Uzodinma Iweala Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Disorder Collection Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Uzodinma Iweala is a noteworthy American medical doctor and novelist, who likes to write novels of the historical fiction, cultural fiction, war genres. He is of the Nigerian descent, but lives in the United States since his birth. Author Iweala was born on November 05, 1982, in Washington D.C, United States. He is particularly well known for his debut literary work called Beasts of No Nation. He had started writing this novel as a part of the thesis in creative writing that he was working on when he was studying at Harvard. This book revolves around the life of a kid soldier in an un-named country in Africa. The book was released to an overwhelming in 2005 and was later adapted into an award winning movie after a decade in 2015.

Renowned as author Iweala’s best work so far, this book has also been mentioned by The NY Times, the Rolling Stones, the Times Magazines, the Entertainment Weekly, and The Times. Author Iweala is the son of a doctor father named Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. Being brought up by a doctor parent enabled him to pursue a career in the field of medicine. However, his interest in writing also grew side by side, which Iweala carried along and waited for the right moment to turn it into a dream come true. As a child, author Iweala attended the St Albans School, located in Washington DC. Later, he managed to get enrolled in Harvard College. He graduated in 2004 with a magna cum laude, A.B., in American Literature & Language and English. During his time at Harvard, author Iweala worked very hard to earn the Dorothy Hicks Lee Award and the Hopes Prize. He was declared as the Undergraduate Student with Outstanding Thesis. Iweala also received the Eager Prize in the category of the Best Undergraduate Short-Story; as well as the Horman Award for Excellent Creative Writing, both in 2003. After passing out from Harvard, author Iweala joined the College of Physicians & Surgeons at the Columbia University and obtained a medical degree in 2011.

In addition to all these academic achievements, Iweala also had the opportunity to become a fellow at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study. The year 2006 saw author Iweala winning the Public Library of New York’s Young Lions Award in Fiction. The following year, he was listed among the top 20 young novelists of America by the Granta magazine. After his tremendously successful debut, author Iweala wrote and published a couple more books. He even worked as a contributor for a few anthologies. Iweala has collaborated with a fellow writer named Ngugi Thiong for writing a book called The River Between. Iweala was actually asked to write the book’s introduction, which he happily did. After this, he collaborated on a few other works with some prominent writers like George Saunders, Jennifer Reynolds, Luke Reynolds, etc. Author Iweala seems quite content and satisfied with whatever he has achieved in his short writing career so far. He is very much grateful to his fans and his parents, who have always supported him and kept him motivated to do good in his line of work. Iweala hopes to come up with several more interesting novels in the coming days.

The debut book written by author Uzodinma Iweala is entitled ‘Beasts of No Nation’. This book was released by the Harper Perennial publishers in the year 2006, after it was first released a year before in 2005. The setting of the book’s story is done by Iweala in a fictional country in West Africa. The chief protagonist is depicted as a school-going aged boy named Agu. Iweala has described through this story how the little boy turns into a soldier and how his life unfolds in his war-torn African nation. At the start of the story of the book, it is shown that a civil war begins in Agu’s country. Not knowing what to do in life, he gets recruited by a guerilla fighters’ unit to join them. Agu is haunted by the killing of his father by the militants. Shortly after witnessing the brutal death of his dad, Agu fled and came into the hands of the guerrilla unit.

The dangerous commander of the unit shows paternal feelings towards Agu and knows that he is too vulnerable. As the war continues, Agu keeps increasingly distant from his previous life that he was aware of before the beginning of the conflict. Agu used to be a happy child. He has close friends from his school, a loving a caring family, and soft hearted neighbors. Agu liked it very much to spend time in the church services. While undergoing training at the guerilla unit, Agu recalls everything that leaves behind, and continually moves further away into the daily reality of inexplicable brutality, selfhood loss, and primal fear. With this story’s strikingly original and powerful voice, author Iweala takes the readers through a journey of hardships, difficulties, betrayals, violence, and random travels. The book looks engrossing and electrifying in every sense. After its tremendous success all over the world, the novel was made into a feature Hollywood film having the same name. Cary Fukunaga was selected to direct the movie, while Idris Elba and Abraham Attah were cast as the lead characters, portraying the roles of the commander and Abu respectively. The movie had a Netflix premiere in the month of October in 2015.

Another excellent novel that author Iweala has written is called ‘Speak No Evil’. It was published in 2018 by the Harper publishers. This fiction novel features the primary characters as Niru and Meredith, and depicts a gay relationship between two privileged teenagers who come from different backgrounds. The story progresses by showing the relationship of the teenagers brings devastating consequences. At the book’s beginning, it is depicted that Niru lives a charming life. He is raised to be a well disciplined boy by his parents in Washington, DC. Niru’s academic record is very and he is also a track star. He undergoes preparation to join Harvard, and hopes that he will get into in in the coming fall. However, there is a painful secret of Niru that he keeps hidden from his conservative parents, and that is his gay nature. This secret is known only to Niru’s best friend named Meredith, who does not judge him for what he is. Niru’s father accidentally discovers his secret and this results in a brutal fallout. Niru looks to Meredith for emotional support, but she seems to be going through her own troubles. As the plot moves further, Meredith and Niru appear to be heading towards a highly senseless and violent future, one that neither of them have ever imagined.