Sarah Ladipo Manyika

Sarah Manyika was born and raised in Nigeria.[1][2] She has also lived in Kenya, France, Zimbabwe, and Britain.[2] Her father is Nigerian and her mother is British.[5] Manyika inherited her birth name (Ladipo) from her father, who was born in Ibadan (South-West Nigeria) in the late 1930s. Her father met and married her mother in the UK in the 1960s. Sarah spent much of her childhood in Lagos and the city of Jos in Plateau State.[2] As a teenager, she lived for two years in Nairobi, Kenya, before her family moved to the UK.

Manyika studied at the Universities of Birmingham (UK), Bordeaux (France), and California (Berkeley), receiving a Ph.D from the latter.[6] She was married in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1994, and now divides her time between San Francisco (where she has taught literature at San Francisco State University), London and Harare.

Her writing includes published essays, academic papers, book reviews and short stories. Her short story "Mr Wonder" appeared in the 2008 collection Women Writing Zimbabwe.[7] Her first novel,[8] In Dependence, was originally published by Legend Press, London, in 2008,[9] and was chosen by the UK's largest bookstore chain as its featured book for Black History Month.[10] In 2009, In Dependence, was published by Cassava Republic,[11] a literary press based in Abuja, Nigeria (as well as, latterly, in the UK), with a stable of authors that includes Teju Cole and Helon Habila. Speaking of her decision to sign with an African publisher, Manyika has said: "I realized that by granting world rights to an African publisher I could, in a small way, attempt to address the imbalance of power in a world where the gatekeepers of literature, even for so-called African stories, remain firmly rooted in the west."[12] In 2014, In Dependence was published by Weaver Press in Zimbabwe, where it is a set book for the Advanced-level English Literature examination.[13] In Dependence has also been introduced by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Nigeria for candidates sitting for the 2017 UTME.[14]

Manyika's second novel, Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun, on publication in spring 2016 was endorsed by many other writers, including Bernardine Evaristo ("Manyika's story about an elderly Nigerian woman is quiet, sophisticated and it expands the canon of contemporary African literature into welcome new territory"), Aminatta Forna ("gorgeous and finely crafted...Sarah Manyika's novel shows ordinary people at their best. Uplifting!"), NoViolet Bulawayo ("Astute, sensual, funny, and moving"), Jamal Mahjoub ("Manyika writes with great verve and gentle wit, illuminating her characters with subtle insight"), Peter Orner ("A beautiful, important new novel, and one that will continue to echo in a reader's mind for a long time after"), E. C. Osondu ("unforgettable...a powerful meditation on loss, memory, exile and loneliness. The characters in this novel will stay with you"), and Brian Chikwava ("A wonderfully constructed novel, always surprising").[15][16] It has been translated into several languages.[6]

Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun was shortlisted in September 2016 for the Goldsmiths Prize (alongside books by Rachel Cusk, Deborah Levy, Eimear McBride, Mike McCormack and Anakana Schofield),[17][18] "the first African novel to be considered for this prize",[19] which was set up to reward fiction that breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form. The novel was also shortlisted for the California Book Award in the fiction category (alongside works by such writers as Andrew Sean Greer, Percival Everett, and Viet Thanh Nguyen).[20] Of the genesis for Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun Manyika has said: "I've met many older women who have lived colourful lives, and yet when it comes to fiction I don't find many stories that mirror this, especially so when it comes to the lives of black women. When I cannot find stories that I'd like to read, I try writing them for myself."[21] The novel's title is an acknowledged line from a poem by Mary Ruefle called "Donkey On".[22]

Manyika is a contributor to the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent, edited by Margaret Busby, participating in associated events.[23][24]

Manyika's non-fiction writing includes personal essays and in-depth profiles of people she meets, including Evan Mawarire, Toni Morrison and Michelle Obama.[25]

Manyika serves on the boards of Hedgebrook and the Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD) in San Francisco.[26] She has also hosted OZY′s video series, Write,[27] and is currently the magazine's Books Editor.[28][3] She has also served as a judge for literary competitions, the Etisalat Prize for Literature in 2014[29] and the Goldsmiths Prize in 2020.[30] Manyika hosts a series of monthly filmed interviews for MOAD, called "Conversations Across the Diaspora", and her guests from around the world have included Ibrahim Mahama, Jess Cole, Strive Masiyiwa, Tatyana Ali, and Anna Deavere Smith.[31]

• Nigerian literature

• Official website
• Listen aloud to readings from In Dependence
• Introduction to Black History Month
• Review of In Dependence on the Catch a Vibe site
• Review of In Dependence by Andreas Martin Widmann.
• Sarah Ladipo Manyika interviewed by Nkrumah Bankong-Obi: "My Life, My Writings", P.M. News Nigeria, 26 March 2014.
• Ovo Adagha, "The Sarah Ladipo Manyika Interview", African Writing, No. 9.
• Sarah Ládípọ̀ Manyika on OZY
• "Toni Morrison In Conversation". Mario Kaiser & Sarah Ladipo Manyika in conversation with Toni Morrison. Granta, 29 June 2017.
• "Twenty Questions with Sarah Ladipo Manyika", TLS.