Flora Nwanzuruahu Nwakuche Nwapa was born in Oguta, Eastern Nigeria, in 1931. Educated at ArchDeacon Crowther Memorial Girls School and CMS Girls School in Lagos, she was one of the earliest graduates of Nigeria's prestigious University College, Ibadan (now University of Ibadan), earning a Bachelor's degree in 1953. She went on to Edinburgh University in Scotland and received a Diploma in Education from there in 1958.
Subsequently, Nwapa held various teaching posts throughout Nigeria; as Women's Education Officer in Calabar; English teacher at Queens College, Enugu; and Assistant Registrar at the University of Lagos. She also held positions in government, notably becoming the Commissioner for Lands, Survey, and Urban Development in Enugu after the civil war.
Flora Nwapa is best known for her writing in which she portrays the tremendous struggles and challenges women face in traditional Igbo and contemporary Nigerian society. Her first book Efuru, was published in 1966 and has garnered her a popular following in Nigeria, Africa and worldwide. She went on to write six other novels and a vast collection of short stories and children's stories. She also established her own publishing company, Tana Press Limited, in 1976 after becoming dissatisfied with her old publisher.
Mrs. Nwapa received many awards for her writing, and is recipient of the Officer of the Order of the Niger Award (OON) from the government of Nigeria; and received the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Merit Award for Authorship and Publishing at the 1985 Ife book fair. She was President of the Association of Nigerian Authors, and belonged to both PEN International and the Commonwealth Writer's Awards committees. Sadly, Flora Nwapa passed away in October 1993 after having completed a tour of the United States. She was only 62 years old and is survived by a husband and a son.
This information is courtesy of Africaonline writer's profile and Heinnemann African Writer's Series.
This page was prepared by Nwabu Nnebe (nnnebe@hotmail.com)