She is a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Workshop (MSU) and is currently working on her Ph.D. in English at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She won third place in the Hurston/Wright Awards for her story "Amphibious Green." She also received honorable mention. Okorafor/Mbachu's short story, "Windseekers" was a finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. She also was chosen to present her master's thesis paper, "Virtual Women: Female Characters in Video Games," at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication 2001 convention.