I am a lecturer in English here at MMU. My research centres on contemporary literary representations of the development of a pan-Igbo identity, and the changing socio-political and geographical positioning of the Igbo.
My broader research interest include postcolonial nationhood with reference to gender and the personal vis-à-vis the political, orality and history, narratives of resistance, decolonisation, Africa and the Black Atlantic, African speculative fiction, literary activism and the impact of political instability on patterns of migration.
PhD in African Literature, SOAS (2015) Thesis: ‘The Igbo Experience in the Igbo-Nigerian Novel’
MA African Studies, SOAS (2009)
BA (Hons) English Literature and Language, King's College London (2007)
Prior to joining MMU I have taught at SOAS and Goldsmiths, University of London.
Critical Dialogues
Postwar to the Present
African Literature with a specific interest in Nigerian Literature, African Language Literatures, Postcolonial Literatures, Global Literatures, Black British Literature, African Cultural Studies, Black Atlantic Studies, African Diaspora Literature, Igbo Cultural Discourses, Literary Constructions of Urban Environments, Translating Cultures, Nationalist Discourses, Narratives of Resistance, Literary Activism, African Speculative Fiction and Afro-futurism, Oral Literatures.
I am currentlty collaborating with the filmmaker Nathan Richards, to produce a documentary film on ‘Legacies of Biafra’. It explores the ongoing impact of the Nigeria-Biafra war locally and globally, considering how the first civil war in independent Africa has influenced the perception of the continent internationally as well as its impact on the political and social structures in Nigeria. The central focus is on the artistic journeys of members of the Nigerian Art Society UK whom I am working with to stage a series of exhibitions from April 2017 to March 2018 on ‘Legacies of Biafra’.
LU. EGBUNIKE (2014). One-Way Traffic: Renegotiating the ‘Been-To’ Narrative in the Nigerian Novel in the Era of Military Rule. Matatu. 45(1), pp.217-232.
LU. Egbunike (2013). Snapshots of the botswana nation: Bessie head's the collector of treasures & other botswana village tales as a national project. In: Writing Africa in the Short Story. pp.65-76.
LU. Egbunike (2012). Constructing the destructive city: Representations of lagos in Cyprian Ekwensi's people of the city. In: Reflections and Retrospectives: African Literature Today 30. pp.86-97.
‘Narrating the Past: Orality, History and the Production of Knowledge in the works of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’ University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA, April 12, 2016 (Invited Guest Lecturer. Invited to deliver the James Weldon Johnson Lecture)
‘Locating Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in the Igbo Literary Tradition’ Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA, November 19, 2015 (Invited Guest Lecturer)
‘Critical Issues in Contemporary Nigerian Women’s Literature’ (skype lecture) University of the West Indies, St Augustine, July 11, 2015 (Invited Guest Lecturer)
‘Nnedi Okorafor’s ‘The Magical Negro’ in the time of #BlackLivesMatter’ The Royal African Society’s ‘Africa Writes Festival’, The British Library, July 3-5, 2015 (Invited to present on ‘Emerging Discourse on African Literature’ panel)
‘Black Internationalism and the Politics of Gender in Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch’ 41st African Literature Association Conference, Universität Bayreuth, June 3-6, 2015 (Invited to present on ‘Afro-Superheroes’ panel)
'Onye Ije' and the Politics of Migration in the Igbo-Nigerian Novel 41st African Literature Association Conference, Universität Bayreuth, June 3-6, 2015 (Invited to present on ‘African Returns in African Fiction’)
‘Writing Biafra: Historicising the War Narrative’ Postcolonial Research Group, Newcastle University, March 19, 2015 (Invited Guest Lecturer)
‘Recasting Igbo/Efik Traditional Societies in the Contemporary African Youth Novel: Ekpe in Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch’ 40th Annual African Literature Association Conference, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, April 9-13, 2014 (Invited to present on ‘Children’s Literature’ Panel)
‘Organic Fantasy’ and the African Diasporic Experience in Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch’ African Studies Association, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, November 21 -23, 2013 (Invited to present on the ‘Children’s Literature’ Panel)
‘Chinua Achebe and the Igbo World View’ Chinua Achebe: A Tribute in Memoriam, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA, November 14, 2013 (Invited Guest Lecturer)
‘Third Generation Nigerian Novels in the Era of Military Rule’ 39th Annual African Literature Association Conference, Charleston Marriott, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, March 20 - 24, 2013 (Invited to present on ‘Politics and Social Justice in Contemporary African Fiction’ Panel)
‘Snapshots of the Botswana Nation: Bessie Head’s The Collector of Treasures and other Botswana Village Tales as National Project’ African Studies Association, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Philadelphia, PA, USA, November 29 - December 1, 2012 (Invited to present on the ‘Short Stories in African Literature’ Panel)
Panellist for 'The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo' – panel discussion London Feminist Film Festival, The Tricycle Cinema, London, August 22, 2015 (Invited Speaker)
Moderator for ‘Africa in Translation’ colloquium The Royal African Society’s ‘Africa Writes Festival’, The British Library, July 3-5, 2015 (Invited to moderate three panels and the keynote lecture)
Chair for ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ Film Screening and Discussion, Postcolonial Research Group, Newcastle University, March 18, 2015 (Invited Guest Speaker)
Louisa Uchum Egbunike in Conversation with Film Director, Obi Emelonye following the screening of Onye Ozi, Film Africa, Royal African Society, The Ritzy Cinema, November 8, 2014 (Invited Guest Speaker)
Louisa Uchum Egbunike and Yvonne Mbanefo in discussion of film ‘B for Boy’ by Chika Anadu, Images of Black Women Film Festival, The Rich Mix Cinema, April 14, 2014 (Invited Guest Speaker)
‘A Tribute to Chinua Achebe’ Africa’s Book Day, Africa Centre, London, April 23, 2013 (Invited Guest Speaker)
I co-convene an annual Igbo conference at SOAS, which is now in its sixth year. The conference bring academics, those in creative industries and members of the Igbo community together for the purpose of knowledge sharing and exchange.
African Literature Association (ALA)
African Studies Association (ASA)
African Studies Association UK (ASAUK)
Postcolonial Studies Association (PSA)
Society for Caribbean Studies (SCS)
Women’s Caucus of the African Literature Association (WOCALA)