Yorùbá Boy Running

Riotous, exquisite, mesmerizing … Bándélé’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 … Yorùbá Boy Running doesn’t pander to any fixed position: it is a testament to Biyi Bándélé’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 Bándélé had a prolifically talented and creative mind, shown in everything he touched. Yorùbá Boy Running is no exceptionA magical, immersive journey … Bándélé effortlessly draws the picture of the birth of colonial Nigeria with such panache and vibrancy that you are entertained while being deeply enlightened … Bándélé allow us to both observe and care for the characters he brings us, from village elders and Muslim slave traders to English colonisers. Biyi Bándélé’s wise and lyrical voice will be sorely missedBándélé 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 NewlandBándélé provides a fitting capstone to his career with this astonishing novel based on the life of Samuel Àjàyí Crowther … an unforgettable chronicle of an extraordinary man * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Biyi Bándélé’s remains a master storyteller to the end. A magnificent novel; rich, humorous, lyrical, breathtaking. What a joy – Chikodili EmelumaduIn Yorùbá Boy Running, Bándélé 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 Unigwe

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.