Sefi Atta
{{Short description|Nigerian author and playwright (born 1964)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sefi Atta
| image = Sefi Atta 2021.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1964|01}}
| birth_place = Lagos, Nigeria
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = {{plainlist|
- Nigerian
- American
}}
| other_names =
| spouse = Gboyega Ransome-Kuti
| occupation = {{hlist|novelist|short-story writer|playwright|screenwriter}}
| education = {{plainlist|
}}
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works = Everything Good Will Come
| website = {{url|www.sefiatta.com/}}
}}
Sefi Atta (born 19 January 1964) is a Nigerian-American novelist, short-story writer, playwright and screenwriter.[http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3570412.htm Sefi Atta – Short bio] – Q&A (panellist) – Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 27 August 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012. Her books have been translated into many languages, her radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC, and her stage plays have been performed internationally.
Awards she has received include the 2006 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa and the 2009 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa.[https://myriadeditions.com/creator/sefi-atta/ "Sefi Atta"], Myriad Editions.Janine, [http://jacana.bookslive.co.za/blog/2014/08/22/new-acclaimed-noma-award-winner-sefi-attas-latest-novel-a-bit-of-difference/ "New: Acclaimed NOMA Award Winner Sefi Atta’s Latest Novel, A Bit of Difference"], Times Books LIVE, 22 August 2014.
Biography
Atta was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in January 1964, to a family of five children.{{Cite web |last=Ifeoma |date=2018-09-19 |title=5 Female Revolutionary Writers From Nigeria Whose Books Are Widely Acclaimed |url=https://fabwoman.ng/nigerian-female-contemporary-authors-2018-fabwoman/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=FabWoman |language=en-US}} Her father Abdul-Aziz Atta was the Secretary to Federal Government and Head of the Civil Service until his death in 1972, and she was raised by her mother Iyabo Atta.{{Cite web |title=Atta, Sefi 1964- {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/atta-sefi-1964 |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}
She attended Queen's College, Lagos, and Millfield School in England.{{Cite web |title=Sefi Atta |url=https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12277 |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=www.litencyc.com |language=en}} In 1985, she graduated with a B.A. degree from Birmingham University. She qualified as a chartered accountant in England and as CPA in the United States, where she migrated in 1994.[https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/atta-sefi-1964 "Atta, Sefi 1964–"], Encyclopedia.com. She earned an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles in 2001.
She is married to Gboyega Ransome-Kuti, a medical doctor, and son of Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, and they have one child, named Temi.
Career
