Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún is a Nigerian linguist, writer, translator, scholar, and cultural activist.
["Writing a New Nigeria: Ideas of Identity"](_blank)
, 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' ...
, His work and influence span the fields of education, language technology, literature, journalism, and linguistics. He is the recipient of the 2016
Premio Ostana
The Ostana Prize – Writings in the Mother Tongue n Italian: Ostana Premio Scritture in Lingua Madre is an annual prize and cultural initiative organized by the Municipality of Ostana and by the Cultural Association Chambra d'Oc. It is dedicated ...
"Special Prize" for Writings in the Mother Tongue. (Ostana Premio Scritture in Lingua Madre) for his work in language advocacy.
He writes in
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
and English.
Biography
Tubosun was born in
Ibadan
Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
in September 1981. He holds a Masters in Linguistics from
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...
(2012) and a BA from the
University of Ibadan
The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...
(2005).
He also studied briefly at
Moi University
Moi University is a public university located in Kesses, Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu county, in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. It was established in 1984 by the Moi University Act of the Parliament of Kenya, after recommendations from t ...
,
Eldoret
Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population ...
,
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
, in April 2005, as part of a
MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...
-sponsored Socio-Cultural Exchange Program.
At the University of Ibadan, he was a campus journalist and rose to the position of president of the Union of Campus Journalists, which he led from 2002 to 2004.
In 2009, he was a
Fulbright scholar
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
, and he taught
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
at
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...
until 2010. His debut collection of poetry/travelogue ''Edwardsville by Heart'' covers this period. In 2010, while still in the US, he worked as a volunteer adult literacy tutor, with resettled immigrants, at the International Institute of
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, Missouri.
In 2012, he completed a master's degree in Linguistics/TESL and returned to Lagos, Nigeria to take up a job as a high school teacher of
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
.
For a few years between 2015 and 2019, he worked as a linguist at Google Nigeria first as a Speech Linguistics Project Manager from 2015 to 2016, and later as a Project Manager for
Natural language processing
Natural language processing (NLP) is an interdisciplinary subfield of linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence concerned with the interactions between computers and human language, in particular how to program computers to pro ...
tasks in African languages in 2019.
His work of advocacy has focused on the role of African languages in today's world, especially in technology, education, literature, governance, and entertainment. He founded the
Yorùbá Names Project in 2015, a lexicography project, to show how technology can help in revitalizing local languages. As a writer, he has produced work in travel writing, travel poetry, essays on literature, scholarly writings, journalism, and fiction.
From September 2019 to September 2020, he was a
Chevening Fellow at the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
in London as a Research Fellow on the Library's African language printed collection from the 19th Century.
In September 2020, he was appointed Programme Director of
Yoruba Academy in Ibadan.
Linguistics, lexicography, and language advocacy
Tubosun is known for his work in linguistics, technology, and language advocacy. He has written extensively on the need to empower
Nigerian languages
There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The Nigerian official language is English, the language of former colonial British Nigeria. As reported in 2003, Nigerian Pidgin was spoken as a second language by 60 million people in Nige ...
, and
Nigerian English
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
, to function effectively in education, technology, governance, and literature. He has also engaged in projects in furtherance of these objectives.
In 2012, he led a successful campaign to have Twitter include
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
in the list of languages into which the platform was being translated.
In March 2015, he founded the "
Yorùbá Names Project" at YorubaName.com as an effort to document all names in Yoruba in an accessible multimedia format. The project also released a free Yorùbá Keyboard software for Mac and Windows to allow its users type in
Yorùbá language
Yoruba (, ; Yor. '; Ajami: ) is a language spoken in West Africa, primarily in Southwestern and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speakers is roughly 50 million, plus about 2 million second-language ...
and
Igbo
Igbo may refer to:
* Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria
* Igbo language, their language
* anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria
See also
* Ibo (disambiguation)
* Igbo mythology
* Igbo music
* Igbo art
*
* Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...
on the internet.
Tubosun's team at
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
Nigeria was behind the
Nigerian English
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
voice/accent on Google platforms. The voice was launched in July 2019. His collaboration at Google was helpful in getting Nigerian language diacritics into GBoard, and also correcting the mistranslation of the Esu, the Yoruba trickster god, on Google Translate. He has also worked with
Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world.
