Diran Adebayo

Diran Adebayo is an acclaimed novelist, academic and cultural critic best known for his stylish, picaresque takes on modern Britain. His debut novel Some Kind of Black was hailed as breaking new ground for the ‘London novel’. It won him numerous awards, including the Writers’ Guild new writer of the year, the 1996 Saga prize, a Betty Trask award and the Authors’ Club best first novel. It was also longlisted for the Booker prize, serialised on radio and is now a Virago Modern Classic. His second novel, the neo-noir fable My Once Upon a Time, was also widely praised, and solidified his reputation as a groundbreaker.

In 2004 he co-edited (with Blake Morrison and Jane Rogers) New Writing 12, the British Council’s annual anthology of British and Commonwealth literature. Diran has also written for television and radio, including the 2005 documentary Out of Africa for BBC2. As a critic, he was a columnist for New Nation newspaper, has written extensively in the national press and appeared as a guest on numerous shows, discussing everything from cricket and race to politics and popular culture.

Born in London, Diran read law at Oxford University. He is a former member of the National Council of the Arts Council of England and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.