SHORTLISTED FOR THE DIVERSE BOOK AWARDS Yorùbá Boy Running charts Samuel Ajayi Crowther's
miraculous journey from slave to liberator boy to man running to resisting 'Run Àjàyí
run!' The day the Malian slave traders invaded the Nigerian town of Òsogùn thirteen-year-old
Àjàyí's life was split in two. Before there was his childhood surrounded by friends and
family watched over by the ancient Yorùbá gods of forest and water earth and sky. After:
capture slavery - and release into the service of a new god his own culture left far behind.
So Àjàyí becomes Samuel Crowther - missionary linguist minister - and abolitionist: driven to
negotiate against his own people to end the miserable trade in human beings which destroyed his
family. From the heart-stopping drama of Àjàyí's last day of freedom to his consecration as
the first African Bishop of the Anglican Church Biyi Bándélé's kaleidoscopic reimagining of
Crowther's life is a brilliant tour de force. WITH AN INTRODUCTION FROM WOLE SOYINKA 'A
true artist. A brilliant writer. An original thinker' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 'Biyi Bándélé
had a prolifically talented and creative mind shown in everything he touched. Yorùbá Boy
Running is no exception' Chiwitel Ejiofor Cover artwork Chris Ofili Blind Leading Blind
2005 (c) The artist.
