Helen Oyeyemi is a British novelist who was born in Nigeria in 1984 and was raised in London. She attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge where she studied Social and Political Sciences. During her time at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, her first novel was published titled, The Icarus Girl, which deals with the experiences of an eight-year-old girl, who has an English father and a Nigerian mother, living in present-day London, who has difficulties because of her identity conflicts and her friendships. She also wrote drama scripts and novels, which gained support by her fellow classmates, while at the university. Both her plays, Juniper’s Whitening and Victimese, were performed by students at the university and later gained success, allowing them to become published as a result. Oyeyemi’s second novel, The Opposite House, which she wrote before her final exams at the University became published in 2007.
Helen Oyeyemi after graduating from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge began to explore the larger world. She spent time in Berlin, Paris, Prague and even New York. During her travels she managed to conceive her third novel White is for Witching, which gained a Somerset Maugham Award and a finalist position for a ShirleyJ ackson Award. Shortly after, Oyeyemi was included in the “25 under 25” list in the women’s magazine Venus Zine, which highlights the early achievements of young women in culture, fashion, sport, media and the arts. In between creating her profound novels, Helen Oyeyemi also produced many short stories. One of her most notable being, My Daughter the Racist, which was shortlisted by the BBC National Short Story Award in 2010. At this point is Oyeyemi’s career she was only 25, and therefore became the youngest novelist to have ever been nominated for the BBC National Short Story Award.
Through Oyeyemi’s works, it is clear that she has had much influence from the works of Edgar Allen Poe and Emily Dickenson. Her novels tend to have a sense of darkness and/or a menacing appeal to them. It is quite profound that with such success at such a young age, Oyeyemi defines herself not as a writer but rather as a reader. AfricanSuccess
Official Site: HelenOyeyemi
Blog: OyeyemiBlog
The World of Helen Oyeyemi 