Tending to Umi Okpukpu as an Igbo Diasporic Literary Architecture
Conference: The 23rd Annual International Conference of the Igbo Studies Association (ISA) (2026)
Presenter(s): Erondu, Chinyere
Tags: Conference 2026
Abstract
Tending to Umi Okpukpu as an Igbo Diasporic Literary Architecture Bone Marrow, often eaten as a delicacy within Igbo traditional soups & dishes, and the locale in which nourishment, sustenance and nutritional provision resides, provides opportunity to draw a parallel between the Umi Okpukpu of Igbo ontological realities and the method and practice of our engagement with the remnants of/the nexus of Igbo diasporic cultural embodiment - through Igbo literature, oral history & family history archiving, and towards Igbo spirituality practices. Through the conceptualization of the development of a Igbo literary Umi Okpukpu, skilled in the triadic ability of weaving text, spatial design & interiority, and a literary infrastructure & architectures, the entryway to Umi Okpukpu as a particular concern from the Igbo Diasporan perspective derives from the archival process of the life stories of the Elders in my extended family—including recording their experiences of witnessing, facing, and surviving what the Biafran War. As our bones tell the truths of our conditions, Tending to Umi Okpukpu as an Igbo Diasporic Literary Architecture explores how our spoken and written Word can serve as our death doulas, ushering us between the cycles of dying, death, resurrection, and rebirth—cutting through speech, mind, embodiment, flesh, bones, and ultimately our marrow, to intercept the death-dealing narratives set on our erasure. We aim to engage this exploration, as a method and model for Igbo Diasporans, through the particular study of the work of Flora Nwapa, Buchi Emecheta, John Anenechukwu Umeh, Chinua Achebe, and additional Igbo women writers, and our Igbo writers who engaged with recording and writing about the events of the Biafra War
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