Background

Osonye Tess Onwueme was born on September 8, 1955, in Ogwashi Ukwu, Nigeria. She is a daughter of Juluga Stephen Akaeke, a lawyer, and Maria Ndidi Akaeke, a homemaker.

Education

In 1979 Osonye Tess Onwueme received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and a Master of Arts degree in 1982. In 1987 she obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Benin.

Career

From 1980 to 1981 Osonye Tess Onwueme was an assistant lecturer in English at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). From 1982 to 1987 she worked as an assistant professor of English and head of performing arts program at the Federal University of Technology in Owerri, Nigeria. From 1986 to 1989 Onwueme served as an associate professor of English at the Imo State University (now Abia State University) in Okigwe, Nigeria, and a head of performing arts unit from 1988 to 1989. From 1988 to 1991 she was a member of national advisory board of the United Black Artists.

From 1989 to 1990 Osonye Tess Onwueme was an associate professor of Africana studies at the Wayne State University. From 1990 to 1993 she was an associate professor of English and multicultural literary studies at the Montclair State University. From 1992 to 1993 Osonye served as an associate professor at the Vassar College. In 1994 Osonye was appointed a distinguished professor of Cultural Diversity and professor of English at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire.

In 2007 the United States State Department appointed her to the State Department Public Diplomacy Speaker/Specialist Program for North, East and West India with the mandate to make friends for America. The 2009 Tess International Conference, which was exclusively devoted to Tess Onwueme's creative work, followed the prestigious Fonlon-Nichols award to her in Vermont, United States, in 2009. In October 2014, she received the rare commendation with Declaration of a Proclamation in her honor by members of the Wisconsin State Senate/Legislature and the University of Wisconsin to mark the Tess Onwueme Archival Collection at the University of Wisconsin.

Achievements

• Osonye Tess Onwueme is Africa's best known female dramatist. Her plays have featured in international academic and public stages in India, Sudan, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Caribbean, and throughout Africa.
  
  The BBC adapted and produced Onwueme's 2001 award-winning play "Shakara: Dance-Hall Queen". Her "What Mama Said", "Tell it to Women", "Shakara: Dance-Hall Queen", "The Missing Face" and "The Reign of Wazobia" became staples of international college and university curricula in the 21st century.

Works

More photos

• book

  • No Vacancy

    (This drama presents a group of highly talented, educated,...)

    2005
  • Three Plays

    (This anthology of plays by Tess Onwueme, one of the brigh...)

    1993
  • Shakara: Dance-Hall Queen

    (Shakara dance-hall queen is a gripping drama on the strug...)

    2000
  • What Mama Said: An Epic Drama

    (Renowned playwright Osonye Tess Onwueme's powerful new dr...)

    2004
  • Then She Said It

    (The play is set in the metaphoric state of Hungaria. Nagg...)

    2003
  • Legacies: A play 1989
  • Go Tell It to Women: An Epic Drama for Women 1992
  • Riot in Heaven 1996
  • The Missing Face 1997

Views

Osonye Tess Onwueme is an active speaker regarding domestic violence.

Quotations: "People create social conditions and people can change them."

Membership

Osonye Tess Onwueme is a member of the Pan African Writers Association, of the Black Theatre Network, of the Organization Women Writers of African Descent, of the African Literature Association, of the African Studies Association, of the International Women Playwrights Association, of the Pen International Writers Association, and of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain.

Interests

• dance, music

Connections

Osonye Akaeke married Inno C. Onwueme, a professor. On October 3, 1997, they divorced. On May 8, 1998, she married Obika Gray, a professor. Osonye has five children from her first marriage: Kenolisa, Ebele, Kunume, twins Bundo and Malije.

Father:

Juluga Stephen Akaeke

Mother:

Maria Ndidi Akaeke

Spouse:

Obika Gray

ex-spouse:

Inno C. Onwueme

Son:

Kenolisa Onwueme

Daughter:

Ebele Onwueme

Son:

Kunume Onwueme

Daughter:

Malije Onwueme

Son:

Bundo Onwueme

References

• Contemporary Authors
  1998
• Gender and Identity in the Works of Osonye Tess Onwueme This is a seminal analysis of the present sixteen plays and one novel by Osonye Tess Onwueme, who is Africa's most prolific and versatile female playwright. This book emerges as an invaluable African contribution towards the controversial global discourse on gender, race, tradition and modernity and demonstrates the interconnectivity of the African in the African continent and in the Diaspora.
  2004