Tomi Adeyemi
Tomi Adeyemi is a Nigerian-American novelist who came into the limelight following the release of her bestselling novel, Children of Blood and Bone. The novel is the first in the Legacy of Orisha trilogy published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. Its follow-up is Children of Virtue and Vengeance – a 2019 young adult fantasy novel and the second book in the Legacy of Orisha series.
As a creative writer and coach, Tomi Adeyemi has received several accolades by many including the British-Nigerian actor and producer John Boyega, who described her as the “god of ideas” in her entry on Time’s 2020 Most Influential People in the World.
Tomi Adeyemi wrote her first story at age five and continued to write throughout her teenage years. During her high school days, she obtained qualifications to be part of the Hinsdale Central High School Foundation’s Young Scholar Programme in 2008 and went on to win their Young Scholars scholarship in 2010/2011. She is also a proud recipient of the Rani Sharma scholarship.
Tomi Adeyemi graduated from Harvard University with an honours degree in English Literature and studied West African mythology and culture in Salvador, Brazil. With the knowledge and experience gained during the fellowship, Tomi wrote the “Children of Blood and Bone”, the breakthrough novel that launched her career.
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Tomi’s Children of Blood and Bone has recorded huge successes including staying at No. 1 on the New York Times Young Adult Hardcover Bestseller List for 25 consecutive weeks. It’s sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance also debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
Children of Blood and Bone received the 2018 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, the 2019 Waterstones Book prize and the 2019 Hugo Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book. In 2017, Fox 2000 – an American film studio and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, purchased the film adaptation rights to the book at a seven-figure deal while Deadline described it as “one of the biggest YA debut novel publishing deals ever.” In December 2020, Disney also announced that Lucasfilm would be turning the book into a movie.
Tomi Adeyemi was part of the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2019 and TIME 100 Most Influential People of 2020 in the “Pioneers” category.
In addition to her successful writing career, Tomi teaches creative writing through her online product – The Writer’s Roadmap. tomiadeyemi.com, her website, has been named one of the 101 best websites for writers by Writer’s Digest in 2020.
We are delighted to have Tomi Adeyemi as our WCW feature this week.