Short bio

Onyinye Iwu is an award winning children’s book illustrator and author based in London.

She was born in Italy to Nigerian parents and moved to the UK as a teenager. She has a first degree in Architecture, a Postgraduate Education Certificate in Secondary Design Technology and a Masters degree in Culture Diaspora Ethnicity. Onyinye has 8 years of experience as a Design and Art teacher in Inner London where she aims to foster creativity and inspire children of colour. Onyinye is an organiser and trustee of the charity Igbo studies Initiative running of the Annual Igbo Conference which aims to promote the study of Igbo language and culture within the UK, and seeks to bring academics and members of the Igbo community together for the purpose of knowledge sharing and exchange.

Illustration background

She has practiced as a freelance illustrator and designer since 2013 working on a range of design briefs and projects but mainly focusing on the uplifting and representation of people of African and Caribbean background in publishing, media and the arts.

Onyinye has worked with a range of published and self-published authors to bring their characters and stories to life, these include the notable names of Benjamin Zephaniah, Nnedi Okorafor, Laura Henry-Allain MBE, Dapo adeola.

She has collaborated with a number of publishers such as Walker Books, Candlewick Press, Penguin Random House (Ladybird Books, Puffin Books), Scholastic UK, Otter-Barry Books, CLPE, Booktrust, Open University, Knights of, Cassava Republic, Rebel Girls.

Onyinye has also created illustrated educational resources for companies and organisations such as the UK Parliament, Amazon and Alexa UK.

Over the years she has attended events and ran workshops and been interview through the following media - Bath Children’s Literature Festival, BBC Africa, Cartoon Museum, Tottenham Literature Festival, BBC Breakfast, Liverpool Children’s Festival of Reading, Deptford Literature Festival 2022 and several school visits in London and Bristol.

In 2021 Onyinye, along with other illustrators won the UK National Book Award in the category of Children’s book for Hey You! And since publication the early reader series Too Small Tola has been selected, commended and won several awards both in the UK and in the USA.

Onyinye loves reading African literature, researching African history, writing and illustrating children’s books and graphic novels.

Onyinye is based in London, UK.