Dami Ajayi (Yoruba: Damilola Àjàyí; born 1986) is a Nigerian writer, poet and medical doctor who co-founded Saraba, a Nigerian literary magazine in 2008.[1]
Dami Àjàyí | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Damilola Àjàyí 1986 (age 37–38) Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Alma mater | Obafemi Awolowo University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Known for | Co-founding Saraba |
| Notable work | A Woman's Body Is a Country (2017) |
| Website | damiajayi |
Early life and education
editAjayi was born in 1986, at Lagos, Nigeria to parents of Yoruba origin. He attended Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, where he studied medicine. While studying as an undergraduate at OAU, he co-founded Saraba Magazine in 2008,[2] as well as The Lagos Review and YabaLeft Review, with writers Toni Kan and Tunji Olalere respectively.
Ajayi was featured in the two-part BBC Radio 4 documentary Writing a New Nigeria,[3] and has been described as one who "writes about love like liquor that drowns a person into his or her feelings."[4]
Career
editAjayi first published his poetry collection Clinical Blues, which was shortlisted while still a manuscript for the Melita Hume Poetry Prize in 2012.[5] It was eventually published in 2014 by WriteHouse. It was longlisted for the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa in 2018,[6][7] and was first runner-up for Association Nigerian Authors Prize.
In 2017, he wrote his second poetry collection, A Woman's Body is a Country, and was published by Ouida Books in Nigeria.[8] Bernardine Evaristo praised Ajayi as one that "bravely exposes intimacies and his vulnerable self through poems that are honest and confessional.”[9] Brittle Paper called it "an affection brewed by loss", and it was a finalist for the Luschei Prize in 2018.[10]
His third collection, Affection and Other Accidents, was published in 2022 by Radi8 Book. It was described by Peter Akinlabi as "an audacious testing of the very limits of self-revelation", where "where the poet’s act of “practicing vulnerability” finds a most heightened articulation of love's complexities and contradictions,[11] and OlongoAfrica describes as "a personal narrative of pain" with "the signature of his poetics by his deployment of accessible language and lapidary details of poems that cross into the poet’s personal life and everyday realities."[12]
Between 2013 and 2019, he wrote critical reviews on Nigerian music and has interviewed musicians like King Sunny Adé and Adekunle Gold, Queen Salawu Abeni, Etuk Ubong, Adebantu, and Somi.[13][14][15][16][17][18]
In 2024, The Sun describe Dami's music reviews and influences of poetry in his essays. The Sun stated that “What sets Dami Ajayi apart in the realm of music criticism is his dual role as a poet. This poetic sensibility infuses his writing with a lyrical quality, elevating the discourse beyond a simple evaluation of beats and lyrics. Ajayi’s reviews often read like nuanced compositions, where each word is carefully chosen to evoke the essence of the music he dissects.”[19]
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[2] for young African writers.
Publications (selected)
editBooks
edit- Affection and Other Accidents (2022)
- A Woman's Body is a Country (2017)
- Clinical Blues (2014)
Chapbook
- Daybreak & Other Poems (Saraba Magazine, 2013)
Articles
edit- “Celluloid” in On Broken Wings: An Anthology of Best Contemporary Nigerian Poetry (New York, DLite Press, 2014) ed. by Unoma Azuah
- “Talk to Me” in Gambit: Newer African Writing (Stories & Interviews) (New York,The Mantle 2014) ed. by Emmanuel Iduma & Shaun Randol
- "The Lagos Everyman"; in My Africa, My City: An Afridiaspora Anthology (Winepress Publishing) ed. by Tolu Daniel, Adeola Opeyemi
- “Old Peoples Home” Songhai 12: New Voices in Nigerian Literature (Port Harcourt, 2014) ed. by Molara Wood & Lindsay Barett
- “A Playlist for Mr Ehikhamenor” for Daydream Esoterica (RELE Gallery, 2019)
- “Aubade to my Greying” in Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry edited by Adedayo Agarau (America, Animal Heart Press, 2020)
- “Queens”, “Sleeping Beauty (of Borehamwood)”, “Waterstones”, “Ode to a Face Mask”, “Denouement” in Relations: An Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices edited by Nana Brew-Hammond.
References
edit- ^ "The Last Good Book I Read... Dami Ajayi (Poet) A Stranger's Pose by Emmanuel Iduma". Daily Trust. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Q&A: Words on the Times – Dami Ajayi". Africa in Words. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "Writing a New Nigeria — Meet the authors". BBC Radio 4.
- ^ Shoola, Oyindamola (6 November 2017). "Dami Skillfully Conveys Meanings in 'A Woman's Body Is a Country'". WRR Publishers. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- ^ "Dami Ajayi". badilishapoetry.com. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- ^ "Nine African poets shortlisted for 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature". PM News. 3 November 2018.
- ^ "9 African poets on 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature list". Daily Graphic. 19 November 2018.
- ^ Mbamalu, Socrates (23 October 2017). "A Woman's Body is a Country: Africa's most anticipated poetry collection". This Is Africa. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- ^ "2018 Luschei Prize: Three Finalists Announced". African Poetry Book Fund. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ "Passport to Her Foreign Land | Review of Dami Ajayi's "A Woman's Body Is a Country" | IfeOluwa Nihinlola". brittlepaper.com. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ Márọkọ́ (3 February 2023). "Picking the Grievous Bones of Disaffection". Márọkọ́. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ Ọlájídé, Salawu (20 May 2022). "A Nigerian Poet's Dangerous Amorous Episodes". Olongo Africa. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ Ajayi, Dami (25 May 2021). "Nigeria: Afrobeats' unpaid debt to highlife's Crosdale Juba". The Africa Report.
- ^ Ajayi, Dami (14 December 2019). "Finding Lagos: A Jazz Tribute to an African City". The Elephant.
- ^ Ajayi, Dami (July 2019). "Nigeria's King Sunny Adé: 'I see myself as a freelance'". The Africa Report.
- ^ "Nigeria's Ayinla Omowura: The original gangster and patron saint of Abeokuta's working class". March 2021.
- ^ Ajayi, Dami (24 September 2021). "Nigeria: Adekunle Gold's glittery metamorphosis". African Report. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Ajayi, Dami (15 November 2020). "Etuk Ubong's Sophomore "Africa Today" is full of righteous anger". African Report. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Chukwuebuka, Umuzurike (18 January 2024). "Music Criticism in Nigeria: Bridging Art and Insight in Music Criticism". The Sun (Nigeria). Retrieved 14 July 2024.