RESUME
EDUCATION
MBChB Medicine and Surgery 2011
Obafemi Awolowo University,
Ile-Ife, Nigeria
MEMBERSHIPS
Member, Royal Society of Literature
Member, Society of Authors
Member, Royal College of Psychiatry
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
British Journal of Psychiatry International 2020 – date
Trainee Editor, British Journal of Psychiatry International/Commissioning Editor, British Journal of Psychiatry Arts Blog, Muses
The Lagos Review 2019 – 2023
Music Editor
Saraba Magazine `2009 – 2019
Co-founder/ Fiction Editor
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS (AUTHORED)
Clinical Blues (Ibadan, WriteHouse 2014), Poetry
A Woman’s Body is a Country (Lagos, Ouida Books 2017), Poetry
Affection & Other Accidents (Lagos, Radi8 Ltd 2022), Poetry
BOOKS (EDITED)
Limbe to Lagos, Nonfiction from Cameroon and Nigeria (Lagos, Saraba/Bakwa Magazine)
JOURNALS (EDITED)
Maroko Journal of Poetry, Issue I and II (2022 -2023)
BOOKS (CHAPTER CONTRIBUTIONS: ANTHOLOGIES, BOOKS AND CATALOGUES)
“Celluloid” in On Broken Wings: An Anthology of Best Contemporary Nigerian Poetry (New York, DLite Press, 2014) edited by Unoma Azuah
“Talk to Me” in Gambit: Newer African Writing (Stories & Interviews) (New York, The Mantle 2014) edited by Emmanuel Iduma and Shaun Randol
“The Lagos Everyman” in My Africa, My City: An Afridiaspora Anthology (Winepress Publishing) edited by Tolu Daniel and Adeola Opeyemi
“Old Peoples Home” Songhai 12: New Voices in Nigerian Literature (Port Harcourt, 2014) ed. by Molara Wood & Lindsay Barett
“A Playlist for Mr Ehikhamenor” for Daydream Esoterica (RELE Gallery, 2019)
“Aubade to my Greying” in Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry edited by Adedayo Agarau (America, Animal Heart Press, 2020)
“Queens”, “Sleeping Beauty (of Borehamwood)”, “Waterstones”,
“Ode to a Face Mask”, “Denouement” in Relations: An Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices edited by Nana Brew-Hammond (Harpervia,2023)
‘The Patriot’ in African Urban Echoes: A Poetry Anthology (Griots Lounge, 2025) edited by Jide Salawu and Rasaq Malik
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
FICTION
“Shagari Street” in Nigerians Talk (2013)
“Situation Highlife” in Nigerians Talk (2013)
“Easy Junction” in Kalahari Review (2013)
“Interrupted Narratives—A Biography of Boredom” in Brittle Paper (2013)
“A Beer Called Life” in ZODML (2014)
“A Quest for Sobriety” in Jalada Africa (2015)
“A Small Undisclosed Gesture or Corkscrew” in Brittle Paper
“We Need a Divorce” in Afreada
POETRY
“Afrobeats Did This to my Vocabulary” in Isele (2023)
“The Parable of the Immigrant” in Ink Sweat and Tears (2023)
“Introit”, “Affection & Other Accidents”, “Interlogue” And “This Academy Called Life” As Introito, Amore & Altri Incidenti, Primo Interludio, L’accademia Della Vita In Niederngasse (2022)
“The Anatomy of Silence”, “A Poem for the Condemned Poet”, “Untitled” and “328 to World’s End” in Lolwe (2020)
MUSIC JOURNALISM
PROFILE AND INTERVIEWS
“Long Live The King” (Interview/Profile of Juju Legend, King Sunny Ade) in The Africa Report (2017) – Print and Online
“Yahoo Boy No Laptop” (Profile of Afrobeats Rapper, Singer and Songwriter, Olamide) in Chimurenga Chronic (2017) – Print and Online
“Finding Lagos: A Jazz Tribute to an African City” (Profile of American Jazz Singer, Somi) in The Elephant (2019) – Online
“Adekunle Gold’s Glittery Metamorphosis” in The Africa Report (2021) – Online
“Nigeria’s Lekan Babalola on ‘Lakaaye’ his Afrofuturist version of Ogun, the Yoruba God” (Profile of Grammys Award winning musician/percussionist) in The Africa Report (2021) – Online
Nigeria: ‘We need a revolution, but maybe not that revolution of guns (Interview and Profile of Etuk Ubong) in The Africa Report (2021)
BOOK REVIEWS
“The Murder of Alhaji Omowura” a review of Festus Adedayo’s Ayinla Omowura in The Lagos Review
“Bad Luck in Lagos; Review of This House Is Not for Sale by EC Osondu” in Guardian UK
