Author Chigozie Obioma visited campus last week to teach students enrolled in his creative writing class and give a lecture on relationships in fiction.

The Nigerian novelist and professor whose debut novel, “The Fisherman,” and his second novel, “An Orchestra of Minorities,” were both finalists for the prestigious Man Booker Prize, an international award given to authors of full-length, English novels from Britain, Ireland, or the Commonwealth of Nations.

“Writing is the one thing I have done all my life,” Obioma said. “It is for me a kind of lifestyle. I don’t think I could exist without writing.”

Obioma received his Bachelor of Arts and master’s degrees from Cyprus International University in Nicosia, Cyprus, before attending the University of Michigan to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree.

This year, Obioma is on sabbatical from his position as an associate professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is currently working as a distinguished writer in residence at Wesleyan University.

Obioma also teaches the Creative Writing Honors Program in Fiction — mainly as a remote course — for Hillsdale College. 

Associate Professor of English Dutton Kearney said he first invited Obioma to campus in 2019 after reading a review on Obioma’s novel “An Orchestra of Minorities.” Obioma’s visit, however, was delayed until 2021 due to COVID-19.

“I’m always looking for writers to invite to campus,” Kearney said. “Here was someone writing tragedies in the contemporary world.” 

According to Kearney, College President Larry Arnn also found Obioma to be an impressive author as he offered him a job teaching a creative writing course.

Obioma has now reached the end of his second time teaching the course to Hillsdale students.

The creative writing course consists of eight weeks of reading and discussing successful works of modern fiction. The students then write two original stories building off what they learned from their readings, Obioma said. 

“The fiction coming out from Hillsdale, both this year and last year, is quite unique,” Obioma said. “It is informed by the great books. The language is quite formal and distinct from what I’m used to reading from other books or magazines. The language feels almost pre-modern. It’s obviously a result of what is emphasized: the great books and the classical education.”

Senior James Lauve is currently in the penultimate week of Obioma’s class.

Lauve said he has been writing original stories and sharing them with his friends since elementary school. He said Obioma’s class has been helpful in his development as a writer.

“Chigozie Obioma is a published author — that’s not nothing,” Lauve said. 

While he was on campus, Obioma also gave a lecture titled “Connections, Disconnections, and Re-Connections in Fiction.”

“It’s the idea that every effective story deals with relationships and how people connect and disconnect and sometimes try to reconnect,” Obioma said. “The same can be said about real life. You grow up in a family, have friends, lovers, sometimes you disconnect from them and sometimes you reconnect.”

Obioma will release his third novel “The Road to the Country” on June 4.

According to Obioma, the novel will be in a war model, akin to “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Remarque, but focusing on the relationships of a couple and two brothers attempting to reconnect during the historic Nigerian Civil War of 1967.

“The entire novel takes place in the future and is witnessed from a vision from the seer,” Obioma said. “I have written about this war, a historical event, like it’s something that can be stopped.” 

Kearney and Lauve said they plan to read Obioma’s new book.

“I think we’re really lucky to have him here at Hillsdale,” Kearney said. “He’s a major contemporary artist who has a vision. It’s really fantastic to see that what we do with the liberal arts is so compatible with what he does in literature.” 

Though he won’t be able to teach the creative writing course in the near future due to his new book, Obioma said he is eager to continue teaching students in either the spring or fall semester of 2026.