Helen Oyeyemi

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

(born 10 December 1984) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

novelist and writer of short stories.

Life

Oyeyemi was born in Nigeria and was raised in

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

from when she was four. Oyeyemi wrote her first novel, '' The Icarus Girl'', while studying for her

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School , established = , closed = , type = Comprehensive, academy , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head ...

. She attended

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

. Since 2014 her home has been in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Career

While she was in college, Oyeyemi's plays ''Juniper's Whitening'' and ''Victimese'' were performed by fellow students and later published by Methuen in 2014. In 2007,

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

published Oyeyemi's second novel, '' The Opposite House'', which is inspired by

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. Her third novel, '' White Is for Witching'', was published by

Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bullf ...

in May 2009. It was a 2009

Shirley Jackson Award The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic are presented ...

finalist and won a 2010

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

. In 2009, Oyeyemi was recognized as one of the women on Venus Zine's "25 under 25" list. Her fourth novel, '' Mr Fox'', was published by Picador in June 2011, In 2013 she was included in the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list. Her fifth novel, ''Boy, Snow, Bird'', was published by Picador in 2014. ''Boy, Snow, Bird'' was a finalist for the

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ( ...

in 2014. Oyeyemi was a judge on the Booktrust

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize The ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize (1990–2015) was a British literary award. It was inaugurated by British newspaper ''The Independent'' to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched i ...

for 2015, and served as a judge for the 2015

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

. Oyeyemi published ''What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours'', a story collection, in 2016. ''What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours'' won the 2016

PEN Open Book Award PEN/Open Book (known as the Beyond Margins Award through 2009) is a program intended to foster racial and ethnic diversity within the literary and publishing communities, and works to establish access for diverse literary groups to the publishing i ...

: for an exceptional book-length work of literature by an author of colour. Oyeyemi was a judge for the 2018

International Booker Prize The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize was announced ...

. ''Gingerbread'', a novel, was published 5 March 2019. '' Peaces'', a novel, was published 1 April 2021.

Bibliography

Novels

*'' The Icarus Girl'' (2005) *'' The Opposite House'' (2007) *'' White Is for Witching'' (2009) *'' Mr. Fox'' (2011) *'' Boy, Snow, Bird'' (2014) *''Gingerbread'' (2019) *'' Peaces'' (2021)

Plays

*''Juniper's Whitening'' (2004) *''Victimese'' (2005)

Short story collections

* ''What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours'' (2016)

References

External links

"Too Talented to be This Young"
from ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''.
"Helen Oyeyemi on haunted house novels"
La Clé des Langues, 28 August 2012.
Author Page
on

PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate Freedom of speech, free expression in the United States and worldwide through the ad ...

website.
Author Page
on picador.com.
"i live with him, i see his face, i go no more away" (short story
''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', 18 December 1996.
Author Page
on AALBC.com website.
"A Muse Gets Mad In Oyeyemi's Magical 'Mr. Fox'"
(interview), NPR Books, 2 October 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oyeyemi, Helen 1984 births Living people Black British women writers Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge English people of Yoruba descent Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Writers from London Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom British women novelists Yoruba women writers 21st-century British novelists 21st-century British women writers 21st-century British short story writers Weird fiction writers