SFWA Board Member And World Fantasy Award Winning Nigerian Author Caught Stealing A White Woman's Story
Another SFWA scandal erupts in science fiction and fantasy writing, with black author Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki accused of stealing a short story from a white woman.
SFWA finds itself in the middle of another scandal rocking the club after a summer that nearly destroyed all of its credibility among professional science fiction authors. Now, one of their board members, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, has been accused of stealing another author’s work and publishing it as his own, forcing the sci-fi and fantasy club to remove him after propping him up for multiple awards.
Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki was hailed as one of Africa’s rising star voices in science fiction. He had been propped up by the publishing establishment as an author from Nigeria with an “authentic take” on writing because of his background. He won a World Fantasy Award, was nominated for multiple Hugos and other awards, and was propped up as a diversity token as establishment publishing is desperate for black talent in science fiction.
Ekpeki loved to use his clout to pay for his vacations. He opened different projects on GoFundMe each time he received an award nomination organized by serial clout goblin Jason Sanford, who was all too happy to virtue signal for the African writer. One was even to raise alleged legal fees for a visa, culminating in over $15,000 of donations from sci-fi fandom.
His clout as a black short fiction author eventually landed him a position on The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association’s board as a board member at large.
SFWA has been under fire these last few months, with multiple board members stepping down amid a scandal involving a disabled employee who complained about accessibility and was ignored by the board and President Jeffe Kennedy. As SFWA records its election for a new president, a new scandal has broken out with this Nigerian board member.
On October 27th, SFWA reported they removed Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki as a board member due to multiple ethics complaints surrounding the African author. These allegations were listed by Locus Magazine, posting the full text from an author named Erin Cairns, alleging the black author stole a story from her.
The full text of her complaint is 78 pages long, but it details an account starting in 2022 in which Ekpeki reached out to her allegedly to exploit her. After months of leading her on, Ekpeki allegedly asked Cairns to co-write a story with him. Cairns claims she wrote an entire story, and Ekpeki changed some of the names to sound more authentically black in the story before submitting it to a “black voices”-themed magazine.
The catch is that Ekpeki didn’t list Cairns as a co-writer but submitted it solely as his own work, according to Cairns. She said he “submitted a story entirely written by me into a black voices magazine without my name on the byline. He lied about who he knew and how well he knew them. He obfuscated information about publications and editors and manipulated me to such an extent that I still struggle to trust myself and others.”
In essence, Ekpeki allegedly used his clout as a Nigerian to scam a woman out of her story and steal it to sell it as his own. A magazine published this, and Ekpeki even attempted to offer Cairns payment after the fact. Cairns provided dozens of pages of documentation and screenshots supporting her story.
SFWA posted to their website, trying to bury the matter with a quick statement:
On 10/27/2024, the Board met to discuss multiple ethics complaints regarding Director-at-Large Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki after hearing statements from various parties involved. Mr. Ekpeki was also given a chance to speak to the Board regarding these complaints. After due consideration, and in compliance with Article V(5)(iii) of the SFWA Bylaws, the Board voted unanimously to remove Director-at-Large Ekpeki from his position on the SFWA Board of Directors for good and sufficient cause, effective immediately.
The Board will not be answering questions on this matter to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.
Since this post, the situation has gone viral, putting more pressure on the already embattled SFWA organization. Even Jason Sanford turned on Ekpeki, writing a blog about the situation as if he hadn’t raised money for the Nigerian author in the past.
With SFWA’s token African diversity writer appearing to be a fraud, it casts a light on all of SFWA’s board members, many of whom largely pretend to be professional authors as they don’t make a living off of their meager work. With a board that doesn’t even write their own stories and steals others, authors can’t help but wonder what purpose SFWA has.
What do you think of SFWA board member Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki reported as stealing Erin Cairns’ science fiction short story as his own? Become a paid member to support our journalism and leave a comment and let us know.
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