Rotimi Babatunde is a Nigerian writer and playwright.

Biography and education

Rotimi Babatunde was born in

Ado-Ekiti Ado Ekiti is the capital city of Ekiti State, Nigeria. It is the Headquarters, headquarter of the Ekiti central senatorial district, Points of the compass, southwest, Nigeria. History Ado Ekiti is an ancient city, founded by Ewi Awamaro the ...

Ekiti State Ekiti () is a state in southwestern Nigeria, bordered to the North by Kwara State for 61 km, to the Northeast by Kogi State for 92 km, to the South and Southeast by Ondo State, and to the West by Osun State for 84 km. Named for the Ekiti ...

, Nigeria, where he attended St. Joseph's Nursery and Primary School before going on to secondary education at the

Federal Government College, Odogbolu Federal Government College, Odogbolu is a state-owned secondary school located in Odogbolu town in Ogun State. The school was founded in January 1973 as one of the unity schools by the federal government. It has facilities for both day and board ...

, and subsequently to

Obafemi Awolowo University Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal university in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife by the regional government of Western Nigeria, which w ...

, Ile-Ife. Rotimi Babatunde lives in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

Oyo State Oyo is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo ...

, Nigeria.

Works

His published work includes poems and stories in anthologies, including ''Little Drops'', ''A Volcano of Voices'' and ''Die Aussenseite des Elementes''. Babatunde's plays have been presented at institutions such as London's

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

, the Swedish National Touring Theatre and the Halcyon Theatre, Chicago, as well as being broadcast on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

. His other works includes: *''An Infidel In The Upper Room'',

Royal Court Theatre Downstairs The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opened in 1870; the current building was completed in 1 ...

, London (reading), 2006. *''The Bonfire of the Innocents'' (Elddopet), Riksteatern, Stockholm, 2008. *''A Shroud For Lazarus'', Halcyon Theatre, Chicago, 2009. *''Feast'',

Young Vic Theatre The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...

, 25 January 2013.

Award and Prizes

Babatunde won the Meridian Tragic Love Story Competition (hosted and organized by the BBC World Service). He is also a winner of the AWF

Cyprian Ekwensi Chief Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi (26 September 1921 – 4 November 2007) was a Nigerian author of novels, short stories, and children's books. Biography Early life, education and family Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi, an Igbo, was born in ...

Prize for Short Stories. His next work is a novel on choice, migration and love. His short story "The Collected Tricks of Houdini" was longlisted for the 2015

Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award The Sunday Times Short Story Award, also known as the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award and later the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, was a British literary award for a single short story open to any novelist or short story writer from ...

, the richest prize in the world for a single short story. In 2012, Babatunde won the

Caine Prize for African Writing The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. Founded in the United Kingdom in 2000, the £10,000 prize was named ...

for " Bombay’s Republic", a short story about a Nigerian soldier who is enlisted to fight as an allied soldier in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Chosen from five shortlisted options, the story was described by chair judge

Bernardine Evaristo Bernardine Anne Mobolaji Evaristo (born 28 May 1959) is an English author and academic. Her novel ''Girl, Woman, Other'' jointly won the Booker Prize in 2019 alongside Margaret Atwood's ''The Testaments'', making her the first Black woman to win ...

as In April 2014 Babatunde was named in the

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival (), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival was d ...

Africa39 Africa39 was a collaborative project initiated by the Hay Festival in partnership with Rainbow Book Club, celebrating Port Harcourt: UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 by identifying 39 of the most promising writers under the age of 40 with the potenti ...

project as one of the 39

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

n writers under the age of 40 with the potential and the talent to define the trends of the region.Africa39
Hay Festival

References

External links

"Rotimi Babatunde wins 13th Caine Prize for African Writing".
Caine Prize press release.
Kola Tubosun, "Conversation With Rotimi Babatunde"
LitMag – NigeriansTalk, 11 August 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Babatunde, Rotimi Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Yoruba writers Nigerian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Nigerian writers Caine Prize winners 21st-century Nigerian male writers Obafemi Awolowo University alumni Federal Government College, Odogbolu alumni