Onitsha tells the story of Fintan, a youth who travels to Africa in 1948 with his Italian mother to join the English father he has never met. Fintan is initially enchanted by the exotic world he discovers in Onitsha, a bustling city prominently situated on the eastern bank of the Niger River. But gradually he comes to recognize the intolerance and brutality of the colonial system. His youthful point of view provides the novel with a notably direct, horrified perspective on racism and colonialism. In the words of translator Alison Anderson, Onitsha is remarkable for its "almost mythological evocation of local history and beliefs." It is full of atmosphere--sights, sounds, smells --and at times the author's sentences seem to flow with the dreamy languor of the river itself. But J. M. G. Le Clezio "never lets us forget the harsh realities of life nor the subsequent tragedy of war." A startling account--and indictment--of colonialism, Onitsha is also a work of clear, forthright prose that ably portrays both colonial Nigeria and a young boy's growing outrage. J. M. G.Le Clezio, one of France's best-known contemporary writers, was born in Nice in 1940 and has published more than twenty novels and nonfiction works. In the course of the last three decades Le Clezio has won numerous prizes, including the Prix Renaudot for his first novel. His works have been translated into many languages. His most recent works translated into English include the novel The Prospector and a collection of essays, The Mexican Dream. Alison Anderson is the author of Hidden Latitudes. She has worked as a writer, translator, and teacher and currently lives in Mill Valley, California.

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, better known as J. M. G. Le Clézio (born 13 April 1940) is a Franco-Mauritian novelist. The author of over forty works, he was awarded the 1963 Prix Renaudot for his novel Le Procès-Verbal and the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Le Clézio was born in the Riviera city of Nice[3] to a Mauritian doctor with British citizenship[1] and a Mauritian mother.[4][5] His ancestors emigrated from Brittany to the île Maurice—french for Mauritius—in the 18th century. During World War II, the family was separated, his father being unable to join his wife and children in Nice.[6] Le Clézio moved with his family at age 8 to Nigeria[7] where his father served as a surgeon in the British army.[8]

After studying at University of Bristol in England from 1958 to 1959, he finished his undergraduate degree at Nice's Institut d’études littéraires. After several years spent in London and Bristol, he moved to the United States to work as a teacher. He was assigned to Thailand in 1967 for his military service, but was quickly expelled for protesting against child prostitution and sent to Mexico to finish his military obligation. From 1970 to 1974, he lived with the Embera-Wounaan tribe in Panama.

Le Clézio earned a master's degree with a thesis on Henri Michaux from the University of Provence in 1964, and wrote a doctoral thesis in 1983 on Mexico’s early history for the University of Perpignan (he is a specialist on Michoacán). He has been married since 1975 to Jémia, who is Moroccan, and has three daughters (one by a first marriage). Since the 1990s they have divided their residence between Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mauritius, and Nice.

He has taught at a number of universities around the world. A frequent visitor to South Korea, he taught French language and literature at Ewha Womans University in Seoul for two semesters in 2007 and 2008.