Inua Ellams
Nigerian-born British playwright and poet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II[1][2] MBE FRSL[3] (born 23 October 1984)[1] is a Nigerian-born British poet, playwright and performer. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to the arts.[4]
23 October 1984
Inua Ellams | |
|---|---|
Ellams at Africa Writes Festival 2021 | |
| Born | Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II 23 October 1984 |
| Citizenship | Nigeria |
| Education | Firhouse Community College, Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupations | Poet, playwright |
| Known for | Barber Shop Chronicles |
| Awards | Edinburgh Fringe First Award (2008) |
| Website | www |
Early years and education
Inua Ellams was born in 1984 in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, to a Muslim father and a Christian mother.[5] When he was 12 years old, he moved with his family to England, and three years later to Ireland, where he attended Firhouse Community College.[6]
Work
Ellams has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company,[7] Royal National Theatre and the BBC.
In June 2018, Ellams was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature as part of its 40 Under 40 initiative.[3][8] He took part in The Complete Works mentoring programme for poets of colour.
Poetry
- Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales (flipped eye publishing, 2004)
- Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars (flipped eye publishing, 2010)
- The Wire-Headed Heathen (Akashic Books, 2015)
- The Half-God of Rainfall (Fourth Estate, 2019)
- The Actual (Penned In The Margins, 2020)
Featured in anthologies
- The Salt Book of Younger Poets (Salt, 2010)[9]
- The Valley Press Anthology of Prose Poetry (Valley Press, 2018)[citation needed]
- Ten: The New Wave (Bloodaxe, 2013)[9]
Performances and plays
The 14th Tale
Ellams's one-man show The 14th Tale was awarded an Edinburgh Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2009, and later transferred to the Royal National Theatre, London.[10]
Untitled
A one-man show staged at the Soho Theatre in 2010,[11] telling the story of twins born on Nigeria's independence day.[12]
Barber Shop Chronicles
Barber Shop Chronicles is a play set in black barber shops in six cities on one day, against the backdrop of a football match between Chelsea and Barcelona. The play explores the African diaspora in the UK,[13] masculinity, homosexuality and religion. The play was produced by the National Theatre, Fuel Theatre and Leeds Playhouse and was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award in 2017.[14] Following a period of touring, the play was also performed at the Roundhouse in 2019,[15] and a recording of the National Theatre production was streamed in May 2020 as part of the National Theatre at Home season.[16] For the production, Ellams recorded 60 hours of "male banter"[17] in barbershops all over Africa and in London at his barber Peter's shop Emmanuel's in Clapham Junction.[17] This project originally did not secure funding.[18]
An Evening with an Immigrant
At the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 2017, Ellams performed a live stage programme titled An Evening with an Immigrant, with anecdotes of his childhood and his experiences as a refugee.[19] An excerpt was shown at the Hay Festival on 24 May 2020.[10][20]
The Half God of Rainfall
In April 2019, his new play, The Half God of Rainfall, was presented at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre,[21] in advance of its run at London's Kiln Theatre, as well as its publication as a book.[22]
Three Sisters
In December 2019–February 2020, a reworking by Ellams of Anton Chekhov's play Three Sisters was performed at the Royal National Theatre, London.[23] The play restaged the story in the 1960s in the midst of the Biafran war in Nigeria.[24]
Television
Doctor Who
In January 2025, it was announced that Ellams had joined the writing team of the fifteenth series of Doctor Who.[25][26] Ellams is the first black man to have written for the BBC's science-fiction television series, and the fourth black writer overall (after Malorie Blackman, Charlene James and Sharma Angel Walfall).
Ellams wrote the episode The Story & the Engine, set in contemporary Lagos, Nigeria, which was broadcast on 10 May 2025.[27]
Awards
- 2008: winner of an Edinburgh Fringe First Award for The 14th Tale.[28]
- 2014: Live Canon International Poetry Prize.[10][29]
- 2017: shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award, for The Barber Shop Chronicles.[14]
- 2018: elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[8]
- 2020: winner of the medal for Poetry at the Hay Festival for The Half God of Rainfall and for The Barber Shop Chronicles[30]
- 2024: Alfred Fagon Award for Once Upon A Time In Sokoto[31]