Atta graduated from the creative writing program at Antioch University in Los Angeles.{{Citation |last=TOBAR |first=HÉCTOR |title=Americanismo |work=Latinx Writing Los Angeles |pages=173–182 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt21kk1rh.19 |access-date=2025-02-07 |publisher=UNP - Nebraska|doi=10.2307/j.ctt21kk1rh.19 }} Her short stories have appeared in literary journals such as The Los Angeles Review, Mississippi Review and World Literature Today.{{Cite book |last=Atta |first=Sefi |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8255951-swallow |title=Swallow |date=2010 |publisher=Interlink Books |isbn=978-1-56656-833-3 |location=Northampton, Mass |oclc=606053609}} She has also written essays,{{cite web|url=https://www.africanwriter.com/one-or-the-other-by-sefi-atta/|title=One or the Other: An Essay by Sefi Atta|first=Sefi|last=Atta|website=AfricanWriter.com|date=9 May 2008 |access-date=1 April 2024}} and her articles on Lagos and Nigeria have appeared in publications such as Time and Libération. {{Cite web |last=Szupernap |title=Sefi Atta az angol Wikipedián · Moly |url=https://moly.hu/alkotok/sefi-atta/wikipedia-angol |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=Moly |language=hu}}Her books have been translated into several languages. Her first novel, Everything Good Will Come, won the inaugural Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa in 2006.{{Cite web |title=Writing Contemporary Nigeria: How Sefi Atta Illuminates African Culture and Tradition By Walter Collins |url=https://www.cambriapress.com/pub.cfm?bid=639 |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=www.cambriapress.com}}{{cite web|url=https://archive.today/20131218003947/http://www.luminafoundationsoyinkaprize.com/previous-winners.html|title=The Prize {{!}} 2006 Winner|publisher=The Lumina Foundation|access-date=1 April 2024}} She is a contributor to the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.{{cite web|url=https://archive.today/20131218003947/http://www.luminafoundationsoyinkaprize.com/previous-winners.html|title=After seminal anthology, Busby celebrates New Daughters of Africa|first=Olatoun|last=Gabi-Williams|website=The Guardian|location=Nigeria|date=21 April 2019}}
Atta's Lagos-based production company Atta Girl supports Care to Read, a programme she initiated to earn funds for legitimate charities through staged readings.{{Cite web |date=2018-10-12 |title=Sefi Atta makes children's literature debut |url=https://www.sunnewsonline.com/sefi-atta-makes-childrens-literature-debut/ |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=The Sun Nigeria |language=en-US}}
Bibliography
Novels
- 2005: Everything Good Will Come, US: Interlink Books, {{ISBN|978-1566565707}}. UK: Myriad Editions, {{ISBN|978-1-912408-52-8}}
- 2010: Swallow, Interlink Books, {{ISBN|978-1566568333}}
- 2013: A Bit of Difference, Interlink Books, {{ISBN|978-1566568920}}
- 2019: The Bead Collector, US: Interlink Books, {{ISBN|978-1623719852}}. UK: Myriad Editions, {{ISBN|978-1-912408-34-4}}
- 2022: The Bad Immigrant, Interlink Books, {{ISBN|978-1623719050}}
Short-story collections
- 2010: News from Home, Interlink Books, {{ISBN|978-1566568036}}
- 2025: Indigene, Interlink Books, {{ISBN|978-1623716066}}
Children's book
- 2018: Drama Queen, AAA Press, Nigeria, {{ISBN|978-978-967-959-1}}
Young Adult novel
- 2024: Good-for-Nothing Girl, Interlink Books, {{ISBN|978-1623717568}}
Play collections
- 2019: Sefi Atta; Selected Plays, Interlink Books, {{ISBN|978-1623719791}}
Stage play premieres
- 2005: The Engagement, MUSON Centre, Lagos
- 2011: The Cost of Living, Lagos Heritage Festival
- 2011: Hagel auf Zamfara, Theatre Krefeld, Germany
- 2012: The Naming Ceremony, New World Nigeria, Theatre Royal Stratford East, London
- 2012: An Ordinary Legacy, The MUSON Festival, MUSON Centre, Lagos
- 2014: Last Stand, Terra Kulture, Lagos
- 2018: Renovation, The Jos Festival of Theatre
- 2019: The Death Road, The Jos Festival of Theatre
Radio plays
- 2002: The Engagement, BBC Radio
- 2004: Makinwa's Miracle, BBC Radio
- 2007: A Free Day, BBC Radio
Screenplays
- 2021: Swallow, a Netflix original movie based on Sefi Atta's second novel, Swallow, co-written by Atta and Kunle Afolayan, premiered on October 1.
