Diran Adebayo was born in London to Nigerian parents. He studied Law at Oxford University, and has worked at The Voice newspaper and on BBC television. He was a columnist for New Nation, and frequently writes for numerous British publications such as The Guardian, The Independent and The New Statesman. The manuscript of his novel Some Kind of Black won the inaugural Saga Prize which was set up for black-British writers, and was published in 1996. The book also won numerous other awards, including a Betty Trask Award and a Writers' Guild Award (New Writer of the Year) in 1996. His second novel, My Once Upon a Time (2000), is a modern-day fable set in London's near future. He has also contributed to Underwords: The Hidden City (2005), the Book Trust London Short Story Competition Anthology. In 2005, he wrote the documentary, 'Out of Africa' for BBC Television and in 2003, The Evening Standard named him one of London's 100 most influential people. Diran Adebayo is currently at work on a screenplay, Burnt, and his third novel The Ballad of Dizzy and Miss P, which is scheduled for publication in 2010.
http://www.theblessedmonkey.com/ - Diran Adebayo's website.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2001/nov/25/race.world1 - Diran Adebayo on race in Britain.
Diran Adebayo will be featured at the following events:
Friday 29 January, 11.15 AM - 12.15 PM, Hall de Galle: Fables and Fairy Tales
Sunday 31 January, 11.15 AM - 12.15 PM, Hall de Galle: Lives of Cities
Sunday 31 January. 12.30 PM - 2.00 PM, Jetwing Kurulubedda: Lunch in the Paddyfields
Sunday 31 January, 9.00 PM Onwards, Sun House: The Last Word