Bio

Creating this short bio has been quite an awkward task because I have had to skim my life. The result is a purely functional write-up. By this, I mean if I were to meet you in person, the contents of this bio would probably not come up in the course of our conversation.

The kind of bio I would have liked to write would contain anecdotes about my childhood, and maybe experiences that I imagine might inspire a reader. But alas, readers do not always seek to be inspired and you may well find my family anecdotes unfunny.

I hope this bio serves its purpose and answers some of the questions I'm often asked.

Name: Lola Shoneyin
Date of birth: 26 February, Ibadan
Nationality: Nigerian/ British

Education:
Cargilfield School, Edinburgh;
The Collegiate, Bristol;
Fettes Junior School, Edinburgh;
Abadina College, Ibadan;
Ogun state University, Nigeria;
London Metropolitan University, London.

Books:
So All the Time I Was Sitting on an Egg (poems) 1997
Song of a Riverbird (poems) 2002
The Secret Lives of Baba Sade’s Wives (novel) 2008

Unpublished:
Mayowa and the Masquerades (children’s book) 2008
Concentrate (children’s book) 2008
Lily the Lizard (children’s book) 2008
Chief Giridi and the Ghosts (musical for children)
For Love of Flight (poems)
Harlot (novel)

Why do I write:
When I’m inspired to write but don't, my head aches like a ripening boil. Plus I become a little irritable. You could say therefore that writing, for me, is therapeutic. I write also because I love a good story. But what really gets me going is the telling of it. I love words and the mischief I can do with them. Writing is probably the only activity that I can engage in all night long. I don’t feel this way about anything else and I feel very lucky that I have found the one thing that gets the old adrenalin going.

Would I write in Youruba?
I can only write in English. It's a strange thing; I often find myself thinking in Yoruba yet I am more comfortable expressing my thoughts in English. As a result of this, my work is heavy with Yoruba idiom. I am literate in Yoruba; I just lack the confidence to adopt it as my medium of expression.

Which writers do I most admire?
I loved Toni Morrison first; she was my first favourite. I was first struck by her ability to champion the cause of the mundane. Morrison could make a dead gnat on a mat not only intruiging but well worth commenting on. She is also the only writer who has truly thrown me into the sort of dilemma where I unsure whether to ashamed or in awe of a character in a book. Sula will always have a place my top five books. Isabelle Allende is a masterful story-teller. Her novels are full of life yet unpredictable. The pain she captures in her prose is so effortless that it's almost as if she writes with a broken heart that can not be mended. I strongly recommend House of Spirits to anyone who doesn't believe in the stirrings of the soul. I didn't come across Margaret Atwood until my late twenties but I am eternally captivated by what she does with language. Her writing is so fluid, so mercurial and seemless. I am always inspired to write after reading Atwood. She brings out a certain naughtiness in me and I have no idea why. The Blind Assassin is a favourite of mine. I also really enjoy Fred D'Aguiar's The Longest Memory. The title is misleading; it is short and sweet. I greatly admire Chimamanda Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun and Diran Adebayo's Some Kind of Black. Recently, I read The Girls by Lori Lansens and I was moved to tears