Ayodele Olofintuade | |
|---|---|
 A picture of Ayodele Olofintuade | |
| Born | Ayọ̀délé Ọlọ́fintúádé Ibadan, Nigeria |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Citizenship | Nigerian |
| Website | Official website |
Ayodele Olofintuade is a Nigerian writer, journalist, and feminist. She identifies as queer and non-binary in Nigeria, which is an anti-LGBTQ country. [1]
Born in Ibadan, Nigeria, Olofintuade grew up between Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta. [2] [3] They are a self-supporting, full-time writer whose works are focused primarily on feminism in Africa, [4] Yorùbá spirituality (cutting across Africa and the Diaspora) the Nigerian LGBTQ community, [5] [6] and gender non-conforming persons in Nigeria. [7] Olofintuade has two children. [8] [9]
Their first major work of literature was Eno's Story (2010), [10] a children's story published by Cassava Republic Press and shortlisted for the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2011. [11] [12] [13] It addressed the issue of child-trafficking that has been plaguing Nigeria for a long time. [14]
Their first major article on LGBTQ persons in Nigeria, The A-B-C of Sexuality (2014) on NigeriansTalk, was published immediately after the passage of the Same Sex Marriage Act of 2013 as part of the advocacy tools for the promulgation of the law. [15] It was around this same time they also published their first major serialised novella, Adunni: The Beautiful Ones Have not yet Died (2014) on Brittle Paper, in which some of the characters were queer. [16]
Olofintuade writes both for adults and children, especially children from disadvantaged areas. She is also an activist. Her first book, in 2011, was shortlisted for the Nigeria Prize for Literature. [11] [12] [13] She has had her work published in numerous magazines and journals in Nigeria, including NigeriansTalk and Anathema. Olofintuade is also the managing director of a website about the negative impact of inequality. [17] [18] [3] [19] [20]
In 2019, Olofintuade published her fiction titled Lakiroboto Chronicles, the book was later re-published in 2023 by Cypher press. [21] [22] [23] [24]
Olofintuade's deep knowledge of Yorùbá spirituality and culture means that they are an important go-to for younger artists. With Laipo Read, they provide educational support for children from basic to secondary-school level. [25] [26] [27] [28]
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