Tess Osonye Onwueme
Osonye Tess Onwueme, also known as T. Akaeke Onwueme (born 8 September 1955) is a Nigerian playwright, scholar and poet, who rose to prominence writing plays with themes of social justice, culture, and the environment. In 2010, she became the university Professor of Global Letters, following her exceptional service as Distinguished Professor of Cultural Diversity and English at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. Through her plays, she is able to use the theatre as a medium to showcase historically silenced views such as African women, and shedding more light on African life.
Also recorded as Osonye Tess Onwueme · T. Akaeke Onwueme · Tess Onwueme
Tess Osonye Onwueme
- Name
- Osonye Tess Onwueme
- Occupation
- Playwright, Scholar
- Born
- 1955 · Ogwashi-Uku.
- Nationality
- Nigeria
- Education
- Obafemi Awolowo University · University of Benin
- Languages
- English · Nigerian Pidgin
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Osonye Tess Onwueme, also known as T. Akaeke Onwueme (born 8 September 1955) is a Nigerian playwright, scholar and poet, who rose to prominence writing plays with themes of social justice, culture, and the environment. In 2010, she became the university Professor of Global Letters, following her exceptional service as Distinguished Professor of Cultural Diversity and English at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. Through her plays, she is able to use the theatre as a medium to showcase historically silenced views such as African women, and shedding more light on African life.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Tess Osonye Onwueme. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q7107309 · wikipedia · Osonye Tess Onwueme
In this article
Biography
Biography
She sustains her advocacy for the global poor and youth, along with the experiences and concerns of the African Diaspora in her creative work. In 2007, the U.S. State Department appointed her to the Public Diplomacy Speaker Program for North, East, and West India. She is regarded as one of the band of more important African authors. She also is an active speaker regarding domestic violence.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Osonye Tess Onwueme • Birth Name — Osonye Tess Onwueme • Citizenship — Nigerian • Occupation — Playwright, Scholar • Language — English • Genre — Drama • Notable Works — Tell It to Women; The Reign of Wazobia; The Missing Face
Early life and education
Early life and education
After secondary education, she married an agronomist, I. C. Onwueme, and bore five children, during the time she attended the University of Ife, for her bachelor's degree in education (1979) and master's in literature (1982). She obtained her PhD at the University of Benin, studying African Drama. In 1998 she married Obika Gray, a Jamaican political scientist.
Works
Works
• A Hen Too Soon (1983) • Broken Calabash (1984) • The Desert Encroaches (1985) • The Reign of Wazobia (1988) • Ban Empty Barn and other plays (1986) • Legacies (1989) • Three Plays: an anthology of plays by Tess Onwueme (1993) • Tell It To Women: an epic drama (1995). • Riot In Heaven: drama for the voices of color (1996; 2006) • The Missing Face, a play (1997; 2000) • Shakara: Dance-Hall Queen: a play (2000; 2006) • Then She Said It: a play (2003) • What Mama Said, an epic drama (2004) • No Vacancy (2005)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1955
Tess Osonye Onwueme born at Ogwashi-Uku.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Osonye Tess Onwueme”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7107309: Tess Osonye Onwueme
General reference · Wikidata
Awards
She has won several international awards, including: the prestigious Fonlon-Nichols award (2009), the Phyllis Wheatley/Nwapa award for outstanding black writers (2008), the Martin Luther King, Jr./Caeser Chavez Distinguished Writers Award (1989/90), the Distinguished Authors Award (1988), and the Association of Nigerian Authors Drama Prize, which she has won several times with plays such as The Desert Encroaches (1985), Tell It To Women (1995), Shakara: Dance-Hall Queen (2001), Then She Said it (2003), among numerous honors and international productions of her drama.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the headings Osonye Tess Onwueme, T. Akaeke Onwueme and Tess Onwueme. Her recorded languages were English and Nigerian Pidgin. Recorded with the occupation poet. Recorded as poet, playwright, university teacher, writer and philologist.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,499 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Terter YerevantsiAuthor
- Tess GallagherAuthor
- Tess GerritsenAuthor
- Tess GuntyAuthor
- Tessa RansfordAuthor
- Tessema EsheteAuthor
- Tété-Michel KpomassieAuthor
- Tetiana ChornovolAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Tess Osonye Onwueme?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.