Tochi Onyebuchi

Tochi Onyebuchi (born October 4, 1987) is a Nigerian American science fiction, fantasy writer and former civil rights lawyer. After publishing three books aimed at young adults, he released his first adult book, the Hugo Award, Nebula Award and Nommo Award nominated, Riot Baby, in 2020.[1][2][3][4]

Tochi Onyebuchi
Onyebuchi at the 2017 Texas Book Festival
Born (1987-10-04) October 4, 1987
Northampton, Massachusetts
OccupationAuthor, lawyer
Nationality
  • Nigerian
  • American
Alma mater
GenreFantasy, science fiction, young adult
Notable works
Years active2017–present

Early life and education

Onyebuchi was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, to Nigerian Igbo parents[5] Nnamdi Onyebuchi and Elizabeth Ihuegbu Onyebuchi, and has a brother, Chibuike, and two sisters, Chinoye and Uchechi. His first name means "praise God" in Igbo.[6] He lived in New Britain, Connecticut until 1998, when his father died at aged 39,[7] after which he grew up in Newington.[8]

Onyebuchi was an avid reader growing up and was strongly influenced by X-Men comics. While he appreciated works by black authors he was required to read in high school, such as Their Eyes Were Watching God, Invisible Man and Native Son, he preferred adventure and science fiction stories.[9][5] In high school, he studied abroad for a year in France, where he fell in love with Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo,[10] and was inspired when he learned Dumas was of African ancestry.[9]

He majored in political science at Yale University, graduating in 2009.[11] He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Screenwriting from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, a master's degree in Global Economic Law from Instituts d'études politiques in France, and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School.[12]

Career

Novels

After law school, Onyebuchi began a career in civil right law, working in the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General's Office, as well as for New York City's Legal Aid Society. Onyebuchi felt burnt out within about two years of practice and became a domain expert at a high-tech firm, while keeping his civil rights interest alive through his writing.[8]

Onyebuchi wrote extensively growing up and attempted to sell his first novel in high school. He had written 17 novels by the time he finally published his first novel, Beasts Made of Night, in 2017.[5][8] It won the 2018 Ilube Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel by an African. He published a sequel, Crown of Thunder, in 2018, followed by War Girls in 2019.[10]

In 2020, he published his first book aimed at an adult audience, Riot Baby, revolving around Kev, born during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and his sister, Ella, who possesses telekinetic powers.[2] Onyebuchi drew on his experience as a lawyer in setting much of the novel at Rikers Island in New York, where Kev is wrongfully incarcerated.[3] Riot Baby won the Alex Awards alongside the Ignyte Award for Best Novella.[13][14] it is a finalist for the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Novella and the World Fantasy Award in the same category.[15][16]

In 2022, Onyebuchi first adult science fiction novel Goliath was published by Tor Books.[17][18]

He has also written for Asimov's Science Fiction magazine and Ideomancer.[19]

Other works

In 2021, Onyebuchi was among the writers of Call Of Duty: Vanguard video game developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision.[20][21]

In the same year, Marvel announced Onyebuchi as the writer of a new comics series titled Black Panther Legends focusing on the origin of the Black Panther with illustrations from Setor Fiadzigbey.[22][23]

In 2022, Onyebuchi wrote a Captain America preview titled Captain America #0, alongside Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzig, it was illustrated by Mattia De Iluis, and lettered by Joe Caramagna.[24][25]

Personal life

Onyebuchi resides in New Haven, Connecticut.[8]

Bibliography

Novels
  • Beasts Made of Night. Razorbill. 2017.
  • Crown of Thunder. Razorbill. 2018.
  • Riot Baby. St. Martin's Press. 2020.
  • Goliath. Tor Books. 2022.
War Girls series
  • War Girls. Razorbill. 2019.
  • Rebel Sisters. Razorbill. 2020.

Comics
  • Black Panther Legends . Marvel. 2021

Short fiction
Stories
Title Year First published Reprinted/collected Notes
Place of worship 2014 Onyebuchi, Tochi (September 2014). "Place of worship". Asimov's Science Fiction. 38 (9): 24–39.

References
  1. "2021 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. The World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  2. Meyer, Petra (January 26, 2020). "'This Isn't New': Questions For Tochi Onyebuchi, Author Of Riot Baby". NPR. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  3. Levine, Beth (May 30, 2019). "BookExpo 2019: Tochi Onyebuchi Channels Rage and Hope". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  4. 2021 Nommo Awards Shortlist, retrieved June 3, 2021
  5. Ouellette, Katherine (January 23, 2020). "How X-Men And Black Lives Matter Shaped Tochi Onyebuchi's Riot Baby". WBUR-FM. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  6. "Tochi Onyebuchi". Author & Book Resources to Support Reading Education. TeachingBooks. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  7. "Nnamdi Onyebuchi; of New Britain". Hartford Courant. October 8, 1998. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  8. Dunne, Susan (October 25, 2017). "Dystopian Beasts Made Of Night By New Haven Author A Metaphor For Racial Injustice". Hartford Courant. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  9. "Author Tochi Onyebuchi Creates An Alternate Look At The Nigerian Conflict In His Novel 'War Girls'". The Breakfast Club. Power 105.1 FM. December 9, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  10. "Interview With an Author: Tochi Onyebuchi". Los Angeles Public Library Blog. January 16, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  11. Zhou, Carrie (January 22, 2020). "Tochi Onyebuchi '09 publishes sci-fi novel". Yale Daily News. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  12. "Tochi Onyebuchi". Penguin Random House. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  13. "Tochi Onyebuchi's Riot Baby Awarded 2021 American Library Association Alex Award". Brittle Paper. January 26, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  14. Templeton, Molly (September 20, 2021). "Announcing the 2021 Ignyte Awards Winners!". Tor.com. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  15. "2021 Hugo Awards".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. Community (July 22, 2021). "2021 World Fantasy Awards Finalists Announced". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  17. Markovits, Benjamin (January 25, 2022). "They Left a Broken U.S. for Outer Space. Now They're Coming Back". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  18. VanDenburgh, Barbara. "5 books not to miss: John Darnielle's 'Devil House,' new Danya Kukafka thriller". USA TODAY. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  19. Coleman, Christian A. (January 23, 2020). "Interview: Tochi Onyebuchi". Lightspeed Magazine. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  20. "'Call Of Duty: Vanguard' writers want the game to get two sequels". NME. October 12, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  21. Snider, Mike. "'Call of Duty: Vanguard': Video game leverages unique strategy to tell a different story from WWII". USA TODAY. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  22. "Writer Tochi Onyebuchi on T'Challa's Origins and 'Black Panther Legends'". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  23. Terror, Jude (October 8, 2021). "Black Panther Legends #1 Preview: Time For Another Origin Story". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  24. "Even Captain America Can't Escape Spider-Man's Most Ridiculous Meme". ScreenRant. March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  25. Terror, Jude (March 19, 2022). "Captains America Take on Elon Musk in Captain America #0 First Look". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
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