by John Munonye

John Munonye was born in 1929 in Akokwa, Imo State, Nigeria. Like most young boys in the region, he was raised as the son of a farmer. But unlike his father, Munonye attended Christian schools and received a Western education. The experience of negotiating the cultural, psychological, and ideological differences between the Western and traditional Igbo worlds forms the backdrop of four of his novels: The Only Son (1966), Obi (1969), The Oil Man of Obange (1971), and Bridge to a Wedding (1978). In his own life, Munonye confronted the ideological conflict inherent in attempting to follow traditional beliefs while receiving a Western education. Educated first at Christ the King College in Onitsha and the University of Ibadan, Munonye later earned a Masters in Education at the University of London’s Institute of Education. He spent much of his professional career in...