Quick Facts
Biography
Gboyega Odubanjo (30 January 1996 – August 2023) was a British-Nigerian poet. He was the author of While I Yet Live and the collection Aunty Uncle Poems. He was the editor of bath magg, an online magazine of poetry, and an editor at independent publisher Bad Pretty Press.
Early life and education
Gboyega Odubanjo was born on 30 January 1996, in London, where he also grew up.
Odubanjo attended the University of East Anglia between 2014 and 2019. He earned his Bachelor's degree in English and Philosophy in 2017, and his Master's degree in poetry in 2018. He was studying for a PhD in creative writing at the University of Hertfordshire at the time of his death.
Career
Odubanjo's first published collection, While I Yet Live, was published in 2019 by Bad Betty Press.
Odubanjo was a board member and former guest editor of Magma Poetry.
Disappearance and death
On 26 August, Odubanjo attended the Shambala Festival in Northamptonshire, where he was scheduled to perform on 27 August. Several of his friends reported his disappearance following his failure to show up to his poetry set on 27 August, and local police were called in to mount an investigation.
His body was found near Kelmarsh on 31 August. According to police, there were "no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death". He was 27. Odubanjo's family and close friends criticized how authorities conducted the search, saying they had moved slowly, as well as the Shambala Festival, saying there had not been enough safeguards in place to protect attendees.
Awards
- 2020 OutSpoken Prize for Poetry (shortlisted), for While I Yet Live
- 2020 Poetry Business New Poet's prize for Aunty Uncle Poems
- Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors
- 2021 Michael Marks pamphlet award for Aunty Uncle Poems