Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor// ⓘ (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974)[1] is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults.

Her writing is Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism, both terms she coined and is heavily influenced by her dual Nigerian and American heritage.

[10] During her years attending Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Flossmoor, Illinois, Okorafor was a nationally known tennis and track star[11] and excelled in math and the sciences.

At age 19, she underwent spinal fusion surgery to straighten and fuse her spine; a rare complication led to Okorafor becoming paralyzed from the waist down.

That summer, with intense physical therapy, Okorafor regained her ability to walk with a cane, but she was unable to continue her athletic career.

[23] The prequel The Book of Phoenix won the 2018 Kurd Laßwitz Preis[24] and was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award.

[25] In 2011, she returned to young adult with Akata Witch (Viking/Penguin), the first book in the Nsibidi Scripts Series, which was a Junior Library Guild Selection.

[41][42] Also in 2023, Okorafor announced her novella trilogy She Who Knows which would serve as a prequel and sequel to her 2010 novel Who Fears Death and would focus on the life of Najeeba, Onyesonwu's mother.

[44][45][46] In February 2017, Okorafor announced via Facebook that her science-meets-witchcraft short story "Hello, Moto" had been optioned by Nigerian production company Fiery Film.

[49] The story tells the tale of a woman who discovers that she can merge witchcraft and technology when she creates wigs for herself and her friends that allow them to wield influence and power, to help battle corruption.

[55] In January 2021, it was announced that Tessa Thompson's newly formed production company, Viva Maude, had joined the team.

[56] In April 2019, it was announced that Okorafor would co-write the screenplay of an adaptation of Octavia Butler's Wild Seed with filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu for Amazon Prime Video and reportedly will be produced by Viola Davis.

[57] In January 2020, it was announced that Okorafor would co-write the screenplay of an adaptation of her Binti trilogy for Hulu with writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour.

[64] In October 2017, Okorafor announced via Twitter she would be writing three issues for Marvel's Black Panther comic, picking up where author Ta-Nehisi Coates left off.

[65][66] A month earlier, a short comic of hers titled "Blessing in Disguise" was included in Marvel's Venomverse War Stories No.

[67] In March 2017, it was announced that she would return to writing derived from the Black Panther, in Wakanda Forever, where the Dora Milaje team-up with Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Avengers.

[71] Okorafor contributed the essay "Zula of the fourth-grade playground" to the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.

Rather than identifying as Nigerian-American, she refers to herself as "Naijamerican" and explains the importance of her dual heritage during a 2016 NPR interview: That's very much a part of my identity, and it's also very much a reason why I think I ended up writing science fiction and fantasy because I live on these borders – and these borders that allow me to see from multiple perspectives and kind of take things in and then kind of process certain ideas and certain stories in a very unique way.

[12] Okorafor cites Nigeria as "her muse" as she is heavily influenced by Nigerian folklore and its rich mythology and mysticism.

[12] Gary K. Wolfe wrote of her work: "Okorafor's genius has been to find the iconic images and traditions of African culture, mostly Nigerian and often Igbo, and tweak them just enough to become a seamless part of her vocabulary of fantastika.

"[75] Her work often looks at "weighty social issues: racial and gender inequality, political violence, the destruction of the environment, genocide and corruption" through "the framework of fantasy".