Stories abound about children found dumped and abandoned on the side of the road or in garbage bins across the globe. Our Caine Prize shortlisted writer has always been curious about what becomes of them and explores this in his award winning story 'Collector of Memories'.
In this story about a young woman, abandoned as a child and learning about the circumstances surrounding her abandonment later in life, Joshua Chizoma wants to challenge you to ask yourself, 'Who are you?' What parts of your formative years have been contributed by others and what parts are known to you from your own perspective? What is your story of identity and becoming?
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Joshua Chizoma is Nigerian writer and law student
His works have been published in Prairie Schooner, Lolwe, AFREADA, Entropy Magazine, Anathema Magazine, Agbowo Magazine, and Prachya Review.
His story, 'A House Called Joy', won the 2018 Kreative Diadem Prize in the flash fiction category.
He was the winner of the 2020 Awele Creative Trust Award (ACT award) for his short story ‘Their Boy’
Joshua is also and alumnus of the Purple Hibiscus Trust Creative Writing Workshop run by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Finalist for 2021 Afritondo Short Story Prize
His story 'Collector of Memories' has been shortlisted for the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing.
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This podcast episode has been made possible in partnership with the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing.