Ayobami Adebayo


Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ is a Nigerian writer.

Early life and education

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1988; shortly after, her family moved to Ilesa and then to Ile-Ife, where she spent most of her childhood in the University Staff Quarters of Obafemi Awolowo University. She studied at Obafemi Awolowo University, earning BA and MA degrees in Literature in English, and in 2014 she went to study Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where she was awarded an International Bursary. She has also studied with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Margaret Atwood.

Writing career

In 2015, Adébáyọ̀ was listed by the Financial Times as one of the bright stars of Nigerian literature. Her debut novel, Stay With Me, was published in 2017 by Canongate Books to critical acclaim, and was shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize, the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, as well as for the 9mobile Prize for Literature, which the novel won in 2019. It was also longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize. Prior to publication the work had been shortlisted in 2013 by the Kwani? Manuscript Project, a prize for unpublished fiction, of which the Series Editor is Ellah Allfrey.
Michiko Kakutani in her review of Stay With Me for The New York Times described Adébáyọ̀ as "an exceptional storyteller", adding: "She writes not just with extraordinary grace but with genuine wisdom about love and loss and the possibility of redemption. She has written a powerfully magnetic and heartbreaking book."
Adébáyọ̀ has been a writer in residence at Ledig House Omi, Hedgebrook, Sinthian Cultural Institute, Ox-Bow School of Art, Siena Art Institute, and Ebedi Hills. She was shortlisted for the Miles Morland Scholarship in 2014 and 2015. In 2019 she was a guest at the Aké Arts and Book Festival.

Books

One of Adébáyọ̀'s stories was highly commended in the 2009 Commonwealth Short Story Competition. Her poems and stories have been published in several magazines and anthologies, including East Jasmine Review, Farafina Magazine, Saraba Magazine, Kalahari Review, Lawino Magazine, Speaking for the Generations: An Anthology of New African Writing, Off the Coast: Maine’s International Journal of Poetry, Ilanot Review, Gambit: Newer African Writing, and New Daughters of Africa: An international anthology of writing by women of African descent. She has also written non-fiction pieces for Elle UK and the BBC.

Awards