Ernest Emenyonu

Ernest Emenyonu is a notable African literature critic and professor. He was formerly head of department of English and Literary Studies, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, in that order, through the 1980s and 1990s. He was also Provost of Alvan Ikoku College of Education in Imo state Nigeria.

While at the University of Calabar, Ernest Emenyonu founded and chaired the Calabar annual International Conference on African Literature and the English Language ICALEL. This promoted interaction of African writers and critics with visiting international scholars. Its format combined paper presentations with workshops on the teaching of African literature and the English language.

Emenyonu now teaches at The University of Michigan-Flint in Flint, Michigan. He teaches Africana Studies and continues to write and publish. He is married to his long time wife Patricia Emenyonu and is proceeded by five children. He has made notable contributions to the University of Michigan-Flint such as bringing Nobel Prize winner in Literature Wole Soyinka to the campus, as well as womens rights activist Nawal El Sadaawi.