Ijeoma Umebinyuo is an Igbo-American writer, artist and founder. Born in Lagos, she spent her holidays in Eastern Nigeria, her ancestral hometown where her grandfather introduced her to oral storytelling through Igbo folklore.
Umebinyuo published her first poetry collection, 'Questions for Ada,' in 2015. In 2017, she delivered a talk, 'Dismantling The Culture of Silence,' at TEDx CooperUnion.
Umebinyuo has delivered readings at Columbia University and Colgate University. She gave her first keynote speech at the first Afrocentrism Conference organized by The University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University.
She was a part of a panel discussion organized by the BBC focused on Nigerian women at the University of Lagos. She was a part of a panel discussion on 'Gender, Silence, and the Politics of writing' organized by the Hong Kong International Poetry Festival.
Her work has been translated, published, and cited in various languages and publications. Appearing in literary magazines and anthologies such as The NYU Black Renaissance Noire, The Macguffin, The Stockholm Review of Literature, Antología Internacional de Poesía Feminista, Oireserío: A Poetic Anthology for the Rivers of the Five Continents and An Anthology of Womanist Poems and more.
She published two essays: 'The Privilege of Geography' in Missy Magazine translated to German by Charlotte Milsch and 'Owning and Centring Our Stories' in Agenda, an African feminist journal. In the summer of 2020, her poem 'Poem No. 4' was named in British Vogue Magazine as one of the seven most important poems to perfectly depict the Black experience.
Umebinyuo's poem was part of the 'Silence—Falling Silent Loudly' exhibition at the Japanisches Palais in Dresden, Germany. Ijeoma Umebinyuo established Aguwazi Creatives in 2022, where she expanded her creativity and love for indigenous artists and artistry through her boutique storytelling firm.
Umebinyuo centers her life around her pursuits, passions and loved ones. She is creating and finding her joy.
