A Nigerian writer, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, has won the 9mobile Prize for Literature and received £15,000 cash award.
Ayọ̀bámi’s work titled ‘STAY WITH ME’ which was published in 2017 earned her the 9mobile Prize.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Ayọ̀bámi holds BA and MA degrees in Literature in English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife; and another MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia where she had been awarded an international bursary for creative writing.
She has written for the BBC, LitHub, The Guardian (UK) and many other media outlets; and was the 2017 winner of The Future Awards Africa Prize for Arts and Culture.
She has also received fellowships and residencies from MacDowell Colony; Ledig House; Sinthian Cultural Centre; Hedgebrook; Ox-bow School of Arts; and Ebedi Hills.
Her text ‘STAY WITH ME’ was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction, the Wellcome Book Prize and was also longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize.
The work had also been named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times and a Best Book of the Year by The Guardian, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications.
The 9mobile Prize for Literature was created by Etisalat Nigeria in 2013 and is the first ever pan-African prize celebrating first-time African writers of published fiction books.
The Prize which is awarded annually aims to serve as a platform for the discovery of new creative talent out of the continent and invariably promote the burgeoning publishing industry in Africa.
Aside a cash prize of £15,000, the winner also receives a fellowship at the University of East Anglia; while the prize also supports publishers by purchasing 1000 copies of all shortlisted books which are to be donated to various schools, book clubs and libraries across the African continent.
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