Lesley Lokko

Lesley Naa Norle Lokko is a Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and novelist. She says: "I live almost simultaneously in Johannesburg, London, Accra and Edinburgh."

Early life and education

Lesley Lokko was born in Dundee, the daughter of a Ghanaian surgeon and a Scottish Jewish mother, and grew up in Ghana and Scotland. At the age of 17 she went to a private boarding school in England. She began studying Hebrew and Arabic at Oxford University, but left the programme to go to the United States. She graduated from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, with a BSc(Arch) in 1992, and an March in 1995, and went on to earn a PhD in Architecture from the University of London in 2007.

Career

Much of Lokko's writing contains themes about cultural and racial identity. She regularly lectures in South Africa, and has also taught in the United Kingdom and the United States. She also writes regularly for The Architectural Review. She is currently Head of the Graduate School and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Johannesburg.

Selected published works

• 2000: White Papers, Black Marks: Race, Culture, Architecture
• 2004: Sundowners
• 2005: Saffron Skies
• 2008: Bitter Chocolate
• 2009: Rich Girl, Poor Girl
• 2010: One Secret Summer
• 2011: A Private Affair
• 2012: An Absolute Deception
• 2014: Little White Lies

As editor

• 2000: White Papers, Black Marks: Architecture, Race, Culture