Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi

The recorded working language is English and Nigerian Pidgin. The field of work recorded is literary criticism, womanism and African diaspora. Employment is recorded with Sarah Lawrence College. Works named in the authority record are Africa Wo/man Palava: The Nigerian novel by women.

• Name — Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi • Born — 1939 • Occupation — University teacher • Movement — Womanism • Notable Works — Africa Wo/man Palava: The Nigerian novel by women (1996)

Ogunyemi published Africa Wo/man Palava: The Nigerian novel by women in 1996. The book examined the work of eight Nigerian women writers, namely Zaynab Alkali, Simi Bedford, Buchi Emecheta, Funmilayo Fakunle, Flora Nwapa, Eno Obong, Ifeoma Okoye, and Adaora Lily Ulasi. Ogunyemi set out a new theory of Nigerian literature based on their works. This theory was womanist and feminist, but Ogunyemi also noted that naming is a political issue and by labelling a theory she was not pigeon-holing the writers. Alongside other critics such as Helen Chukwuma and Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie, Ogunyemi explored postcolonial ideas and argued against the work of "phallic critics". Ogunyemi was professor of literature and also chair of global studies at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York. In collaboration with Tuzyline Jita Allan, Ogunyemi edited an anthology of essays, entitled Twelve Best Books by African Women: Critical Readings, which was published in 2009.

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