Chinelo Okparanta was born in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria, and raised there as�a Jehovah's Witness until the age of ten, when 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.