Kachi A. Ozumba

In Posse's Featured Writer

Truth be told, editors of literary magazines are inundated with déjà vu, one-dimensional, yadayada short fiction. But then, sometimes, the Gods of literature smile upon us.

Kachi A. Ozumba sent me two stories, and I just fell in love with them. Both stories are funny, scary, and highly inventive. Both caught me off guard. Not only does Kachi possess a distinctive voice, he has an original vision. His stories give the reader the impression that a complex world exists underneath the surface of the narrative.

The narrator of "An African Dog and His Balls" is a canine whose family jewels are in jeopardy. The wacky premise is a means to depict life in a Nigerian village populated by a cast of colorful characters. Kachi is a keen observer of society. This talent is hard at work in his second story, "The Police Is Your Friend," a Kafka-esque representation of a constabulary culture poisoned by corruption.

Born in Nigeria in 1972, Kachi holds a university degree in philosophy from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria; he is currently pursuing an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leeds, UK.

His favorite writers include: Ben Okri, Yan Martel, Wole Soyinka, William Boyd, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. While these influences show up in his stories, Kachi is very much his own writer.

Kachi's short stories and articles have been published by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), as well as journals in his homeland. He is the author of the travel memoir: Through the Eyes of an African: Impressions of the Danish Society and the Folk High Schools." He is also one of the founders of the Nigerian Amateur Writers' Network (NAW-Net). After having completed his yet-to-be-published debut novel, The Initiation, a tale of rebellion against the status quo in a traditional African society, Kachi is now working on "Cell-Show." It is a story of rot in the police and justice delivery system in a Nigeria just awakening to democracy after 16 years of military rule.

Kachi A. Ozumba can be reached at kozumba@yahoo.com.

Jean Charbonneau
Editor-in-chief, In Posse Review

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