Amechi Nicholas Akwanya MA, PhD, was born in 1952 in Awkuzu, near Onitsha, Nigeria. He attended primary school in Awkuzu, and secondary school at All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha. At third level, Akwanya studied philosophy and theology (1972-1980), at Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu, Nigeria. He was ordained priest in July 1980, and travelled to Ireland two years later where he studied at Maynooth College, National University of Ireland, between 1982 and 1989. Akwanya gained a BA in English and Geography (1985), an MA in English (1986) and returned to Nigeria in 1989 having achieved a PhD in English. The theme of his doctoral dissertation was 'Structuring and Meaning in the Nigerian Novel.'
Akwanya is a member of the International Association for the study of Anglo-Irish literature. He has had work on 'Echewa's Narrative Strategy' published in Nigeria Today (1989), and has produced work on 'The Nigerian, Chinua Achebe's Writing: An Investment in Speech' for The Irish Review. Orimili is Akwanya's first novel.
Dynamic duo.
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