Yoruba Boy Running
Published on 10. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-241-99546-4 (ISBN)
Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DIVERSE BOOK AWARDS
Yoruba Boy Running charts Samuel Ajayi Crowther's miraculous journey from slave to liberator, boy to man, running to resisting
'Run, Ajayi, run!'
The day the Malian slave traders invaded the Nigerian town of Osogun, thirteen-year-old Ajayi's life was split in two.
Before, there was his childhood, surrounded by friends and family, watched over by the ancient Yoruba gods of forest and water, earth and sky. After: capture, slavery - and release, into the service of a new god, his own culture left far behind. So Ajayi becomes Samuel Crowther - missionary, linguist, minister - and abolitionist: driven to negotiate against his own people to end the miserable trade in human beings which destroyed his family.
From the heart-stopping drama of Ajayi's last day of freedom to his consecration as the first African Bishop of the Anglican Church, Biyi Bandele's kaleidoscopic reimagining of Crowther's life is a brilliant tour de force.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION FROM WOLE SOYINKA
'A true artist. A brilliant writer. An original thinker' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
'Biyi Bandele had a prolifically talented and creative mind, shown in everything he touched. Yoruba Boy Running is no exception' Chiwitel Ejiofor
Cover artwork Chris Ofili, Blind Leading Blind, 2005 (c) The artist.
Yoruba Boy Running charts Samuel Ajayi Crowther's miraculous journey from slave to liberator, boy to man, running to resisting
'Run, Ajayi, run!'
The day the Malian slave traders invaded the Nigerian town of Osogun, thirteen-year-old Ajayi's life was split in two.
Before, there was his childhood, surrounded by friends and family, watched over by the ancient Yoruba gods of forest and water, earth and sky. After: capture, slavery - and release, into the service of a new god, his own culture left far behind. So Ajayi becomes Samuel Crowther - missionary, linguist, minister - and abolitionist: driven to negotiate against his own people to end the miserable trade in human beings which destroyed his family.
From the heart-stopping drama of Ajayi's last day of freedom to his consecration as the first African Bishop of the Anglican Church, Biyi Bandele's kaleidoscopic reimagining of Crowther's life is a brilliant tour de force.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION FROM WOLE SOYINKA
'A true artist. A brilliant writer. An original thinker' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
'Biyi Bandele had a prolifically talented and creative mind, shown in everything he touched. Yoruba Boy Running is no exception' Chiwitel Ejiofor
Cover artwork Chris Ofili, Blind Leading Blind, 2005 (c) The artist.
Reviews / Votes
Riotous, exquisite, mesmerizing . . . Bandele's prose mutates in tone from exuberance to sobriety, from the epic to the intimate, from bawdy humour to glacial understatement . . . [he] shifts from farce to tragedy and back, with lewd jokes suddenly giving way to scenes of sheer terror or gruesome violence . . . Yoruba Boy Running doesn't pander to any fixed position: it is a testament to Biyi Bandele's courage and integrity that, in this age of strident polarization, he chose not to shy away from moral complexity * Times Literary Supplement * A remarkable saga of perseverance, dedication and triumph over adversity . . . The wit and dramatic timing read like something by Wole Soyinka . . . We are lucky and grateful that the author was able to leave us with this bookend to his glorious if truncated career -- Helon Habila * Guardian * Biyi was a unique, all-responsive talent . . . The more he achieved, the further he aimed -- Wole Soyinka [A] literary maverick . . . His was a talent unrestrained by genre, medium, geography or period -- Alex Clark * Guardian * Biyi Bandele had a prolifically talented and creative mind, shown in everything he touched. Yoruba Boy Running is no exception A magical, immersive journey . . . Bandele effortlessly draws the picture of the birth of colonial Nigeria with such panache and vibrancy that you are entertained while being deeply enlightened . . . Bandele allow us to both observe and care for the characters he brings us, from village elders and Muslim slave traders to English colonisers. Biyi Bandele's wise and lyrical voice will be sorely missed Bandele excels both himself in this richly crafted novel, brimming with mirth, fervour and his sheer joy of language . . . This is the novel as homage, truth-telling, illumination. I'm in awe, inspired. We have been gifted an almighty legacy -- Courttia Newland Bandele provides a fitting capstone to his career with this astonishing novel based on the life of Samuel Ajayi Crowther . . . an unforgettable chronicle of an extraordinary man * Publishers Weekly (starred review) * Biyi Bandele's remains a master storyteller to the end. A magnificent novel; rich, humorous, lyrical, breathtaking. What a joy -- Chikodili Emelumadu In Yoruba Boy Running, Bandele writes with a nimble, rigorous prose. He has left us a matchless parting gift in this magnificent, unforgettable novel. And we, his readers, are grateful -- Chika UnigweMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 193 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
204 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-99546-4 (9780241995464)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Biyi Bandele
Yoruba Boy Running
A miraculous novel about one man's journey from slave to liberator, based on real historical events
E-Book
07/2024
Penguin Books Ltd
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Biyi Bandele was a novelist, playwright and filmmaker. He was the author of the novels, The Man Who Came in From the Back of Beyond, The Street, The Sympathetic Undertaker, Burma Boy and Yoruba Boy Running. His directorial debut was with Half of a Yellow Sun, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Biyi Bandele passed away in 2022.