In conversation with Kenechi Udogu

Join us for an enlightening evening in conversation with contemporary artist, Bokani and award-winning author, Kenechi Udogu.

The discussion will centre on Kenechi Udogu’s latest novel Augmented—a powerful work set in a near future London where extreme weather has depleted plant life, and teenagers are enhanced to ensure the survival of society, Akaego fights to prevent her new power to grow plants from being weaponised by a corrupt regime.

The conversation will explore themes of creativity, climate and the imagination across literature and contemporary art.

Please note: Books will not be available for purchase at the event. However, there will be an opportunity to have your copy signed. You are encouraged to purchase your book in advance via the following link: https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Kenechi-Udogu/Augmented--A-thrilling-YA-sci-fi-packed-with-romance-and-/31470562

About the Author

Kenechi Udogu is a Nigerian-born, London-based writer and architect whose work centres culturally diverse characters—particularly female protagonists—within science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Her young adult novel Augmented won the inaugural Faber Children’s Imagined Futures Prize in 2023 and was published in 2025. It was selected as The Times Children’s Book of the Week and named one of the best books of the month by The Guardian and The Scotsman.

Her writing has received multiple accolades, including a Highly Commended win for the FAB Prize (2022) and runner-up for the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook Your Next Obsession in YA competition. Her short fiction has been longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, published in Dark Matter Magazine, and shortlisted for Grist’s Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest (2025). She is an alumna of the HarperCollins Author Academy and the All Stories mentorship programme, and a contributor to Worldreader’s global digital library.

About the Artist

Bokani is an interdisciplinary artist working across abstract glass painting, installation, and computational art. She holds a Master’s degree in Computational Art from Goldsmiths, University of London. Her practice explores spirituality, ecology, and Black womanist liberation theology, using reflective glass surfaces to disrupt the viewer’s perspective and invite contemplation on identity, conscience, and liberation.

Central to her work is the decolonisation of sacred spaces and an interrogation of how meaning, power, and the environment are constructed and perceived. Bokani received her first solo museum exhibition at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2023. Alongside her artistic practice, she is an active climate justice campaigner.