“Fela Through Ghanaian Eyes; Review of Fela: Kalakuta Notes by John Collins” in The Mantle
“The Promise of Hope: A review of Kofi Awonoor’s Selected Poems”, Wawa Book Review
“And after Many Reviews – Review of Jowhor Ile’s And after Many Days” Wawa Book Review
“Remembering Highlife – Review of John Collins’ Highlife Giants: West African Dance Pioneers” Wawa Book Review
“A Bride’s Mother’s Cry – Review of Joan Metelerkamp’s Now the World Takes These Breath” Wawa Book Review
“American English Writer Preferred: A Review of Clifton Gachagua’s Madman at Kilifi” Wawa Book Review
MUSIC REVIEWS
“Love, Damini’ is a nod to Burna Boy’s industry and zeitgeist, a review of Burna Boy’s album, Love, Damini in The Africa Report
“Sweet Sweet Sweet Banana,” a review of King Sunny Ade’s LP Sweet Banana in Culture Custodian (2023)
NONFICTION
“The Economy of Loss: Creative Non-fiction” in African Writer (2009)
“The Lagos Jump: Reportage of the monthly Lagos music concert, Afropolitan Vibes” in This is Africa, (2014)
“Modern Juju Music” in Bakwa Magazine (2016)
“Lagos: Eine Megacity Erfindet Sich Neu”: Das Goethe/Die Zeit (2018)
“The Binj is No Longer Here” a tribute to Binyavanga Wainaina in The Elephant (2019)
PUBLIC SPEAKING, MASTERCLASSES, PERFORMANCES AND READINGS (SELECTED)
Poetry Masterclass at Writivism Literary Festival, National Theatre, Kampala, Uganda (June 2015)
Poetry Masterclass at Storymoja Festival, Nairobi, Kenya (September 2015)
Facilitator, Short Story Day Africa Creative Flow Workshop supported by Goethe-Institut (2017, 2018)
Performance, Poetry, and Music with Tetu Shani and Harriet Anena, Storymoja Festival, Kenya (September 2015)
Performance and Book Launch of A Woman’s Body is a Country, Writivism Literary Festival (August 2018)
Artistic Encounters with Makadem at Goethe-Institut, Nairobi, Kenya (October 2018)
Panelist, The Future of Poetry Theresa Lola, Wana Udobang, Inua Ellams, and Ishion Hutchinson, Ake Festival 2018
“The Poetry Panel” and “An Evening of Poetry and Palmwine” at Ake Book and Art Festival 17-22 November 2015
Book Reading and Conversation with Martin Egblewogbe at Vidya Bookshop, Accra, Ghana (2015)
Reading and Conversation on A Woman’s Body is a Country with Martin Egblewogbe at Goethe-Institut Accra, Ghana (March 2018)
“BBC: Writing a New Nigeria Panel” at Lagos Book and Art Festival, Lagos (November 14, 2015)
“Poetry Panel” at Writivism Literary Festival, Kampala, Uganda (June 2015)
Literary Crossroads: African Poets around the continent in conversation with the Future in collaboration with Lagos International Poetry Festival. Collaboration between Lagos International Poetry Festival and Goethe-Institut Lagos (October 2016)
“Book Conversation: When Lemon Grows on Orange Trees” with Diekara Oloruntoba-Oju
“The Necessities and Exigencies of Digital Publishing: The Case of Saraba.”
presented at the Digital Africas Symposium, Amherst College, America (October 2017)
Poetry Performance and Book Launch, Writivism Literary Festival, Kampala, Uganda (August, 2018)
Performance, Artistic Encounters with Makadem held in Goethe-Institut, Nairobi, Kenya (October 2018)
“Transitioning from a Poetaster to Poet”, Poetry Masterclass held in Abuja and Ibadan Nigeria (August 2019)
Festival Griot and Poetry Reading, Afrolution Festival held in June 13-16, 2019, in Berlin, Germany
Pushing Formal Boundaries in Poetry: Lolwe Masterclass (2022,2023)
Festival Guest, Lagos International Poetry Festival in October 2022
Poetry Reading at Labone Dialogues, New York University Accra in October 2023
Let the Music Move You, Panel Session at Ake Book and Art Festival, Lagos in November 2024
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writing a New Nigeria |A 2-part documentary narrated by Wana Udobang | BBC Radio 4, 2015
“Repression and Loss in Toni Kan’s Songs of Absence and Despair and Dami Ajayi’s Clinical Blues” | Uwisike Blessing | Long Essay (Bachelor of Arts), Department of English, University of Ibadan, 2015.
