The key word to his art as a creative writer is
versatility.
Born in Minna, Nigeria, on 26 September 1921, Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi, an Igbo, is the son of Ogbuefi David Duaka Ekwensi and Agnes Uso Ekwensi. He has published novels and short stories, and he has written plays for radio and scripts for television and the screen. His works focus on love, infatuation, infidelity, war, adventure, fantasy, politics, childhood, marriage, death, and ritual sacrifice. He has also collected folktales and written about life in various Nigerian ethnic groups: Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Ijaw, Efik, and Urhobo. Ekwensi has traversed rural and urban landscapes of Nigeria, recording them in his fiction. He married Eunice Anyiwo, and they have five children.
Perhaps if he had stuck to one genre, focused on one major theme, or concentrated on one segment of Nigerian society, Ekwensi could have commanded a greater following among literary critics. But he has chosen to cover many situations, themes, and types of characters. Most readers have no knowledge of the full range of his extraordinary literary output in the last forty years: it includes nine major novels; five short novels; nine children's books; seven collections of short stories; many stories in journals and magazines; and several unpublished, book-length manuscripts.
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