Alkali was born in Tura-Wazila in Borno State in 1950. She graduated from Bayero University Kano with a BA in 1973.
She obtained a doctorate in African Studies in the same university and became the principal of Shekara Girls’ Boarding School.
She went on to be a lecturer in English at two universities in Nigeria. She married the former vice-chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, Mohammed Nur Alkali, and they had six children.
She rose to be a dean in the faculty of arts at Nasarawa State University in Keffi, where she taught creative writing.
She is regarded as the first woman novelist from Northern Nigeria.
Zaynab Alkali currently lives in Keffi. She was married to late Professor Nur Alkali. The marriage is blessed with six children and several grand children.
Her Publications includes:
The Stillborn, Lagos: Longman (Drumbeats), 1984, ISBN 978-0-582-78600-4
The Virtuous Woman, Longman Nigeria, 1987, ISBN 978-978-139-589-5
Cobwebs & Other Stories, Lagos: Malthouse Press, 1997, ISBN 978-978-0230296.
The Descendants, Tamaza, 2005, ISBN 978-978-2104-73-1
The Initiates, 2007, ISBN 978-978-029-767-1
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