The Stethoscope as Society’s Pen: A Review of Dami Ajayi’s Clinical Blues | Echezonachukwu Nduka | Academia
The Book as we know it is dead – Dami Ajayi | Nduta Waweru | The Star.co.ke 2015
The Poet And His Patient: A Review Of Dami Ajayi’s Clinical Blues | Olajide Salawu | Arts and Literature News 2015
Dark, Twisted, Amusing | Review of Dami Ajayi’s “Clinical Blues” | Socrates Mbamalu | Brittle Paper 2016
A Woman’s Body is a Country: Africa’s most anticipated poetry collection | Socrates Mbamulu | ThisisAfrica 2017
“Clinical Blues by Dami Ajayi”| Literary Everything (2018)
“Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani on the Future of African Poetry” | The Mantle (2018)
“Multiplicity, Affection And Poetry As An Alive Archive: A Dialogue With Dami Ajayi”| Gaamangwe Joy Mogami | Africaindialogue (2019)
“The Wall is Still Tumbling Down”: Revisiting Dialectics of Dysfunctional Society in New Nigerian Poetry | Micheal Ikenna Olughu, (2019)
Lover−Philosopher, Playboy−Trumpeter | Review of Dami Ajayi’s “Clinical Blues” | Kelvin Kellman
“Q&A: Words on the Times – Dami Ajayi” Africainwords.com
Finish Whatever You Write -Interview with Dami Ajayi | Feyisayo Adeyemi |Nantygreens
Passport to Her Foreign Land | Review of Dami Ajayi’s “A Woman’s Body Is a Country” | IfeOluwa Nihinlola | Brittle Paper
Love and Death in Dami Ajayi’s A Woman’s Body is a Country | Nureni Ibrahim | Wawa Book Review
Interview: “The Poem is a Gun Too” | The Republic, 2020
Conversations with Dami Ajayi | The AfroReader
‘Poetry Is, For Me, A Personal Ordeal.’ An Interview With Dami Ajayi| Rachel Zadok| Short Story Day Africa
“Why Doctors Are Better Writers —Dami Ajayi”| Rita Okonoboh | Nigerian Tribune
Of National Neurosis and Private Psychosis: Preliminary Reflections on Dami Ajayi’s Clinical Blues | Tosin Gbogi | KTravula
Journeying Beyond the Geography of Desire | Olajide Salawu | Premium Times
New Voices, New Media: Class, Sex and Politics in Online Nigerian and Kenyan Poetry | Shola Adenekan
A Nigerian Poet’s Dangerous Amorous Episodes: A review of Affection and Other Accidents | Olajide Salawu | Olongo Africa
AWARDS, NOMINATIONS, RESIDENCES
Longlisted, Clinical Blues, Melita Hume Prize (2011)
Writer-in-Residence, Port Harcourt UNESCO World Book Capital (2014)
Clinical Blues, The TIA 100 – Best Books, 2010-2014
Runner-up, Clinical Blues, Association of Nigerian Authors (2015)
Longlisted, Clinical Blues, Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature (2017)
Listed, A Woman’s Body is a Country, Quartz Africa (2017)
Listed, YNaija Influential Persons in Culture (2017)
Finalist, Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry (2018)
Nominated, The Future Awards Africa for Public Service (2018)
Listed, 100 Influential Nigerians Under 40 (2019)
Named Top 5 Music Reviewers by Black Pride Magazine (2021)
Most Outstanding Young Person in Arts/Literature, Lagos Youth Awards (2021)
Affection & Other Accidents, Roving Heights/Open Country Magazine, No.1 Bestselling poetry collection in Nigeria (2022)
Affection & Other Accidents, Named Best Collection of Poems, Port Harcourt Poetry Festival (2023)