Nigerian Playwright Ayọ̀dẹ́jì Àjàdí Wins UEA Scholarship

Ayọ̀dẹ́jì Àjàdí, a Nigerian playwright and filmmaker, has won the £37,092 Kowitz Scholarship to pursue a postgraduate degree in Creative Writing: Scriptwriting at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. This scholarship will support his studies at a university known for its prestigious creative writing program, which has produced notable writers such as Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro and Nigerian author Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀. Àjàdí's winning submission was his play, Sons of Anan, which explores themes of power, gender, and the interplay between inherited beliefs and contemporary realities, drawing on African mythology.

He expressed that the scholarship affirms the narratives he aims to tell and will enhance his storytelling craft. Àjàdí, a 2017 graduate of Economics from Babcock University in Ogun State, has experience in writing and directing stage plays and short films, and he teaches film and writing courses. His scholarship reflects the growing international interest in African literature and arts.