IHRAM Writivism laureate Mbizo Chirasha in a tate – tate with the Established Nigerian Writer and Publisher Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye

MC: Who is Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye, and how long have you been writing?

Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye: Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye is a Creative Writer from the Igbo tribe in Nigeria. I was born in Anambra State, and grew up in Lagos State, both in Nigeria. I am in my early forties. I am also a book publisher, researcher, an adventurer and a teacher of English Language and Literature-in-English in Nigeria. I have a Master’s Degree in English Language Education from University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). I love reading books, and I love writing stories, poems and plays that reflect the ills in Nigeria in particular, and Africa in general, just to correct these ills. I love playing and watching football too. Lastly but not the least, I love to dance to Afropop, Afrobeats, Hippop and Igbo High Life music.
I first discovered that I could write in the year 2000 when I was still a teenager in secondary school. I wrote stories then on cardboard sheets, and lost them all. But in the year 2005, I took writing seriously and wrote some stories, plays and poems inside a big notebook. I didn’t lose them. So, that should be about twenty years now that I took writing seriously.

MC: How many books or stories have you published so far, and how are they received in your country?
Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye: I have two books published already. A collection of eleven stories titled, Jungle Justice and other stories published in 2022, and a novella titled, The Nightmare published in 2023. However, I have other short stories and poems published on the pages of Nigeria Newspoint Newspaper in 2006. And in 2010, two of my poems, “This World” and “The Judgment Day” got selected by Mbari Literary Society, and published and printed in a book, an anthology of poems, titled “Aja Mbari – First Offering”.
My two published books, Jungle Justice and Other Stories and The Nightmare are well received in Nigeria. They are purchased by readers in Nigeria at RovingHeights Bookstore branches across the country, and ordered through the RovingHeights Bookstore links – https://rhbooks.com.ng/product/jungle-justice-and-other-stories/?srsltid=AfmBOoqHSiOzk8oV_VLnL4Ui3arrgnpwRjWuzPwocFEA-8oLZb3kVTN7 and https://rhbooks.com.ng/product/the-nightmare/?srsltid=AfmBOoo_68dlLn5Zv2vBo4259hSd3yi00AShYWybxmB_2YDLgZOXObOF. My Novella, The Nightmare is used in a College of Health Technology in Nigeria as one of the General Studies texts for the course Use of English Language.

MC: What are your literary thematic areas?
Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye: I write on many different thematic areas, though I have discovered that I write more on the thematic areas of violence/insecurities in Nigeria, corruption, hardship and poverty, human trafficking in Africa, effects of violence and insecurities, and poor socioeconomic system and below average sociopolitical systems in Africa.

MC: Are you a multi-genre writer or do you only write short stories?
Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye: I am a multi-genre writer. I write short stories, novels, poems and plays.

MC: How is the book industry in your country?
Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye: Nigeria has always had a flourishing book industry for a very long time that has produced great Nigerian authors like Prof. Chinua Achebe and Prof. Wole Soyinka in the 1950s; Cyprian Ekwensi, Chwuemeka Ike, Buchi Emecheta, Esiaba Irobi and Seffi Atta, in the twentieth century all through to the present twenty-first century with the emergence of authors like Prof. Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Dr. Chika Unigwe, and down to my generation of writers and authors.
The present day Nigeria book industry is also making great success in book publishing, printing, marketing, and selling across various format like print, eBooks, and even audiobooks to readers across Nigeria, and the world at large.

MC: Do you write anything on racial equity, social justice, gender rights and other human rights?
Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye: These are exactly some of the things I write on. I write on these areas to make positive changes to the ills that have bedeviled Africa, especially Nigeria. That is exactly why I write.

MC: How are writers and artists appreciated or treated in your country?
Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye: In Nigeria, writers and artists are treated fine with respect. Some governmental and nongovernmental organizations and institutions organize awards to appreciate great published books. Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) organizes The Nigeria Prize for Literature every year to appreciate the best book, depending on the genre chosen for each year, with the sum of USD $100,000. I hope to win this year’s Nigeria Prize for Literature with my novella, The Nightmare, come October. Also, Association of Nigeria Authors do organize awards, yearly, to appreciate great books submitted for various prizes.
Some organizations in Nigeria give literary grants to writers and artists, while a few others organize literary workshops or fellowships where writers and artists are paid stipend, if selected.

MC: Do you have spaces that promote creativity, literary arts, books and writing in your country?
Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye: Yes. As a teacher, some of my students join Creative Writing Club, and there we promote creativity, literary arts, books and writing. Also, this is a digital age where I use my social media handles to promote creativity, literary arts, books and writing. More so, I run a publishing company in Nigeria. Though it is still small and just two years old, but it has been used to promote creativity and my books, especially my novella, The Nightmare, that was published by my young publishing company, CCN WORLD Publishing Company Limited.

MC: Have you ever attended literature festivals, fellowship programmes and bookfairs; how has been your experience?
Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye: Yes. I attended Association of Nigeria Authors National Conference in Akure, the capital of Ondo State, Nigeria, in 2013. It was a four-day conference. We were also hosted to a dinner night by the then Governor of Ondo State, His Excellency, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko. It was a great experience with a good number of great Nigeria authors in attendance to showcase their books and to read, before the audience, from their books.

MC: How many awards/accolades have you received since you began literary arts activism and writing?
Chukwuebuka C. Nwoye: I received two awards in 2008. The Creative Writer of the Year 2008 Award from Education Students Association (ESA), Imo State University Chapter, and The Best Creative Writer 2008 Award, from Education/English Students Association, Imo State University.
In June this year, 2025, The Bath Novel Award 2025, London, UK, sent me an email to accord me the honour to know that my extract and synopsis from an ongoing novel project I am still on, but have written the chapter one and two, made the Top 100 out of a record-breaking 2,901 novel-extracts and synopsis submissions made across the world for the The Bath Novel Award 2025 competition.

Chukwuebuka Chibuzor Nwoye is a Nigerian writer, born in Anambra State, Nigeria, and grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. He presently lives in Enugu State, Nigeria. He is a creative writer, a publisher, a researcher, and a teacher of English Language and Literature-in-English in Nigeria. He holds a Master’s Degree in English Language Education from University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). His Scientific Research article titled, A Contrastive analysis of English and Igbo Segmental features: Implication in English as a Second Language Learning was published in International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation by AL-KINDI CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, London, UK. His first solo-authored book, a collection of eleven short stories titled Jungle Justice and Other Stories was published in 2022 in Nigeria and on Amazon by Ifeadigo Publishing Company Limited. His second solo-authored book, a novella titled, The Nightmare was published in 2023 in Nigeria and on Amazon by CCN WORLD Publishing Company Limited. The story, The Will To Survive, is one of his recent short stories, written. The inspiration to write the story was gotten from the challenges people go through in Nigeria, especially economic challenges.