Dami Ajayi

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Dami Àjàyí
Dami Ajayi.jpg
Born
Damilola Ajayi

1986
NationalityNigerian
Alma materObafemi Awolowo University
OccupationWriter, medical doctor, critic
Years active2006 - till date
Known forMusic Reviews, Poetry And Essay
Notable work
A Woman's Body Is a Country
Websitewww.damiajayi.com

Dami Àjàyí (born 1986) is a Nigerian of Yoruba descent. He is a poet, medical doctor, essayist and music critic. He co-founded Saraba Magazine in 2008.[1] He is the author of two collections of poetry and a chapbook.

Biography[]

Dami Àjàyí was born in Nigeria in 1986. While he was an undergraduate of medicine at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, he co-founded Saraba Magazine with another student. He also cofounded media outlets The Lagos Review and Yaba Left Review, with writers Toni Kan and Tunji Olalere respectively.

He was featured in the two-part BBC Radio 4 documentary, Writing a New Nigeria [2]

Poetry[]

In 2011, he was listed among the "Eight Young Nigerian Poets Whose Poems Delight" on the Sentinel UK Poetry Blog[3] His first collection of poems, Clinical Blues, was shortlisted (in manuscript form) for the Melita Hume Prize in 2012.[4][5] It was published by WriteHouse in 2014, and was longlisted for the biennial Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.[6][7]

In 2017, his second collection of poetry, A Woman's Body is a Country, was published by Ouida Books)[8] Of the work, Ajayi says "I wanted my book to show how the noun "affection" becomes a verb, and in my attempt I was drawing from a personal reservoir, hoping that my experiences are singular as well as universal."[9] He has been described as one who "writes about love like liquor that drowns a person into his or her feelings."[10]

Prose and criticism[]

Ajayi has written short stories that have been published in Nigeria and abroad. He currently provides critical reviews about Nigerian music to a number of online publications.[11][12][13][14][15]

He was also one of the editors of the anthology, From Limbe to Lagos : NonFiction from Cameroon and Nigeria which was the result of a writing workshop held in Limbe[16] for young African writers.

Books[]

  • Clinical Blues (2014)
  • A Woman's Body is a Country (2017)

References[]

  1. ^ . (7 September 2019). "THE LAST GOOD BOOK I READ… Dami Ajayi (Poet) A Stranger's Pose by Emmanuel Iduma". Daily Trust. Retrieved 29 May 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Writing a New Nigeria - Meet the authors".
  3. ^ "CITADEL OF LIFE". citadeloflife1.blogspot.com.ng. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Dami Ajayi | Badilisha Poetry – Pan-African Poets". badilishapoetry.com. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  5. ^ "E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG: Melita Hume Poetry Prize Shortlist: #11 DAMI AJAYI". E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG. 6 June 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Nine African poets shortlisted for 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature", P.M. News, 3 November 2018.
  7. ^ Daily Graphic (19 November 2018), "9 African poets on 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature list", Graphic Online.
  8. ^ "A Woman's Body is a Country: Africa's most anticipated poetry collection". This Is Africa. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Each Collection Dictates Its Own Process: Conversation with Dami Ajayi". This Is Africa Lifestyle. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  10. ^ Oyindamola Shoola (6 November 2017). "DAMI SKILLFULLY CONVEYS MEANINGS IN 'A WOMAN'S BODY IS A COUNTRY'". WRR PUBLISHERS LTD. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Yahoo Boy No Laptop | the Chimurenga Chronic".
  12. ^ "Nigeria: Afrobeats' unpaid debt to highlife's Crosdale Juba". 25 May 2021.
  13. ^ "DAMI AJAYI - Finding Lagos: A Jazz Tribute to an African City | the Elephant". 14 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Nigeria's King Sunny Adé: 'I see myself as a freelance'". July 2019.
  15. ^ "Nigeria's Ayinla Omowura: The original gangster and patron saint of Abeokuta's working class". March 2021.
  16. ^ "Q&A: Words on the Times – Dami Ajayi". 26 February 2021.
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