Important Dates

Omaki's short fiction and essays have appeared in numerous major publications, including Transition Magazine, Passages North, The Rumpus and elsewhere. Longlisted for the BBC Comedy writers room, she is the writer of two feature films and an animated television series. She has a Masters from the University of East Anglia in the UK where she was the recipient of the Miles Morland African Writer’s Award (2019/2020). She is completing work on a novel.

Nigeria Boy is an exploration of class inequality, poverty and language in West Africa. Above all, it is a study of human will and hope.

Written in non-standard English, Nigeria Boy follows the story of a young Nigerian man forced to emigrate to Ghana in search of a better life than the one he was dealt at birth. Searching for a way to change his harsh circumstances, he discovers the boxing neighbourhood of Bukom, in Accra, known for its long legacy of producing fierce boxing champions.With nothing but the clothes on his back, two good friends, the hope of reuniting with the woman he loves back home, and determination to make something of himself, he falls into the boxing world. Quickly, he discovers it is neither easy nor simple. There are dark shadows, complex rivalries,unexpected temptations and the loss of what he holds most dearcluttering his path.

Will he transcend all these and rise to the pinnacle of the world he has chosen? Or are his dreams doomed to remain just out of reach, causing him to fall back into the abyss of the life he came from?