Cyprian Ekwensi is one of Nigeria's best known and most prolific popular writers. He was born in Minna in the north of Nigeria, in 1921, and educated in Nigeria, Ghana and at the Chelsea School of Pharmacy, London University, where he was sent on a government scholarship. He has published novels, novellas, children's books, articles and collections of short stories, many of which have been translated. In a varied career he worked first as a Forestry Officer, where the peace and solitude allowed him to write, then as a teacher of English, biology and chemistry, before finding his metier in broadcasting and journalism. Since 1957 he has held a number of senior public positions. In 1981 he was appointed Managing Director for a new newspaper, The Weekly Eagle, published in Imo State.