Akwaeke Emezi
1987
Hailing from Nigeria in Africa, the artist and novelist Akwaeke Emezi has been making waves within the literary industry for quite some time now. Establishing herself as both an artist and a writer, she is definitely a creative presence and a force to be reckoned with, creating work that is both powerful and fiercely intelligent. Showing clear talent over the course of her career, she has quickly risen through the ranks, thus ensuring that she’s one of the most sought after voices currently working today. Producing work that is somewhat surreal and abstract in nature, she largely operates within the liminal spaces, which is what gives her work an ‘otherworldly’ and ethereal quality. This rings true for both her writing and her artwork, both of which feed in to one another, as she learns and utilizes the various different crafts, allowing them to speak for themselves. With her writing taking on a somewhat surreal quality too, she is able to find truths that really resonate with her readers, which goes some way towards explaining why she has had so much success to this very day.