Chinelo Okparanta was born in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria, and was raised there as a Jehovah's Witness. When she was ten, her family relocated to the United States. She received her BS from The Pennsylvania State University, her MA from Rutgers University, and her MFA from the University of Iowa. She has worked as a middle and high school French and English Language teacher, and an undergraduate writing teacher. She is one of Granta's six New Voices for 2012 and has stories forthcoming from Conjunctions, Subtropics, and elsewhere.