Discipline: Literature – fiction

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

Discipline: Literature – fiction
Region: Lagos, NIGERIA
MacDowell Fellowships: 2018

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ is the author of Stay with Me, which was shortlisted for the Kwani? Manuscript Prize, the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction, the 9mobile Prize for Literature and the Wellcome Book Prize. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Stay with Me was also named Best Book of the Year by The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, NPR and The Economist. Ayọ̀bámi has received fellowships from MacDowell, Ledig House, Sinthian Cultural Centre, Hedgebrook, Ox-bow School of Arts, and Ebedi Hills. She holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in literature in English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. Ayọ̀bámi also has an M.A. in creative writing from the University of East Anglia where she was awarded an international bursary for creative writing. At MacDowell, she completed a draft of her second novel, A Spell of Good Things, which was longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize.

Studios

Sprague-Smith

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ worked in the Sprague-Smith studio.

In January of 1976, the original Sprague-Smith Studio — built in 1915–1916 and funded by music students of Mrs. Charles Sprague-Smith of the Veltin School — was destroyed by fire. Redesigned by William Gnade, Sr., a Peterborough builder, the fieldstone structure was rebuilt the same year from the foundation up, reusing the original fieldstone. A few…

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