Lola Shoneyin
Writing is one of the forms of human expression. Our motivations for writing include the preservation of history, creation of additional capacity for the human memory, dissemination of ideas, imaginative narratives and life writing.
In the ocean of Nigerian writers, today, we celebrate Lola Shoneyin, a multitalented poet and author born in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State. Lola Shoneyin is a devotee of self-expression, a creative writer and lover of books.
As a writer, she is deeply influenced by the Nigerian culture and environment and has alluded to foreign inspiration which includes Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, Ntosake Shange, Sylvia Plath to Allen Ginsberg, from Langston Hughes to Anne Sexton Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood and Isabel Allende.
She earned a BA (Hons) degree from Ogun State University post-secondary education in Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. She is the director of Aké Arts and Book festival which takes place annually and founder of Ouida Books, a Lagos based publishing house, founded in 2018.
She attended the renowned International Writing Program in Iowa, USA, in August 1999 and was also in that year a Distinguished Scholar at the University of St. Thomas,Minnesota,USA.
Lola Shoneyin has an immense reputation as an adventurous, humorous and outspoken poet, having published three volumes of poetry. Lola Shoneyin is an acclaimed feminist, who believes in opportunities and choices for women.
“A real woman must always do the things she wants to do, and in her own time too. You must never allow yourself to be rushed into doing things you’re not ready for” – The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives.”
Lola Shoneyin is an award-winning writer. She has been recognized both locally and internationally for her writing dexterity.
Lola Shoneyin launched her third novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, in the UK in May 2010 and was on the list for the Orange Prize consequently. The Orange Price is one of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious literary prizes. It is awarded annually to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English.
In April 2014, she was named on the Hay Festival’s Africa 39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature. Lola Shoneyin won the PEN Award in America as well as the Ken Saro-Wiwa Award for prose in Nigeria. Lola Shoneyin served as a judge of the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing.
Read also, An Abundance of Scorpions by Hadiza Isma El-Rufai
Lola Shoneyin is passionate about imparting knowledge and has had a successful career as an educator. She founded the Book Buzz Foundation in 2012, an NGO with the goal to promote literacy through the creation of reading programs and the development of reading environments for children.
An advocate and sponsor of literacy in Nigeria, Lola Shoneyin writes and creates several spaces for others to participate and the develop the Nigerian arts and culture. She is a driving force and we are inspired by the strength of her continuous accomplishments.
“I love bringing people together and I love seeing them enjoying themselves and engaging their minds. I think that is so powerful.” Lola Shoneyin.