Michael David Ogbonnaya Biography- SYNW Young Writer of the Month (October 2020)

 

MICHAEL DAVID OGBONNAYA BIOGRAPHY- SYNW YOUNG WRITER OF THE MONTH (OCTOBER 2020)

 Michael David Ogbonnaya is a Nigerian Writer works ranges from Novels to short stories and to nonfiction.

Born on the 13th of April, 1994, he is a native of Lodu Imenyi in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State. He was born in FESTAC, Lagos. He comes from a family of seven; father, mother and five children. He is the only boy and the first child and has four beautiful sisters.

He had his Primary Education at Kristobell Junior Academy, Iba Estate, Ojo, Lagos. And at a time, because he parents were civil servants, they moved to Abuja where Michael finished his primary education and started his secondary education.

However, he moved back to Lagos to finish his Secondary education. For University, he decided to come down to the East to have his Tertiary education. He went to Nnamdi Azikiwe University where he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Zoology.

While in the University, he discovered his passion for writing  after he discovered Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie through her Ted talk titled 'The danger of the single story' in 2014. The talk he says, was given to him by his roommate's friend. And he says, it set things in the right perspective for him.

As a person of the science extract, before he watched Adichie's Ted talk, had never considered himself a Fiction writer. Although he had read Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart' and 'No Longer at Ease' and 'Arrow of God', Ifeoma Okoye's 'Behind the Clouds', Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo's 'Trafficked' and some other books he compulsorily read during the course of his Junior Secondary School. He read all for pleasure and to broaden his personal knowledge.

His mother, he says, 'She's good at buying books, although she never read most of them.' He used most of his free time to read most of the books, she bought.

His father another hand, saw to it that he did his home work. His father, he considers a reader. He became an ardent reader in University days and proceeded to reading of our Adichie's works and other works of renowned authors like Lola Shoneyi, Ben Okri, Buchi Emecheta, Sidney Sheldon, Binyanvanga Wainaina and a host of others.

Today, he calls himself a die hard distant fan of Adichie.

His works covers a large scope from Politics to ethnicity to Boy Child to Girl child to Parenting to Christianity to history and a variety of other things.

He looks at the world with an empathetic eye. He says, 'Literature made me care deeply for issues that did and didn't directly affect me. Because irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, religion or whatever, we all share a common humanity and in that humanity lies our similarities rather than our differences.'

 

While in his secondary school, he loved mathematics and he said it was because he had a good mathematics teacher, whose name was Mr. Emmanuel.

His poem has been published in a Chinua Achebe's anthology. He has a couple of short stories to his credit. Currently he is working on his first novel.

He loves Okpa as his favorite snack.

When he's not busy with work, loves get enough sleep as it helps him deliver effectively in his writing.