PROFILE: Zaynab Alkali– Northern’s First Female Novelist

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 By Victor Olubiye



Prof. Zaynab Alkali, born in Borno on February 3, 1950, is the first female novelist from Northern Nigeria. A graduate of Bayero University, she holds a PhD in African Literature.  


She taught at major institutions including the University of Maiduguri and Nasarawa State University, where she became Dean of Arts.  


Married to Prof. Muhammad Nur Alkali, she is a mother of six and author of books like The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman.  


She won the ANA Literary Prize in 1985 and remains a literary pioneer in Nigeria.


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