Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor is a Nigerian-American writer of fantasy and science fiction for both children and adults. She was born in the United States to two Nigerian immigrant parents. She holds a PhD in English and was a professor of creative writing at Chicago State University. She has been the winner of many awards for her short stories and young adult books, including a World Fantasy Award.

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Her writing, which she describes as "Africanfuturism" and "Africanjujuism", is heavily influenced by her dual Nigerian and American heritage. Okorafor noticed how the fantasy and science fiction genre contain little diversity, and that was her motivation for writing books of these genres set in Africa. She wanted to include more people of color and create stories with Africa as the setting because so few stories were set there. Her stories place black girls in important roles that are usually given to white characters. Her work often looks at "weighty social issues: racial and gender inequality, political violence, the destruction of the environment, genocide and corruption" through "the framework of fantasy." 

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Sources: Nnedi Okorafor - Wikipedia, 

                 Binti (Binti, #1) by Nnedi Okorafor (goodreads.com)