Tega Oghenechovwen Awarded Elizabeth George Foundation Grant

The grant will support the creative writing M.F.A. student in finishing his upcoming collection of short stories.

By Chloe Kim

Tega Oghenechovwen has joined the ranks of some of today’s most exciting, emerging writers. The third-year student in the creative writing M.F.A. program was recently awarded an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant—an honor previously given to literary stars like Ocean Vuong, Lesley Nneka Arimah and Carmen Maria Machado.

The competitive grant will support Tega’s research and writing for one year as he completes a collection of interconnected short stories about unhoused children as they strive for dignity amid trafficking, violence and abuse. The first story in the collection, “We Can Start This Story,” was published in the Kenyon Review last spring.

“Winning the prize feels surreal because many writers I deeply admire and grew up reading have won this grant. The grant makes me feel as if I’m part of something beyond me, something big, and it fills me with a lot of excitement and appreciation to the granting foundation,” said Tega, who graduates this month. 

Tega dedicates his work to exploring social issues connected to his native Nigeria, often exploring themes of poverty, oppression, displacement, psychological trauma, grief and childhood.

“As an artist, I am interested in using the time of childhood or one’s formative years as a canvas to paint socio-political themes like displacement, threats of violence, war and mental dislocation,” Tega said. “This viewpoint allows me to write vividly, more imaginatively and to imbue my work with a heightened level of emotional pull and curiosity.”

At UMD, Tega has worked closely with Professor Emily Mitchell, his thesis supervisor, as well as Professors Maud Casey, Rion Scott and Gabrielle Fuentes. His literary influences include NoViolet Bulawayo, Doreen Baingana, Fela Kuti, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Nawal El Saadawi and Niyi Osundare, who “not only confront inequality, injustice, silencing, high-handedness and exploitation in their society, but ensure that the masses whom they write about are able to access the language of their works,” he said.

Originally from Jos, Nigeria, Tega earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Delta State University, Abraka, and pursued postgraduate studies in African literature at the University of Jos, Nigeria before arriving at UMD. After completing and publishing his short story collection, he hopes to pursue doctoral studies and eventually teach at the university level. 

Photo by Shakiba Sharifpour