Storyteller Of The Week: Ayobami Adebayo, A Storyteller With Depth

Storyteller Of The Week: Ayobami Adebayo, A Storyteller With Depth

The 2019 9Mobile Prize for Literature was won by a storyteller, writer and novelist, described by Jennifer Makumbi, an awarding-winning writer, as “an astounding storyteller – an exciting addition to the emerging voices in African writing.” Ayobami Adebayo.

Adebayo won the Prize with her debut novel “Stay with me”, published by Canongate Books, 2017.

Born on the 28th of January 1988, the writer; listed by the Financial Times as one of the bright stars of Nigerian literature, grew up on the University Staff Quarters of Obafemi Awolowo University in Osun State Nigeria.

Adebayo is not new to the literary realm, she bagged BA and MA degrees in Literature in English from Obafemi Awolowo University. She earned a Master Degree in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.

Her poems and stories have been published in several magazines and anthologies, including East Jasmine Review, Farafina Magazine, Saraba Magazine, Kalahari Review, Lawino Magazine, 

“Stay WIth me” is no doubt a captivating piece of work that has been praised by readers and critics alike

Rotimi Babatunde, Winner 2012 Caine Prize for African Writing, in his review of the novel has this to say: “Stay with Me is that rarest of accomplishments – a richly imagined novel that boasts not only great literary sophistication but also a narrative drive so compelling that one finds it difficult to put down the book”

The success of Adebayo’s novel is not only judged by the positive feedback gotten from reviewers and literary critics, but also in respect of the honours the novel has accumulated.

“Stay with me” has been honoured as One of Channels Book Club’s Best 20 Nigerian Books of 2017, One of San Francisco Chronicle’s Best Books of 2017, One of NPR’s Best Books of 2017, One of The New York Post’s Most Thrilling and Fascinating Books of the Year, One of Amazon’s top 100 books of 2017, and numerous other recognitions.

Watch Princess Irede Abumere of BBC and her guest review Adebayo’s “Stay with me”

Station Magazine applauds Ayobami Adebayo for her achievement so far.