University of Ibadan alumni
• University of Alberta alumni
• People from Delta State
• Living people