Vincent Anioke, ’17, returns to MIT to read from his book of short stories, Perfect Little Angels, published to acclaim last year by Arsenal Pulp Press.

Set in both Nigeria and Canada, these stunning stories have been praised for their candor, tenderness, and deep humanity, and described as “brilliant and harrowing.” Through masterful writing, Anioke evokes complex and unforgettable characters who “grapple with the harsh consequences of unforgiving traditions and defiant desires”.

Anioke was born and raised in Nigeria, now lives in Canada, and works as a software engineer at Google. His short stories have appeared in SmokeLong Quarterly, Masters Review, Split Lip Magazine, Carve, and Pithead Chapel. He was the 2021 Austin Clarke Fiction Prize Winner and was shortlisted for the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

At MIT, Anioke was an Admissions blogger and Course 6 major. He won numerous writing prizes, including CMS/W’s Robert A. Boit Prize for short stories, Boit Manuscript Prizes for essays and fiction, the King Prize for Science Fiction Writing, and the Louis Kampf Writing Prize in Women’s & Gender Studies.