S. A. Afolabi

Segun Afolabi (born 1966) is a Nigerian novelist and short story writer born in Kaduna, Nigeria.

He is the son of a career diplomat. With his family, he moved frequently throughout his childhood, from country to country in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Several critics have remarked on this experience as an obvious influence on his writing.

Afolabi won the 2005 Caine Prize for the story "Monday Morning", first published in Wasafiri, issue 41, spring 2004. His first novel, Goodbye Lucille, was published in April 2007 and won the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award. He was shortlisted for the Caine Prize in 2015. Early life and education

Afolabi was born in 1966 in Kaduna, Nigeria, the son of a career diplomat. His childhood was spent across multiple countries including the Congo, Canada, East Germany, and Indonesia, an experience that critics have identified as a central influence on his writing about migration, displacement and identity. He studied in England and Scotland and worked for a time at the British Broadcasting Corporation before turning to writing. He lives in London.

Career and works

Afolabi began writing short stories after attending a beginners' writing class, publishing his early stories under the initials S.A. Afolabi in literary journals including the London Magazine, Granta, Wasafiri and the Edinburgh Review.

His debut short story collection A Life Elsewhere, containing 17 stories and published in July 2006 by Jonathan Cape, was shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers' Prize and longlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. His first novel Goodbye Lucille, published in April 2007 by Jonathan Cape and set in Berlin in 1985, won the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award.

At the time he won the 2005 Caine Prize, Afolabi was the only nominee who had not yet published a book, having been nominated without his knowledge after the story "Monday Morning" was published in Wasafiri. He was shortlisted for the Caine Prize again in 2015 for his story "The Folded Leaf".