Adedayo Agarau

Adedayo Agarau (born October 26th 1994) is a Nigerian of Yoruba Descent. He is a multipe award-winning poet, creative writer and essayist. Adedayo is the author of three chapbooks. Adedayo is a member of the UnSerious Collective. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Agbowo Magazine, an African literary magazine. He also works at IceFloe Press, Canada as the New International Voices Editor and African Chapbook Acquisition Manager. Adedayo curated and edited Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry. 
== Biography ==
=== Early Life ===
Adedayo Adeyemi Adeniyi Olajire Agarau is the first son and second child in a family of five children. He was born in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State in Geopolitical zones of Nigeria on Wednesday, 26th of October, 1994. His parents, Mr. Olajide Agarau and Mrs. Adebisi Agarau (née Keke-Nadi) are indigenes of Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State, Nigeria.
=== Education ===
He started his primary education in 1996 Nigerien coup d'état at Bodma International School. After leaving Bodma, Adedayo started his secondary school at the Ibadan Boys High School, Ibadan in 2004 for his Junior Secondary education. He later leaves for Scores College Ibadan in 2007 for his Senior Secondary education.
In 2011, Adedayo started a PRE-National Diploma Program at the Federal Polytechnic, Ede. He earned a National Diploma in Nutritionist and Dietetics in 2014/2015. After interning at the HospitalIjebu Ode in 2016, Adedayo gained admission into Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria where he earned his Higher National Diploma in Human Nutrition and Dietitian.
Adedayo is currently studying for his MFA in Creative Writing: Poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, University of Iowa workshopping with Tracie Morris, Mark Levine (poet) and other faculty members. 
== Poetry ==
After reading works of Niyi Osundare, J. P. Clark, Léopold Sédar Senghor and contemporary poets like Rasak Malik Gbolahan, Adedayo Agarau started writing poetry in 2013. He was first published on Facebook by Kukogho Iruesiri Samson of Words Rhymes & Rhythm. In February 2014, Kukogho Iruesiri Samson announced Adedayo as the winner of the #WhatCanWordsDo Poetry Challenge on Facebook and the Pulse Student Poetry Prize May Edition. Adedayo also won the July Edition of the Brigitte Poirson Poetry Prize in 2015.
Adedayo Agarau's first chapbook, For Boys Who Went was published in 2016. Editor of Parousia Magazine, Tola Ijalusi, in his review of For Boys Who Went, referred to Adedayo Agarau as "a Nigerian imagist poet who has courageously shot a vital milestone in contemporary African literature." Adedayo has won a number of literary awards and been published in many journals and literary magazines. His poetics have moved from simple to creating works "clothe lepers in finery of flowers," as Ernest Ogunyemi mentioned in the review of his book.
Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani, African Poetry Book Fund selected Agarau's body of work, The Origin of Name, as one of the chapbooks in the New-generation African poets: A Chapbook Box Set. In 2021, Adedayo Agarau emerged finalist of the 2021 Sillerman Poetry Prize with is full-length poetry collection titled, "The Morning The Birds Died," a collection of poems exploring the death of his paternal grandmother, mental health, dreams and the spirituality of loss.
== Books ==
# FOR BOYS WHO WENT, Words Rhymes & Rhythm, 2016
# SO RIGHTEOUS WE GO FLYING, Adedayo Adeyemi Agarau, Elisabeth Horan, 2019
#Curated and Edited: Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry
# THE ARRIVAL OF RAIN, Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, 2020
# THE ORIGIN OF NAME, New-generation African poets: a chapbook box set, 2020: Michelle Angwenyi, Afua Ansong, Adedayo Agarau, Fatima Camara, Sadia Hassan, Safia Jama, Henneh Kyereh Kwaku, Nadra Mabrouk, Nkateko Masinga, Jamila Osman, and Tryphena Yeboah.
== Awards ==
* Finalist, Sillerman First Book Poetry Prize 2021
* Frontier Poetry|FRONTIER POETRY: THE 2020 INDUSTRY PRIZE, 3RD PLACE WINNER: BAD DREAM WITH MY GRANDMOTHER’S STROKE BY ADEDAYO AGARAU
* Longlist, The Emerging Poet Prize 2020: Palette Poetry
* SEVHAGE/Angya Poetry Prize 2019 - Adedayo Agarau ‘the origin of a name’ [1st Runner Up]
* Shortlist, Babishai Niwe Poetry Prize 2018
* Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize (EOPP) 2017
Category:Nigerian Poets
Category:21st Century Poets
Category:Male Nigerian Poets
Category:Poets from Nigeria