Toluwalogo Ajayi (born 1946) is a Nigerian
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
and writer of
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
.
Biography
Born in
Ijebu-Ode
Ijebu-Ode is a town in Ogun State, Nigeria, South Western geopolitical zone in Nigeria, close to the A121 highway (Nigeria), A121 highway. The city is located 110 km by road Northeast of Lagos; it is within of the Atlantic Ocean in the ea ...
,
Ogun State
Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...
, Ajayi was educated in Nigeria and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
; in the latter country, he qualified in 1970 as a
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
at the
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...
Medical School.
He also specialized in
psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior.
...
at Memorial University in
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
Most of Ajayi's novels and
stories draw on his medical experience.
Works
*''The Year'' (London: Macmillan, 1981).
*''The Lesson'' (Lagos, Nigeria: Granny Fatima, 1985)
*''The Ghost of a Millionaire'' (Heinemann Educational Books Nigeria, 1990).
*''Eyes of the Night'', short story collection including his 1990
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 ...
winning story "Family Planning"
(Lagos, Nigeria: Granny Fatima, 1991),
*''Images of Lives: Poems for Everyone'', poetry collection (Lagos, Nigeria: Granny Fatima, 1991)
*''Motions and Emotions: Fumes of Poetic Feelings'', poetry collection
(Lagos, Nigeria: Granny Fatima, 1993)
*''After A Bad Moon: a Sh-to-vel'', story collection
(Lagos, Nigeria: Granny Fatima, 1995).
*''
Over the Bridge (2023 psychological thriller film)''
Notes
{{Nigeria-writer-stub