It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...
on some of its exhibits in Nigeria and Kenya.
He has also worked as a consultant for
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
since 2018 on
Nigerian English
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
and
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
entries. Some new words from Nigerian English were added to the OED in December 2019.
In 2017, he collaborated with OrishaImage to create Yorùbá Melody, a multilingual 90 minutes free
Yorùbá language
Yoruba (, ; Yor. '; Ajami: ) is a language spoken in West Africa, primarily in Southwestern and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speakers is roughly 50 million, plus about 2 million second-language ...
"audio phrasebook for Olórìṣà and cultural tourists." The audio phrasebook was released in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. In August 2019, a fourth language was added: German.
He also worked with
BBC Academy
The BBC Academy is an educational arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation which trains current and prospective broadcasting employees in the skills of the Broadcasting industry, in addition to training the corporation's own staff and prospect ...
to help localize the Journalistic Style Guide of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
into
Igbo
Igbo may refer to:
* Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria
* Igbo language, their language
* anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria
See also
* Ibo (disambiguation)
* Igbo mythology
* Igbo music
* Igbo art
*
* Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...
,
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
, and
Nigerian Pidgin, ahead of its maiden broadcast in those Nigerian languages.
In honour of
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's declaration of 2019 as the
International Year of Indigenous Languages
The International Year of Indigenous Languages was a United Nations observance in 2019 that aimed to raise awareness of the consequences of the endangerment of Indigenous languages across the world, with an aim to establish a link between languag ...
, Tubosun, through
The YorubaName Project in collaboration with Rising Voices created @DigiAfricanLang, a twitter rotation curation account featuring scholars and professionals working in African language documentation and revitalization across the continent.
Creative and travel writing
![Kolatubosun](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Kolatubosun.jpg)
Tubosun has contributed to Nigerian creative writing since 2005, through poetry, travel writing, essay, prose, travel writing and literary criticism. His work has appeared in the ''International Literary Quarterly'', ''Sentinel Poetry'', ''
Brittle Paper
''Brittle Paper'' is an online literary magazine styled as an "African literary blog" published weekly in the English language. Its focus is on "build(ing) a vibrant African literary scene." It was founded by Ainehi Edoro (at the time a doctoral ...
'', ''Ake Review'', ''Popula'', ''NTLitMag'', and ''
Enkare Review.''
He worked as the pioneering editor of a literary magazine of new writing from Nigerian and Africa called ''NTLitMag'', from 2012 to 2015. In November 2015, he co-edited as well as ''Aké Review'', the literary publication of the
Aké Arts and Book Festival
The Aké Arts and Book Festival is a literary and artistic event held annually in Nigeria. It was founded in 2013 by Lola Shoneyin, a Nigerian writer and poet, in Abeokuta. It features new and established writers from across the world, and its pr ...
, with Kolade Arogundade. From 2015 to 2016, while he taught as a school teacher, he edited two issues of ''The Sail'', an anthology of creative works of high school students.
["Review of The Sail , An Anthology of Writings by Students in a Lagos Secondary School"](_blank)
, Brittle Paper, 24 August 2015.["First Breath From Whitesands: A review by Tade Ipadeola"](_blank)
, ''Sabi News'', 3 July 2015.
Tubosun has been on the advisory board of the
Aké Arts and Book Festival
The Aké Arts and Book Festival is a literary and artistic event held annually in Nigeria. It was founded in 2013 by Lola Shoneyin, a Nigerian writer and poet, in Abeokuta. It features new and established writers from across the world, and its pr ...
since July 2019.
In September 2018, he accompanied
Brandon Stanton
Brandon Stanton (born March 1, 1984) is an American author, photographer, and blogger. He is the author of ''Humans of New York,'' a photoblog and book. He was named to ''Time'' magazine's "30 Under 30 People Changing The World" list.
Since 20 ...
from
Humans of New York
''Humans of New York'' (HONY) is a photoblog and book of street portraits and interviews collected on the streets of New York City.
Started in November 2010 by photographer Brandon Stanton, ''Humans of New York'' has developed a large followin ...
as a guide while the latter was in Nigeria, an experience he later wrote about.
In 2016, he wrote the entry on
Nnedi Okorafor
Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian-American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her ''Binti Series'' and her novels ''Who Fears ...
's science fiction novel ''
Lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...
