Photo and bio credit: Nnedi.com Media Kit
Dr. Nnedi Okorafor is an international award-winning New York Times Bestselling novelist of science fiction and fantasy for children, young adults and adults. Born in the United States to Nigerian immigrant parents, Nnedi is known for drawing from African cultures to create captivating stories with unforgettable characters and evocative settings. Nnedi has received the World Fantasy, Nebula, Eisner and Lodestar Awards and multiple Hugo Awards, amongst others, for her books. Champions of her work include Neil Gaiman, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, George RR Martin, and Rick Riordan. Literary ancestors Diana Wynne Jones, Ursula K. Le Guin and Nawal El Saadawi also loved her work. Nnedi holds a PhD in Literature, two Master’s Degrees (Journalism and Literature) and lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her daughter Anyaugo. Learn more at nnedi.com. You can also follow her on Twitter (@nnedi) and Instagram (@nnediokorafor).
Author Website
@Trexler Library: JUV O41t, on reserve and in circulating collection
Includes a brand-new Binti story!
Collected for the first time in a trade paperback omnibus edition, the Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning Binti trilogy, the story of one extraordinary girl’s journey from her home to distant Oomza University.
In her Hugo- and Nebula-winning novella, Nnedi Okorafor introduced us to Binti, a young Himba girl with the chance of a lifetime: to attend the prestigious Oomza University. Despite her family’s concerns, Binti’s talent for mathematics and her aptitude with astrolabes make her a prime candidate to undertake this interstellar journey.
But everything changes when the jellyfish-like Medusae attack Binti’s spaceship, leaving her the only survivor. Now, Binti must fend for herself, alone on a ship full of the beings who murdered her crew, with five days until she reaches her destination.
There is more to the history of the Medusae—and their war with the Khoush—than first meets the eye. If Binti is to survive this voyage and save the inhabitants of the unsuspecting planet that houses Oomza Uni, it will take all of her knowledge and talents to broker the peace.
But even if Binti achieves this remarkable feat, it’s not the end of her story. For this lone Himba woman, now bonded with a Medusa and forever changed by this bond, still must find a way to survive and thrive at Oomza University amid swirling interspecies biases. And eventually, she must return home to test the strength of the fragile peace she worked so hard to win.
~ Provided by publisher.
Why read science fiction? What can we learn? Examining Binti can be done through a variety of different lenses. Below are links to other library guides related to some of the themes that come through in Nnedi Okorafor's Binti trilogy. The list below provides just a few of the themes that can be explored more deeply but does not represent a complete listing of possible themes of this novel.
Are you examining Binti in a way that is not represented here? Explore other library guides for resources and links.
Gale Literary Criticism Online
MLA International Bibliography on Mohsin Hamid
Other works by Mohsin Hamid at Trexler Library
Awards
Reviews
El-Mohtar, Amal. "Binti's Story Is Finished — But Don't Expect Completion." NPR Book Reviews, January 27, 2018.
Grilo, Ana. "An Interstellar Identity." Kirkus Reviews, October 2, 2015.
Hobbs, Caitlin. "20 of the Best Science Fiction Books of All Time." Book Riot, August 10, 2022.
Video Interviews
Berkeley Arts + Design. "A Conversation with Nnedi Okorafor." Arts + Design Mondays @ BAMPFA, June 24, 2019.
KSJE FM. "Binti author Nnedi Okorafor." KSJE FM Visual Radio, October 16, 2019.
Okorafor. Nnedi. "Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa." TED Talks, November 22, 2017.
Exit West – An Invitation to the Conversation
September 3, 2022 (7–8:45 p.m.)
Miller Forum, Moyer Hall
Faculty Panelists: Jim Bloom, Ioanna Chatzidimitriou and Sharon Albert
This opening event features a panel of Muhlenberg faculty presenting brief reflections on Mohsin Hamid’s novel, Exit West, followed by an invitation to the campus community to join in an opening discussion of the Center for Ethics theme via key themes, moments, characters and symbols presented in Hamid’s work.
Additional Programs: Center for Ethics