Ogaga Ifowodo is a lawyer, poet, writer, activist, and columnist. He is the author of six poetry collections, including Homeland and Other Poems, which won the 1993 ANA Poetry Prize; Madiba, winner of the 2003 ANA/Cadbury Poetry Prize; and The Oil Lamp, winner of the 2005 ANA/Gabriel Okara Poetry Prize.

His collections A Good Mourning and Augusta’s Poodle were shortlisted and longlisted, respectively, for the NLNG Prize. His sixth poetry collection is Why Does God Need a Gun?

Beyond poetry, Ifowodo is the author of the scholarly work History, Trauma, and Healing in Postcolonial Narratives (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

He is a recipient of the Barbara Goldsmith Freedom-to-Write Award of the American PEN Centre and the Free Word Award of the Netherlands-based Poets of All Nations. He is also an honorary member of the PEN Centres of the United States, Canada, and Germany, and a fellow of the Iowa Writing Program.

Ogaga Ifowodo served as Assistant Professor of English at Texas State University until 2014, when he returned to Nigeria.