'' for "Imaginary Wonderlands" (October, 2016), a collection of essays about invented worlds in literature from around the globe, from Dante to Rushdie. The book was edited by
Laura Miller
Laura Miller (born November 18, 1958) is an American journalist and politician who served as the 58th mayor of Dallas, Texas from 2002 through 2007. She decided not to run for re-election in 2007. She was the third woman to serve as mayor of Da ...
.
After writing an illuminating travel profile on Nobel laureate
Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...
in 2018, Tubosun was awarded the 2019
Morland Writing Scholarship
The Miles Morland Foundation Writing Scholarship, also called the Morland Writing Scholarships or the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship is an annual financial scholarship awarded to four to six African writers to enable them write a fiction or no ...
to write a biography of the writer, Africa's first
Nobel Laureate in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
.
Journalism
While a student at the
University of Ibadan
The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...
, he was an active campus journalist. In 2002, he became the president of the Union of Campus Journalists. During his tenure, he reformed the organisation, brought the press board online, instituted formal training for campus journalists, and connected the campus organisations with many media houses in the country, who in turn opened internship roles for student journalists during their holidays. One of the recipients of the first internships was
Fisayo Soyombo
Fisayo Soyombo (born October 27), is a Nigerian investigative journalist and founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ). He was a former editor at ''The Cable''. He is best known, among other things, for being the Nigerian unde ...
, then a student of agriculture, who later became a decorated journalist in Nigeria.
In 2010, he contributed to ''
234Next'' as a travel writer.
In 2015, he was nominated for the CNN African Journalists Awards for a travel piece he first published on ''KTravula.com'', becoming the first blogger nominated for the Prize.
In 2016, after the illegal demolition of ''Ilojo Bar'', a national monument located on
Lagos Island
Lagos Island (''Ìsàlẹ̀ Èkó'') is the principal and central local government area (LGA) in Lagos, it was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian census, the LGA had a pop ...
, Tubosun wrote a three-part series in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' investigating the cause and consequences of the demolition on the history of Lagos and Nigeria.
In September 2019, Tubosun co-founded The Brick House Journalism Collective, with eight other publications with the aim of presenting independent viewpoints from all around the world. He became the founding editor-in-chief and publisher of ''OlongoAfrica'', a literary-journalistic platform for new creative writing from Africa.
Poetry
Tubosun writes poetry in
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
and English. His chapbook ''Attempted Speech & Other Fatherhood Poems'' was first published by ''
Saraba Magazine'' in 2015. An earlier one ''Headfirst into the Meddle'' was published in 2005.
In 2018, his first full collection of poetry ''Edwardsville by Heart'' was published. It is a book described as "a magical meeting place of travelogue, memoir, and poetry," covering a period of three years when the author lived in the midwestern United States. It is "a quiet, reflective book",
"by far a rather enjoyable read." Petero Kalulé calls him "a poet who writes so freely, so playfully, so beguilingly about the everyday and its “effing possibilities.” JM Schreiber says it has "an uncluttered vision—emotionally contained and all the more powerful as a consequence."
[
The book was selected as one of "Africa's Must Read Books of 2018"
His second collection of poetry, ''Ìgbà Èwe'' was published in June 2021.] It has been described as "an affirmation of two or more cultures in a progressive conversation."
Literary translations
Túbọ̀sún is currently the Africa co-editor of the inaugural edition of the Best Literary Translations Anthology, guest edited by Jane Hirshfield
Jane Hirshfield (born February 24, 1953) is an American poet, essayist, and translator, known as 'one of American poetry's central spokespersons for the biosphere' and recognized as 'among the modern masters,' 'writing some of the most important ...
. It is to be published by Deep Vellum in 2024.
He is a translator of literature from and into Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
, his mother tongue, and has argued for more literary translations into African languages as a way of revitalizing the languages. His translation of a short story by Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (; born James Ngugi; 5 January 1938) is a Literature of Kenya, Kenyan author and academic who writes primarily in Gikuyu language, Gikuyu and who formerly wrote in English language, English. He has been described as having bee ...
into Yoruba was published in the Jalada Language Translation project in March 2016. In 2019, his translation of a short story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( ; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' as "the most prominent" of a "procession of criticall ...
was published in the Absinthe Journal in 2019. He has also translated James Baldwin, Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...
