Nigeria’s literary community has been thrown into mourning following the news of the sudden demise of Austyn Njoku, a foremost poet and short story writer.Poet & playwright Denja Abdullahi broke the news on his Facebook feed, “I announce to the literary community in Nigeria and beyond the death of Austyn Njoku,former ANA National Treasurer and the CEO of Jemie Books,one of the consulting publishers to the Nigerian Writers Series(NWS) of the Association of Nigerian Authors(ANA).His wife called me a few minutes ago with the sad news that he passed on Friday night night in Lagos after about two weeks of hospitalization.”
Austyn Njoku studied French Language and Literature at the University of Port Harcourt. A poet and short story writer, Njoku’s poems have been published in recent anthologies like Passport to the New World (edited by Sunny Ayewanu in collaboration with The Nigerian Commission for UNESCO) and the International Library of Poetry anthologies. More of his poems have been published in Nigerian national newspapers and magazines and put to Baroque music in THE SOUND OF POETRY. His first collection, I’ve Been A Crew, got an Honourable Mention in the Cadbury Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) Poetry Competition.
