A Woman of Words and Power

Born Titilola Atinuke Shoneyin, Lola Shoneyin was born on 26th of February in Ibadan, Oyo State to Chief Tinuoye and Mrs Yetunde Shoneyin (nee Okupe) of Remo-Kingdom ethnic group. She is the last born and only girl of her parents. Shoneyin is a Nigerian Poet and Author who was named on the Hay Festival’s Africa 39. This list rates the 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African Literature.

Lola attended Cargilfield School in the United Kingdom at the age of six before returning to Nigeria. She completed her secondary education at Abadina Collee, Ibadan then proceed to study English at Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onabanjo University), holding BA (Hons) Degree. She attended the renowned Iowa International Writers Programme in Iowa, U.S.A, in August 1999 and in the same year she was a Distinguished Scholar at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota U.S.A.

Due to her love for writing, Lola has written lots of poetry and short stories. Early examples of her work appeared in Post Express (U.K Newspaper) in 1995, which features a short story about a Nigerian woman who leaves her husband for an Austrian woman. This story initiated dialogue about homosexuality within a Nigerian context. Her works were relatively influenced by her cultural background notably providing an insight into polygamy in her Book “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives” owing to the fact that her grandfathers were polygamists, her maternal grandfather His Royal Highness (HRH) Abraham Olayinka Okupe who was the traditional ruler of Iperu-Remo (1896-1976) had 5 wives.

Her first Novel “The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives” which she was initially titled “Serpent’s Tail” was launched in the UK in May 2010 and has been translated into 7 Languages and published in Italian as “Prudenti come Serpenti”. She has in addition to her books written for newspapers, including The Scotsman. The Guardian and The Times on issues such as racism, Nigeria’s tradition of polygamous marriage the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram and the elections of now President Muhammadu Buhari.

In 2012, Shoneyin became the deputy principal at a secondary school in Abuja, Nigeria, where she also taught English language. She also obtained a teaching degree from London Metropolitan University in 2005. She is currently the director of Book Buzz Foundation, Nigeria, a non-governmental organization whose main aims are promoting literacy through the creation of reading programmes for children, developing reading spaces and which also organizes the Ake Arts and Book Festival once a month.

Shoneyin is married to Olaokun Soyinka, a medical doctor and the son of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. She currently lives in Lagos with her husband and four children (2 boys and 2 girls).
In 2012, Shoneyin won the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award and has twice won the Association of Nigerian Authors Awards.
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