Fiction Writer Iheoma Nwachukwu Needs Our Help

Dear writing community, reading community, and kind people of the world:

I have started this GoFundMe to support Iheoma Nwachukwu, the 2023 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction recipient. As some of you know, I am the series editor of the Flannery O'Connor Award, and since Iheoma's collection, JAPA & OTHER STORIES, won the FOC Award last August, Iheoma has become a friend, someone whose work and worldview I admire greatly. One of the things I most appreciate about the writing community is its support of other writers, and Iheoma is now in need of our support.

Iheoma has been in the United States for 13 years, first on a student visa and most recently on an H1B, under which he is employed as a creative writing professor. Last month, Iheoma learned that his visa was out of compliance; he, his wife, and their 3 children had to return immediately to Nigeria, his country of origin, to get his H1B visa stamped. Expecting an easy resolution because he had just completed an evaluation in September, Iheoma has instead found himself in bureaucratic limbo: he has presented all of his documents, but they have placed him in "administrative processing" while they investigate his documents. He does not know how long this will take. The family is living in temporary housing in Lagos but, given the costs already incurred (plane tickets, etc) and the unexpected costs of paying for housing in Lagos for a period far longer than he envisioned when they set off, they are in a financially precarious situation. At a time when Iheoma should be celebrating and publicizing his Flannery O'Connor Award-winning story collection JAPA & OTHER STORIES, Iheoma is caught in an immigration nightmare straight out of his book.

I know that you all are donating on various fronts, but any amount would be greatly appreciated. Equally important, your donation will let Iheoma and his family know that the literary community has their backs.

Thank you!

Lori Ostlund