Cynthia Nwakudu

Cynthia Nwakudu credits her mother’s disobedient spirit and her father’s wanderlust (plus his library of classics!) with sparking her creative energies. She grew up in Nigeria writing essays and poems inspired by her cultural heritage. Currently a PhD student in the creative writing program at Illinois State University, she is interested in topics and pedagogies surrounding intergenerational trauma, memory, deep histories, and the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, and social identities in historical and contemporary societies. Nwakudu’s “Plant Parenting as a Literate Activity” was published in Grassroots Writing Research Journal (Fall 2023). She teaches English composition at Illinois State University and shares her passion for teaching through her workshops, including Play with Clay: Generosity Toward the Writing Self in an Inclusive Classroom, Developing Writing Research Identity: The Language of Beads and Our Writing Selves, and Uptake Activity and Interviews. When she is not teaching or writing, Nwakudu creates one-of-a-kind craft pieces, enjoys her houseplants, walks trails, and visits botanical conservatories.