Abimbola "Abi" Daré is a Nigerian author and public speaker who now lives in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England. In 2018 she won the Bath Novel Award, and was a finalist in the Literary Consultancy Pen Factor 2018. Her debut novel ''

The Girl With The Louding Voice ''The Girl with the Louding Voice'' is a 2020 coming of age novel and the debut novel of Nigerian writer Abi Daré. It tells the story of a teenage Nigerian girl called Adunni who becomes a maid and struggles with many things growing up, inclu ...

'' was published in 2020 to critical acclaim.

Biography

Daré grew up in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

, Nigeria, attending the Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, and moved to the UK for her higher education. Her mother Teju Somorin was the first female professor of taxation in Nigeria. Daré has a degree in law from the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mechanics' Institute founde ...

, a master's in international project management, graduating as best performing student from

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University ( gd, Oilthigh Chailleannach Ghlaschu, ), informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley, is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and G ...

and a master's with distinction in creative writing from Birkbeck.

Career

She has said she began writing fiction on a blog and was the editor of her church magazine. Daré works overseeing app development for a publishing firm. In 2022, Abi was appointed as External Board Member at the BiC Corporate Foundation. In March 2023, Abi delivered the keynote address at The Social Enterprise Conference at

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

and Harvard Business School.

The Girl with the Louding Voice

Daré's debut novel ''

The Girl with the Louding Voice ''The Girl with the Louding Voice'' is a 2020 coming of age novel and the debut novel of Nigerian writer Abi Daré. It tells the story of a teenage Nigerian girl called Adunni who becomes a maid and struggles with many things growing up, inclu ...

'' is a story about a teenage Nigerian girl called Adunni who becomes a maid and struggles with many things growing up, including her limited education, poverty and her ability to speak up for herself. The book became a ''New York Times'' Bestseller and is a Read with Jenna choice and a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

Book at Bedtime ''Book at Bedtime'' (''A Book at Bedtime'' until 9 July 1993) is a long-running radio programme that is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each weekday evening between 22.45 and 23.00. The programme presents readings of fiction, including modern classics, ...

'' pick. Published by

Sceptre A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The '' Was'' and other ...

, an imprint of Hodder, it was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for first time novelists. Daré was included in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

''s list of 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2020. The novel has been translated into over 19 languages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daré, Abi Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Nigerian novelists Alumni of the University of Wolverhampton Alumni of Glasgow Caledonian University Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Writers from Lagos Writers from Essex