Have multiple passions? Meet the creative who has success doing it all - Chibundu Onuzo Interview Ep.2

Daring Forward

For all my multi passionate creatives out there, this one’s for you! In today's episode, our guest helps us get to the core of what it takes to be successful with multiple passions.

Chibundu Onuzo became a published author aged 19 and went on to publish several other books. She’s also a singer-songwriter, screenplay producer and writer with a PhD in history.

Chibundu grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and moved to the UK in 2005, where she then signed her first book deal at nineteen. Her first novel, The Spider King’s Daughter, won the Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Commonwealth Book Prize.

Chibundu’s second novel, Welcome to Lagos, was published by Faber in 2017 and in June 2018, Chibundu was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, as part of its "40 Under 40" initiative. In the same year, she was awarded a PhD in History from King's College London for her research on the West African Students' Union.

In 2020, "Dolapo is Fine," a short film which Onuzo co-wrote, co-produced and composed the film score for, won the 2020 American Black Film Festival's HBO Short Film Competition and was long-listed for a BAFTA in 2021. Chibundu is also a singer songwriter and won the Drake Yolanda Music Award in 2021.

Onuzo's most recent novel, Sankofa, has already been selected by Reese

Witherspoon as her book club pick for October 2021.

In February 2022, she will release her first EP titled “Coming Home” published in June 2021 by Virago.

Snap, this girl packs a punch!

How to connect with Chibundu:

• Connect with Chibundu on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chibundu.onuzo/
• The Spider King’s Daughter by Chibundu Onuzo
• Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
• Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo

Links to check out:

• Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook by Peter James
• Frantz Fanon Goodreads
• Shaka Senghor Goodreads
• Maya Angelou Goodreads