Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (born 19 January) is a Nigerian speculative fiction writer, editor and publisher who was the first African-born Black author to win a Nebula Award. He has also received a World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, Otherwise Award, and two Nommo Awards, along with being a multi-time finalist for a number of other honors, including the Hugo Award.

Ekpeki frequently writes about disability, class, inequality and other issues related to both colonization and decolonization.

Life Ekpeki was born in Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria.

In November 2024, Locus magazine reported that "allegations of unethical and unprofessional behavior by Ekpeki" had recently been made public and that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association had removed him from their board of directors.

In December 2024, Locus followed up the report with updates from File 770 and The African Speculative Fiction Society, that Ekpeki had been found innocent of the allegations, following further investigations and retractions.

In May 2026, he was involved in a near-fatal accident caused by a Chowdeck rider. He later claimed that both he and his fellow victim, Purity Adheke, were threatened by the logistics company.

Writing Ekpeki began publishing fiction in 2018. One of his early stories, "The Witching Hour", won the Nommo Award. His 2020 novella Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon won the Otherwise Award and Nommo Award, Theodore Sturgeon Award, The book contains thirteen stories and three essays "exploring the belief systems and lived experiences that inform African speculative fiction" and the "schism between Western and African perspectives on speculative fiction". He is a member of the African Speculative Fiction Society, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, the Horror Writers Association, and Codex Writers Group.

Editing Ekpeki has edited a number of books and magazines, starting with the 2020 anthology Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction From Africa and the African Diaspora (co-edited with Zelda Knight). The anthology won the British Fantasy Award for Best Anthology and was a finalist for the 2021 Locus Award and the 2020 This Is Horror award.

Ekpeki also edited The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction and published it through his own Jembefola Press in 2021. In 2022, he edited and published Bridging Worlds: Global Conversations On Creating Pan-African Speculative Literature In a Pandemic. The anthology was a finalist for the Locus Award for Non-Fiction.

In 2022 he co-edited the Tor Books anthology Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction alongside Sheree Renée Thomas and Knight.

He has also edited individual issues of Invictus Quarterly and Interstellar Flight Press.

Nommo Award Short Story BSFA Award Short Fiction Otherwise Award —

Nommo Award Novella

British Fantasy Award Anthology Locus Award Anthology Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon Theodore Sturgeon Award Short fiction

Nebula Award Novelette Hugo Award Novelette The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction World Fantasy Award Anthology Hugo Award Editor, Short Form

Nebula Award Short Story Asimov's Readers' Award Short Story