Adrian Igonibo Barrett (born 26 March 1979) is a Nigerian writer of short stories and novels. In 2014, he was named on theAfrica39 list of writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define future trends in African literature.^[1] Following his two collections of short stories –From Caves of Rotten Teeth (2005) andLove Is Power, or Something Like That (2013) – his first novel,Blackass, was published in 2015, described by theChicago Review of Books as "Kafka with a wink".^[2]

A. Igoni Barrett
Born	(1979-03-26)26 March 1979 (age 46) Port Harcourt,Nigeria
Occupation	Writer
Language	English
Nationality	Nigerian, Jamaican
Genre	Short stories, novels
Notable works	Blackass (2016)
Notable awards	Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship
Spouse	Femke van Zeijl
Parents	Lindsay Barrett (father)

Born inPort Harcourt,Nigeria, to a Nigerian mother and theJamaican novelist and poetLindsay Barrett,^[3] A. Igoni Barrett studied agriculture at theUniversity of Ibadan, although one year before graduating he decided that he wanted to be a writer. He has said: "My father was the first person to support me as a writer. I felt I had to prove to myself that I was serious about writing, so I gave the ultimate sacrifice – I gave up my university education for a self-education in writing."^[3] In 2007 Barrett moved toLagos, where he met his wife, theDutch journalist and writer Femke van Zeijl.^[4]

His first book, a collection of short stories entitledFrom Caves of Rotten Teeth, was published in 2005 and reissued in 2008.^[5] A story from the collection, "The Phoenix", won the 2005BBC World Service short story competition.^[6]

His second collection of stories,Love Is Power, or Something Like That, was published byGraywolf Press in 2013;^[7] according toThe Boston Globe, the collection "pulses with an indomitable life force that is, by turns, tender and fierce".^[8]Time Out New York commented: "These rich pieces are also brilliantly sequenced.... Shifts in mood happen throughout the book.... Unlikely moments of empathy occur again and again amid wrenching drama and subtle comedy; the resulting collection satisfies on numerous levels."^[9]Love is Power, or Something Like That was chosen as a "best book of 2013" byNPR^[10] andFlavorwire.^[11]

His debut novel, entitledBlackass, was published in 2015. Reviewing it inThe Financial Times,Jon Day wrote: "From the first sentence,Kafka’sThe Metamorphosis confronts you with the inherent strangeness of the pact you make when you read fiction. Gregor Samsa has become an insect, Kafka says. Suspend your disbelief. Take it or leave it.^[12] A Igoni Barrett’s first novel — his third book — demands a similar response....to read him only as a Nigerian writer would be to do him a disservice. ForBlackass is a strange, compelling novel, and Barrett has something to tell us all."^[13] Writing inThe Guardian,Helon Habila said: "Igoni Barrett's greatest asset is his ability to satirise the ridiculous extents people, especially Lagosians, go to in order to appear important."^[14] Claire Fallon for theHuffington Post concluded: "Blackass is a blunt, transparently written novel — the kind that makes the reader feel as though they’re standing inside the skin of the character, going about his day with him — and though the topic could easily be that of a polemic, it’s also a subtle, circumspect novel about the intersecting, sometimes mutually exclusive needs humans have for family and connection, and for status and power."^[15] Aaron Bady ofOkayAfrica calls it "the most unapologetically Nigerian book that American publishers have published in a long time, and as the 'Afropolitan' has become an increasingly omnipresent strand of contemporary African literature, there has been a steady backlash, both against the Afropolitan as such, and against the entire category of African immigrant literature.^[16]

Invited as a participant to various literary festivals, Barrett was a guest reader on the opening night of thePEN World Voices Festival in 2013,^[17] and a guest writer at theSerpentine Galleries' Miracle Marathon in 2016^[18][19] and the 2018 edition ofFestivaletteratura.^[20] He was the founding organizer of the BookJam reading series^[21] inLagos, Nigeria, which featured the writersJude Dibia,Michela Wrong,Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,Binyavanga Wainaina,Helon Habila andTsitsi Dangarembga, among others.

Barrett's work has appeared in several publications, includingAl Jazeera English^[22] andThe Guardian.^[23]

A. Igoni Barrett was a winner of theBBC World Service short story competition for 2005 with a story entitled "The Phoenix", which was broadcast on 2 January 2006.^[24][25]

In 2010, he was awarded aChinua Achebe Center Fellowship. In 2011, he was awarded aNorman Mailer Center Fellowship^[26] and aBellagio Center Residency.^[27]

Barrett was named as one of 39sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40^[28] in theHay Festival and Rainbow Book ClubAfrica39 project celebratingPort HarcourtUNESCOWorld Book Capital 2014.

His debut novelBlackass won thePeople's Literature Publishing House and the Chinese Foreign Literature Society's 21st Century Best Foreign Novel Award.^[29]

He was aCivitella Ranieri Foundation Fellow in 2018.^[30][31]

Igoni Barrett was aCharles Dickens Award laureate at the 2021 edition of the International London Literary Award.^[32]

• From Caves of Rotten Teeth: A Collection of Short Stories, Daylight Media Services, 2005,ISBN 9789780193591
• Love Is Power, Or Something Like That: Stories, Minneapolis:Graywolf Press, 2013,ISBN 9781555976408
• Blackass, London: Chatto & Windus, 2015,ISBN 9780701188566;^[a] Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016,ISBN 978-1-55597-733-7.^[b][c]

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Notes

• Webcast at the Library of Congress, 8 May 2013.
• Ted Hodgkinson,"Interview: A. Igoni Barrett",Granta, 26 June 2013.
• "Writing a New Nigeria: Ideas of Identity",BBC Radio 4, 3 December 2015.