Awards and recognition
- 2002: Macmillan Writers Prize For Africa, shortlist{{Cite web|title=50 Books By African Women That Everyone Should Read|url=https://whatsonafrica.org/50-books-by-african-women-that-everyone-should-read/|last=Fatunla|first=Dele Meiji|date=2014-06-30|website=Whats On Africa|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-05-26}}
- 2002: BBC African Performance, 2nd Prize{{Cite web|title=Previous Judges|url=http://caineprize.com/previous-judges|website=The Caine Prize for African Writing|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-26}}
- 2002: Zoetrope Short Fiction Contest, 3rd Prize{{Cite web|title=Atta, Sefi - Peter Hammer Verlag|url=https://www.peter-hammer-verlag.de/autoren-details/sefi_atta/|website=www.peter-hammer-verlag.de|access-date=2020-05-26|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807033822/https://www.peter-hammer-verlag.de/autoren-details/sefi_atta/|url-status=dead}}
- 2003: Red Hen Press Short Story Award, 1st prize{{Cite web|title=Writing Contemporary Nigeria: How Sefi Atta Illuminates African Culture and Tradition By Walter Collins|url=https://www.cambriapress.com/cambriapress.cfm?template=4&bid=639|website=www.cambriapress.com|access-date=2020-05-26}}
- 2003: Glimmer Train′s Very Short Fiction Award, finalist{{Cite web|title=Sefi Atta makes children's literature debut|url=https://www.sunnewsonline.com/sefi-atta-makes-childrens-literature-debut/|date=2018-10-12|website=The Sun Nigeria|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-26}}
- 2004: BBC African Performance, 2nd Prize{{Cite news|date=2004-02-23|title=Top African BBC plays revealed|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3513683.stm|access-date=2020-05-26}}
- 2005: PEN International David TK Wong Prize, 1st Prize{{Cite web|title=Sefi Atta|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/133292.Sefi_Atta|website=www.goodreads.com|access-date=2020-05-26}}
- 2006: Caine Prize for African Writing, shortlist{{Cite web|title=Two Nigerians shortlisted for 2019 Caine Prize - Premium Times Nigeria|url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/entertainment/artsbooks/331046-two-nigerians-shortlisted-for-2019-caine-prize.html|last=Augoye|first=Jayne|date=2019-05-22|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-05-26}}
- 2006: Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa{{Cite web|title=Authors|url=https://www.africanwriter.com/authors/|website=AfricanWriter.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-26}}
- 2009: Noma Award for Publishing in Africa{{Cite web|title=Sefi Atta, Author Info, Published Books, Bio, Photo, Video, and More|url=https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Sefi+Atta|website=AALBC.com, the African American Literature Book Club|language=en|access-date=2020-05-26}}
- 2009: The American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition, quarter-finalist
- 2019: WeScreenPlay Diverse Voices Lab, finalist
- 2019: The American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition, finalist
- 2021: The National Playwrights Conference, semifinalist
Visiting Writer
- 2024: Jackson State University
- 2006: University of Southern Mississippi
- 2008: Northwestern University
- 2010: École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
Atta was on the jury for the 2010 Neustadt International Prize for Literature,[http://www.ou.edu/worldlit/2009-Neustadt-jury-nominees.pdf Jury & candidates for 2010 Neustadt Prize], announced March 2009. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524020323/http://www.ou.edu/worldlit/2009-Neustadt-jury-nominees.pdf |date=24 May 2009 }}. and a judge for the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing.
A critical study of her works, Writing Contemporary Nigeria: How Sefi Atta Illuminates African Culture and Tradition, edited by Professor Walter P. Collins, III, was published by Cambria Press in 2015.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{sisterlinks|d=Q461690|c=Category:Sefi Atta|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=no|wikt=no|species=no}}
External links
- [http://www.sefiatta.com/ Sefi Atta's website]
- Ike Anya, [https://www.africanwriter.com/sefi-atta-something-good-comes-to-nigerian-literature/ "Sefi Atta: Something Good Comes to Nigerian literature"], African Writer Magazine.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atta, Sefi}}
Category:Nigerian women novelists
Category:Nigerian dramatists and playwrights
Category:Nigerian expatriate academics in the United States
Category:People educated at Millfield
Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham
Category:Antioch University alumni
Category:University of Southern Mississippi people
Category:Northwestern University faculty
Category:Queen's College, Lagos alumni
Category:21st-century Nigerian novelists
Category:English-language writers from Nigeria
Category:Nigerian women academics