Photo: Tonatiuh Ambrosetti / Jan Michalski Foundation
Zainab
A. Omaki
Zainab A. Omaki writes fiction and nonfiction about family, mental health, and the things people don't say. Her work has been published in The Rumpus, Transition Magazine, Callaloo, Five Points, and the Los Angeles Review. She is a Miles Morland African Writer's Award recipient and a PhD graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The RumpusTransition MagazineCallalooFive PointsLA ReviewTupelo Quarterly
Writing
Fiction & Nonfiction
"Barren Lands"The Rumpus
"These Mothering Seasons"Lolwe
"An Immigrant's Checklist"Passages North
"The Woman in the Purple Lipstick"The Plentitudes
"You Are Not Black in Nigeria"Transition Magazine
"Nineteen Insecurities as Exposed by the Harsh Glare of a Dentist's Operating Light"Five Points
"What Awaits Us Ahead"Isele Magazine
"A Place of Dreams"Vestal Review
"A Recipe for Resistance"The Weganda Review
"Who's Writing Who?"The Republic
"Third Mainland"The Short Story
"We are the Second Best Girls"Brittle Paper
"In Defense of Tweeting Even While I'm Dying"Journal of Compressed Creative Arts
"I Promise These Fights Will Make Us"UEA Prose Anthology
"I, Michelle"Here for All the Reasons
"The Last and Final Battle"ZamaShorts
How Colours Came Together in the SkyBritish Council
Criticism & Reviews
"Blue Physics: A Review"Los Angeles Review
"A Kind of Madness: A Review"Callaloo
"Kingdom of Glass and Seed: A Review"Tupelo Quarterly
"Penultimates: A Review"Tupelo Quarterly
"What Start Bad A Morning: A Review"Tupelo Quarterly
"What Happened Was: A Review"The Laurel Review
"Hive"The Laurel Review
"I am the Most Dangerous Thing: A Review"South Indiana Review
"Faith and Family Love in Theophanies"South Indiana Review
"Turn Up the Heat: A Review"Uitrus, Université de Lomé
"First Draft"The Republic
Scholarship
"A Commentary on the Representation of Ama Ata Aidoo's Career within the Sunday Times, The Times Literary Supplement, and Financial Times"African Poetry Digital Portal
"On Literary Cultural Appropriation and the Ethnic Group in Nigeria"Decolonial Aesthetics II
"Antjie Krog Bibliography"African Poetry Digital Portal
"Patricia Jabbeh Wesley Bibliography"African Poetry Digital Portal
Recognition
2024Pushcart Nomination — "A Place of Dreams"
2024Best of the Net Nomination — "A Place of Dreams"
2024AWP Intro Journal Awards Honorable Mention
2024Nebraska Individual Artist Fellowship
2024Jan Michalski Foundation Support for Novel-in-progress
2023Louis Van Sickle Fellowship in Creative Writing
2023Tin House Workshop Selection
2023Amelia Gray Short Fiction Contest
2021Othmer Fellowship, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
2021Best of the Net Nomination — "An Immigrant's Checklist"
2021University of Bayreuth Fellowship for Novel-in-progress
2020Longlisted, BBC Comedy Writer's Room
2019Miles Morland African Writer's Award
2018Purple Hibiscus Trust Writing Workshop — Selection & Funding
2018Facebook Screenwriting Workshop — Selection & Funding
2018British Council Children's Writing Workshop — Selection & Funding
Teaching
She teaches fiction, nonfiction, and first-year creative writing, with future interests in English and literature courses reflecting her work in Ethnic Studies.
ENG 150Writing and Argument2021–2022
ENG 252Introduction to Fiction2024
ENG 170Beginner's Creative Writing2024
ENG 252BIntroduction to Nonfiction2025