Nigerian-American fantasy and science fiction writer, Nnedi Okorafor, has published her ever first non-fiction book ‘Broken Places & Outer Spaces: Finding Creativity in the Unexpected.’
The memoir which is now available in stores captures the life of the former athlete, from the moment she was diagnosed with scoliosis, to the moment when she started writing small stories, which eventually manifested into science fiction books. She underwent a surgery at the age of 19, to correct a crooked spine, complications led to her been paralyzed waist down. She however regained her ability to walk after a while, but it wasn’t athletics she found on her feet, it was science fiction, as a creative writing course she took up that spring saw her writing her first novel at the end of the semester.
Simon and Schuster described the memoir as a ‘powerful journey from star athlete to sudden paralysis to creative awakening, award-winning science fiction writer Nnedi Okorafor shows that what we think are our limitations have the potential to become our greatest strengths.’
Nnedi Okorafor who is also the author of: ‘The Shadow Speaker,’ was a winner of the Carl Brandon Parallax Award, ‘Zahrah the Windseeker,’ won the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, ‘Who Fears Death,’ won the 2011 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, ‘Akata Witch,’ amongst others.