, and Haruki Murakami
is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...
. Since 2005, he has translated into English some of the poetry of his father, Yoruba language
Yoruba (, ; Yor. '; Ajami script, Ajami: ) is a language spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West (Nigeria), Southwestern Middle Belt, and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the Ethnic group, ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speake ...
poet, Olatubosun Oladapo through the Poetry Translation Centre
The Poetry Translation Centre (PTC) is an organization dedicated to translating poetry from Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It was founded by the British poet Sarah Maguire in 2004. I ...
in London. One of these poems was published in ''Love is Not Dead'' by Christopher McCabe and ''Swirl of Words / Swirl of Worlds'' – Poems from 94 Languages Spoken Across Hackney.
His second collection of poetry, ''Ìgbà Èwe'', is a bilingual collection with original Yorùbá translations of poetry by American philosopher and poet Emily Grosholz
Emily Rolfe Grosholz (born 1950 Philadelphia) is an American poet and philosopher. She is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy, African American Studies and English, and a member of the Center for Fundamental Theory / Institute for Gravitation ...
and illustrated by Yemisi Aribisala
Yemisi Aribisala (born 27 April 1973) is a Nigerian essayist, writer, painter, and food memoirist. She has been described as having a "fearless, witty, and unapologetic voice" Her work has been featured in ''The New Yorker'', ''Vogue magazine'', ...
.
In 2022, he was credited as having translated the screenplay of the film adaptation of Death and the King's Horseman
''Death and the King's Horseman'' is a play by Wole Soyinka based on a real incident that took place in Nigeria during the colonial era: the horseman of a Yoruba King was prevented from committing ritual suicide by the colonial authorities. In a ...
, a play by Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...
into Yorùbá. The film was directed by playwright Biyi Bandele
Biyi Bandele (born Biyi Bandele-Thomas; 13 October 1967 – 7 August 2022Micah L. Issitt Contemporary Black Biography, 2009. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 12 October 2015.) was a Nigerian novelist, playwright and filmmaker. He was the author of s ...
and co-produced by Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
and Ebonylife TV
Ebonylife TV is an entertainment TV channel owned by Mosunmola Abudu popularly called Mo Abudu, It was launched on DSTV on July, 2013 after which the station was later added to DSTV in September 2014. After partnering and satisfying the executi ...
titled ''Elesin Oba, The King's Horseman
''Elesin Oba, The King's Horseman'' is a 2022 Yoruba-language Nigerian historical drama film directed by Biyi Bandele and distributed by Netflix, based on ''Death and the King's Horseman'', a stage play he wrote while in Cambridge, where he was ...
.'' It had its world premier at the Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
in September 2022, and starred Odunlade Adekola
Odunlade Adekola , (born 31 December 1976) is a Nigerian actor, singer, film-maker, film producer and film director. He gained popularity and was widely known for his lead role in Ishola Durojaye's 2003 movie, ''Asiri Gomina Wa'', and has acted i ...
, Shaffy Bello
Shaffy Bello is a Nigerian film actress and singer. She first shot into the entertainment scene when she featured vocals in a 1997 hit song by Seyi Sodimu titled " Love Me Jeje".
Career
Shaffy grew up in the United States where she completed h ...
, Brymo
Ọlawale Ọlọfọrọ (born Olawale Ibrahim Ashimi; 9 May 1986), better known as Brymo, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, stage performer,actor and author. He started recording music in 1999 while in secondary school. He signed a record dea ...
, Deyemi Okanlawon
Deyemi Okanlawon is a Nigerian film, television, theatre and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Omo Ghetto: The Saga'', '' Blood Sisters'' and '' King of Boys: The Return of the King''. He has been listed as the highest grossing ...
, Omowunmi Dada, Jide Kosoko
Jide Kosoko (born 12 January 1954) is a Nigerian actor, director and producer. He was born into a royal family, hence his traditional title of prince or "omoba" in the Yoruba language.
Early life
Prince Jide Kosoko was born in Lagos on the ...
, Kevin Ushi, Jenny Stead, Mark Elderkin, Langley Kirkwood
Langley Kirkwood (born 14 April 1973) is a South African actor and triathlete. Besides appearing in films such as ''Invictus'', ''Dredd'' and '' Mia and the White Lion'', Langley has participated several times in the South African Ironman compet ...
, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, and Joke Silva
Joke Silva , MFR is a Nigerian actress, director, and businesswoman.
In 1998 she had a major role, starring opposite Colin Firth and Nia Long in the British-Canadian film ''The Secret Laughter of Women''. In 2006, she won "Best Actress in a Le ...
.
Awards
Premio Ostana
In January 2016, Tubosun was chosen as a recipient of a Premio Ostana
The Ostana Prize – Writings in the Mother Tongue n Italian: Ostana Premio Scritture in Lingua Madre is an annual prize and cultural initiative organized by the Municipality of Ostana and by the Cultural Association Chambra d'Oc. It is dedicated ...
"Special Prize" for Mother Tongue Literature (Il Premio Ostana Internazionale Scritture in Lingua Madre 2016), a prize given to any individual who has done writing and notable advocacy for the defence of an indigenous language. The prize ceremony was held from 2 to 5 June 2016, in the town of Ostana
Ostana is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo. Its population has been in decline and in January 2016 it recorded its first birth sin ...
(Cuneo
Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area.
It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...
, Italy). Tubosun was the first African to be so honoured by the organisation.
In October 2015, he was nominated for the CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
African Journalists Award for his travel piece ''Abeokuta's Living History'', first published at ''KTravula.com''. He was the first ever blogger on the award shortlist.
Other awards/grants/fellowships
* 2022 Imminent Innovations Grant in Language Technology
* 2019 Chevening Research Fellowship to The British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
* 2018 Miles Morland Writing Scholarship
* 2017 ''Ventures Africa'' "40 Under 40" Innovators for 2017.
* 2017 '' Saraba Magazine'' Manuscript Contest
* 2016 100 most innovative people in technology by ''YNaija
''YNaija'' is a Nigerian online content publishing platform, founded by Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams of RED Africa media group. ''YNaija'' launched in May 2010 with columnists and various news sources. It offers news, original content an ...
''
*2016 ''Quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
'' African Innovator's List.
* 2015 Nigeria's most innovative people in technology by ''YNaija''
Selected works
Poetry
* ''Ìgbà Èwe (ISBN 9789789907014'') Ouida Books, Lagos. 2021.
*''Edwardsville by Heart'' () Wisdom's Bottom Press, UK, 2018
* ''Attempted Speech and Other Fatherhood Poems'' (Poetry Chapbook) Saraba Magazine, 2015.
Edited
* ''Edo North: Field Studies of the Languages and Lands of the Northern Edo'' (Ed., 2011). Essays in Honour of Professor Ben O. Elugbe. Zenith Book House.
*NTLitMag: 29 Issues (2012-2015)
Personal life
His father Olatubosun Oladapo, was a poet and journalist. His sister, Yemi Adesanya, is an accountant and poet. His wife, Temie Giwa founded LifeBank, a health logistics company. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.
See also
* List of Nigerian bloggers
This is a list of notable Nigerian bloggers.
*Chude Jideonwo
*Linda Ikeji
* Japheth J. Omojuwa
*Judith Audu
* Kenneth Uwadi
* Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo
*Kola Tubosun
* Luvvie Ajayi
* Myne Whitman
* Noble Igwe
*Tolu Ogunlesi
*Tosin Ajibade
*Uche E ...
References
External links
*
"A Father's Apprehensions and Fascinations: An Interview"
"Yoruba & Esperanto are now open for translation in the Twitter Translation Centre"
"A Multimedia Dictionary of Yorùbá Names"
YorubaName.com.
"Ideas of Identity"
''Writing a New Nigeria'', 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' ...
.
Kola Tubosun's Travel Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tubosun, Kola
1981 births
Living people
21st-century Nigerian educators
21st-century Nigerian poets
21st-century Nigerian writers
21st-century translators
English-language writers from Nigeria
English–Yoruba translators
Google employees
Linguists from Nigeria
Male bloggers
Nigerian bloggers
Nigerian editors
Nigerian journalists
Nigerian male poets
Nigerian schoolteachers
Nigerian travel writers
Olatubosun Oladapo family
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alumni
University of Ibadan alumni
Writers from Ibadan
Yoruba academics
Yoruba educators
Yoruba writers
Yoruba–English translators
Yoruba-language writers
Fulbright alumni