Nigerian filmmaker Ayọ̀dẹ́jì Àjàdí wins £37,092 scholarship to study scriptwriting in UK

Nigerian playwright and filmmaker, Ayọ̀dẹ́jì Àjàdí, has won the £37,092 Kowitz Scholarship to study Creative Writing: Scriptwriting at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the United Kingdom.

Àjàdí announced the scholarship in a statement on Monday, saying the award would support his postgraduate studies at the university, which is renowned for its creative writing programme.

He won the scholarship with his play, Sons of Anan, which draws on African mythology and tradition to explore the tensions between inherited beliefs and contemporary realities.

The play examines themes including power, gender and the forces that shape human relationships and was previously staged at the Muson Centre in Lagos.

Speaking on the award, Àjàdí described the scholarship as an affirmation of the stories he wants to tell and the perspectives from which he tells them.

“The scholarship is an affirmation of the stories I want to tell and the perspectives from which I want to tell them,” he said.

“For a writer whose work engages with African experiences, the opportunity offers room to deepen my craft while continuing to explore the stories, histories and contradictions that inform my writings.”

He added that the opportunity would allow him to develop his creative practice in the UK while bringing the questions and stories that have shaped his work into a new academic and creative environment.

“The next chapter will involve developing my practice in the United Kingdom, while bringing the questions and stories that have shaped my work into a new academic and creative environment,” he said.

The University of East Anglia launched its first MA in Creative Writing in 1970 and has since built a strong reputation in literary education. Its alumni include Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Anne Enright, John Boyne and Nigerian author Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀.

Àjàdí, who graduated with a degree in Economics from Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State, in 2017, has written and directed stage plays and short films and has also taught film and writing-related courses.

His creative work spans stage and screen and often explores society, culture and the complexities of human experience through storytelling.

The scholarship will enable Àjàdí to further develop his scriptwriting practice while exploring African stories and experiences within an international academic and creative environment.