An interview with Ayodele Olofintuade. Listen to Mo’s audio review of her book, Adunni: The Beautiful Ones Have Not Yet Died here.

LE: Hello Ayodele, please tell us a bit about yourself.

Ayodele: Author/Journalist/Researcher. I wear many hats. I was born in Ibadan and grew up in Lagos, Abeokuta and Ibadan. Spent my late teens and early twenties in Enugu. I have 2 children and a cat, I presently live in Ibadan.

I’m a feminist, and an advocate for the LGBTQI community in Nigeria.

LE: What you do for a living? Is writing your full time job?

Ayodele: I’m a full time writer, been freelancing for about 5 years. I run a not-for-profit project in Ibadan catering to schools that do not have access to libraries and run a mentorship program for young girls.

LE: When did you start writing and what prompted it?

Ayodele: Can’t remember when I’ve not written. Since I stitched together my first book at the age of 7 or thereabouts. But my first published works were book reviews which I used to submit to Kachifo a magazine published by Farafina.

My first book is Eno’s Story published by Cassava Republic in 2010.

LE: Are you currently working on any book and if you are, what is it about?

Ayodele: My latest book is Lakiriboto Chronicles: A brief History of Badly Behaved Women (Bookbuilders Editions Africa, 2018). In which I explored sex, sexuality, economic power, mental health and gender politics within a Yoruba Family.

LE: Lastly, what are your hobbies?

Ayodele: I read, swim, dance and love partying with my friends.

Ayodele has several published stories and books including:

Eno’s Story

King of the Heap

King of the Heap Learns to Read

Children of the Rainbow

Adunni: The Beautiful Ones Have Not Yet Died

Lakiriboto Chronicles: A Brief History of Badly Behaved Women

Ayodele reading an excerpt from her book, King of the Heap.

She is on Twitter and has a blog. She also runs another blog 9jafeminista.