Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
Born	29 January 1988 (1988-01-29) (age 37) Lagos, Nigeria
Education	Obafemi Awolowo UniversityUniversity of East Anglia
Occupation	Writer
Notable work	Stay With Me (2017),A Spell of Good Things (2023)
Spouse	Emmanuel Iduma ​ (m. 2020)​
Awards	9mobile Prize for Literature Prix Les Afriques The Future Awards Africa
Website	www.ayobamiadebayo.com

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (born 29 January 1988) is a Nigerian writer.^[1] Her 2017 debut novel,Stay With Me, won the9mobile Prize for Literature and the Prix Les Afriques.^[2] She was awardedThe Future Awards Africa Prize for Arts and Culture in 2017.^[3]

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ was born inLagos, Nigeria, on January 29, 1988. Shortly after, her family moved toIlesa and then toIle-Ife, where she spent most of her childhood in the University Staff Quarters ofObafemi Awolowo University.^[4]

Adébáyọ̀ studied at Obafemi Awolowo University, earning BA and MA degrees in Literature in English. She went on to study Creative Writing (MA Prose fiction) at theUniversity of East Anglia, where she was awarded an International Bursary.^[5][6] She has also studied writing withChimamanda Ngozi Adichie andMargaret Atwood.^[7][8]

In 2015, Adébáyọ̀ was listed by theFinancial Times as one of the bright stars ofNigerian literature.^[9]

Herdebut novel,Stay With Me, was published in 2017 byCanongate Books to critical acclaim.^[10][11][12]Michiko Kakutani in her review ofStay With Me forThe 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."^[13] The book was subsequently published in the US byAlfred A. Knopf and in Nigeria byOuida Books. It has been translated into more than 18 languages. It was selected as notable book of the year by several publications, includingThe New York Times,The Economist,The Wall Street Journal andThe Guardian.^[14][15]

Stay with Me was shortlisted for theWellcome Book Prize,^[16] theBaileys Women's Prize for Fiction,^[5][17][18] as well as for the9mobile Prize for Literature (formerly the Etisalat Prize for Literature),^[19] which the novel won in 2019.^[20][21] It was also longlisted for theInternational Dublin Literary Award andthe Dylan Thomas Prize.^[22]

Prior to publication, the novel had been shortlisted for theKwani? Manuscript Project,^[23][24][25] a prize for unpublished fiction. The series editor isEllah Wakatama Allfrey.^[26]

In 2020,Reste avec moi, the French translation ofStay with Me, was awarded thePrix Les Afriques. The translation by Josette Chicheportiche was published in 2019 by Charleston Editions.^[27][28]

Adébáyọ̀ has been a writer in residence atLedig House Omi,Hedgebrook, Sinthian Cultural Institute,Ox-Bow School of Art,MacDowell Colony and Ebedi Hills.^[29][30][31] She was shortlisted for theMiles Morland Scholarship in 2014 and 2015.^{[25][32][33][34]}

In 2021, Adébáyọ̀'s second novel,A Spell of Good Things – described as being "about family secrets and bonds, thwarted hope, and the brutal realities of life in a society rife with inequality" – was announced for publication by Canongate (UK) and Knopf (US).^[35] Released in 2023,A Spell of Good Things received favourable review coverage, including inThe Observer (where it was described as "immensely readable")^[36] and inThe New York Times, withAamina Ahmad noting that "[w]here a raw, dynamic storytelling energized Adébáyò’s prose in 'Stay With Me,' here the graceful, stately quality of the sentences evokes restraint, avoiding sentimentality".^[37] It was longlisted for the 2023Booker Prize^[38][2][39] and shortlisted for theDylan Thomas Prize.^[40]A Spell of Good Things was shortlisted for the 2024Encore Award, given by theRoyal Society of Literature to celebrate the "difficult second novel" that follows an author's literary debut.^[41]

In 2024, Adébáyọ̀ was a judge for theWomen's Prize for Fiction,^[42] and was announced as a jury member for the 2025 Booker Prize.^[43][44]

Adébáyọ̀ is married toEmmanuel Iduma.^[45] The couple announced their marriage in 2021, although in his memoir, Iduma notes that their wedding took place in 2020.^[46]

• Stay with Me.Knopf, 2017, US.Canongate Books, 2017, UK (ISBN 978-1782119463).^[47]
• A Spell of Good Things, Canongate Books, 2023 (ISBN 9781838856045).^[48]

One of Adébáyọ̀'s stories was highly commended in the 2009Commonwealth Short Story Competition.^[7] Her poems and stories have been published in several magazines and anthologies, includingEast 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,^[49] andNew Daughters of Africa: An international anthology of writing by women of African descent (edited byMargaret Busby).^[50] Adébáyọ̀ has also written non-fiction pieces forElle UK and theBBC.^[51][52]

• 2017: Shortlisted for theBaileys Women's Prize for Fiction.^[53]
• 2017: WINNERThe Future Awards Africa (Arts and Culture).^[3]
• 2018: Shortlisted for theWellcome Book Prize.^[16]
• 2019: WINNER9mobile Prize for Literature forStay With Me.^[54][55]
• 2020: WINNERPrix Les Afriques forStay With Me.^[56][57]
• 2023: Longlisted for the Booker Prize forA Spell of Good Things.^[38]
• 2024: Shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize forA Spell of Good Things.^[40]
• 2024: Shortlisted for the Encore Prize forA Spell of Good Things.^[41]

Wikiquote has quotations related toAyobami Adebayo.

• Official website
• Noor Brara,"Love Story: “Stay With Me,” the Debut Novel From Ayobami Adebayo, Explores New Horizons of Feminism and Relationships",Vogue, 9 August 2017.
• Alice O'Keeffe,"Ayòbámi Adébáyò: ‘We should decide for ourselves what happiness looks like’",The Guardian, 26 February 2017.
• InterviewArchived 3 August 2017 at theWayback Machine, The Kwani? Manuscript Project, 2013.
• "Ayobami Adebayo Q&A: 'In 3018, I would love to be a therapist for robots'",New Statesman, 25 November 2018.

• 1988 births
• Living people
• 21st-century Nigerian novelists
• 21st-century Nigerian women writers
• Alumni of the University of East Anglia
• Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom
• Nigerian women novelists
• Obafemi Awolowo University alumni
• Writers from Lagos

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