Uwem Akpan was born in?Ikot Akpan Eda in southern Nigeria. After studying philosophy and English at Creighton and Gonzaga universities, he studied theology for three years at the?Catholic University?of Eastern Africa. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 2003 and received his MFA in creative writing from the?University of Michigan?in 2006. "My Parents' Bedroom," a story from his?short story collection, Say You're One of Them, was one of?five short stories?by African writers chosen as finalists for The?Caine Prize?for African Writing 2007. Say You're One of Them won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (Africa Region) 2009 and PEN/Beyond Margins Award 2009, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction.?In 2007, Akpan taught at a Jesuit college in?Harare, Zimbabwe.?Now he serves at?Christ?the King Church, Ilasamaja-Lagos,?Nigeria.
