I wanted to write about extended family systems. You have people you can fall back on, and it's good. But what if you don't fit into what is expected of you? — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share Image
There's this idea that at the lowest rungs of the social ladder in an African family is a childless woman - and the lowest rung of all is a motherless child. — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share Image
I must have listened to at least 10 covers of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' - Jeff Buckley's cover is usually my go-to song. — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share
I wanted to explore expectations we have of people - what a woman should be, what a man should be. And if they don't… — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share Image
I come from a part of Nigeria where a lot of value is placed on implicit communication. The 'well brought up' child is the… — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share Image
In 2010, I was working in a bank in Lagos. It was a crazy job with long working hours. I had to leave for… — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share Image
I wanted to write about extended family systems. You have people you can fall back on, and it's good. But what if you don't… — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share Image
Usually, by the time I hit 'save' before taking a nap, my word count has gone down, but the world I'm creating feels more… — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share Image
There's a Yoruba proverb which roughly translates into, 'What turns its face to one person has turned its back on the other.' It's always… — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share Image
I think there is a dissonance between how much is expected of you as a young person, whether you are a man or a… — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share Image
When I was a child, there were two Nigerian writers in every bookshop: Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka. — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share Image
I think, for women in particular, it's kind of like you're expected to get married, have a child, and then you get to be a person. But you don't need someone else - be it a spouse or child - to complete or validate your existence. Being human is enough and should be enough, and I hope that we all… — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share
I'm still very interested in the things that happened in the '80s and the '70s because I think that they were very important years for Nigeria. In the '80s, we were under a military dictatorship for quite a while, and I think that the way we engage with our country as citizens was shaped in many ways by the events… — Ayobami Adebayo Copy Share
