Ottawa based Nigerian author and scholar, Nduka Otiono, has been shortlisted for the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Awards for 2023.
Professor Otiono, who is also a Canadian citizen, is currently the Director of the Institute of African Studies at Carleton University.
According to the organisers of the awards, the “Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards program has been the leader in sharing and celebrating inspiring stories of immigrants. The stories of their immigration journeys, the barriers they have overcome, their amazing achievements and the difference they have made in their adopted country are important to share.
“So, for the 15th year, we are proud to continue doing so with the only national award celebrating immigrant success, with the support of our presenting sponsor, Western Union and program partners Windmill Microlending and COSTI.”
The final adjudication of winner of the awards depends on public voting, hence on his Facebook page, Otiono wrote:
“Canadian Immigrant magazine has officially begun the online voting stage for the awards, so please vote for
NDUKA OTIONO
at www.canadianimmigrant.ca/top25.
The voting stage ends on June 9th, 2023, and the Top 25 winners will then be announced online in August and be featured in the August print edition of Canadian Immigrant
OTIONO is the author and co-editor of several books of creative writing and academic research. Prior to turning to academia, he was a journalist in Nigeria, general secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors, founding member of the Nigerian chapter of UNESCO’s Committee on Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage, and founding board member of the $100,000 annual Nigerian Prize for Literature.
A Fellow of the William Joiner Centre for War and Social Consequences, University of Massachusetts, Boston, his interdisciplinary research spans cultural studies, oral performance and literature, postcolonial studies, media and communication studies, globalization and popular culture.
His research has appeared in top-ranked journals such as the Journal of Folklore Research, African Literature Today, Journal of African Cinema, Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies, etcetera. His co-edited scholarly works include the acclaimed volumes Oral Literary Performance in Africa: Beyond Genre (2021) and Polyvocal Bob Dylan: Music, Performance, Literature (2019).
His creative writing publications include DisPlace: The Poetry of Nduka Otiono, a finalist for the Archibald Lampman award for poetry; The Night Hides with a Knife (short stories), which won the ANA/Spectrum Prize; Voices in the Rainbow (poetry), a finalist for the ANA/Cadbury Poetry Prize; Love in a Time of Nightmares (poetry) for which he was awarded the James Patrick Folinsbee Memorial Scholarship in Creative Writing. He has co-edited Wreaths for a Wayfarer: An Anthology of Poems in Honor of Pius Adesanmi (2020); Camouflage: Best of Contemporary Writing from Nigeria (2006); and; We-Men: An Anthology of Men Writing on Women (1998).
Otiono obtained his doctorate in English and film studies from the University of Alberta, where he won numerous awards including the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship and was nominated for the Governor General’s Gold Medal for academic distinction. He has held postdoctoral fellowships at Brown University where he was also appointed a visiting assistant professor. He returned to Canada through a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at Carleton University.
His professional honours include a Capital Educator’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; Carleton University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Research Achievement Award; Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Research Early Career Award for Research Excellence; twice winner of the Carnegie Africa Diaspora Fellowship; and a 2018 Black History Ottawa Community Builder Award.
A passionate advocate for community service, Otiono has served as president of the Igbo Association, Ottawa-Gatineau Capital region of Canada, president of the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS) and member of the board of directors of the Canadian Authors Association.
Otiono lives in Ottawa with his family.