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Welcome to Yorùbá Yonder, a collection of diasporic stories about international travels cultivating worldly perspectives from a Yorùbá-Nigerian globetrotter.


So what happens when you have a childhood spanning three continents, starting school in Nigeria, continuing in the UK and finishing in Japan? Well, you pursue an equally international career and continue navigating life through seeing things with your own eyes, living the mantra:


             - Àwòrán kan sàn jù ọrọ ẹgbẹ̀rún lọ
                             - A picture is worth a thousand words
                                                          - 百聞は一見にしかず

And what is it I saw visiting numerous countries throughout our amazing world? Well, there are many places with several interesting and wonderful aspects distinguishing them from anywhere else. By expanding our horizons, we can appreciate the world for its diversity. In discovering the various distinctions, I certainly found great pleasure! However, when we look deeper into other cultures, we can recognise even more aspects that are similar to our own. By enjoying these diasporic stories, I also hope you will see that we do not have to just concentrate on our differences. We all have more in common than initially meets the eye, more similarities than differences, and this makes us part of one human community.


Abíọ́dún ‘Abbey’ Ọlátòkunbọ̀  Abdul | SFHEA 

Abíọ́dún (pronounced A-byaw-doon) is Yorùbá-Nigerian writer and UNESCO Global Poetry Slam Champion 2022. Her expressive writing includes life essays and diasporic travel stories posted on Yorùbá Yonder, through which she additionally conceived the YNAD Talks event series. She is penning a 3-part autoethnographical memoir-polemic series encompassing her schooling across Yorùbá-Nigeria, Scots-Britain and Japan (achieved through a Japanese Government scholarship) with nuanced views on identity, ideology, social framework and prejudice - Stained Glass Eyes: Race, Family and Multiculturalism. Book 1 is nearing publication and Book 2 is part of her PhD research funded by a Faculty of Arts scholarship. She also writes short stories centring Yorùbá culture as well as poetry on social justice and topics celebrating our common humanity. Her work has been published in anthologies; she writes/podcasts for literary magazines, performs at literary festivals/events, delivers writing workshops; and presents at academic conferences. 


More about the UNESCO Global Poetry Slam here





Linguistic isolation whilst stationed north 
Familial interactions compartmentalised within Èdèkiri code 
Changing semantic tracks within one household 
Melding English A, B, C with Yorùbá tonal dò, re, mí 
Family knowledge embedded in secret lexical and grammatical melodies 

These word platforms bonding Yorùbá mothers, daughters, sisters near 
These communication carriages connecting Yorùbá aunties, nieces, cousins far 
Now stationed south, closer to Èdèkiri codebreakers beyond family circles 
I head towards an opus of fun dialogues and cultural exploration 
Vocal toot-tooting, basking in community and identity…chugga chug faster ọkọ̀ ojú irin a.k.a. train! 

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Riding life’s journey on this London train 
Impending reunion excitement meets freshly evoked curiosity 
A melanated family quintette joins my secret compartment, filling blue vinyl seats 
The whooshing winds now supporting their vivacious voices sharing compartmentalised truths 
Family mirth, workplace triumphs, neighbour botheration…in my secret language! 





After winning various poetry awards throughout childhood, I still enjoy composing poems as well as life writing pieces focusing as ever on social justice and topics celebrating our common humanity, which have been included in various anthologies.

Poem: Ojú Ère - Statuesque 

Poem: Èrò Ọkọ̀ Àṣìrí - Secret Passenger,  Statuesque, Horizon

Composition: The Present Future (creative non-fiction: life writing)
Anthology: ‘Weighted Words’ by Peepal Tree Press - Inscribe
Poem: Strong Tea

Anthology: ‘Loose Connections’ by Commonword - Identity
Audio file: soundcloud link
Book launch: youtube link

Anthology ‘Squat Diddley Young Writers’ by Poetry Now (Bonacia imprint)
Poem: World of Man ('The Story')

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Summary:
*YNAD Talks 5 - African Palaces & Sub-Saharan Fortresses: Wonders Beyond the Pyramids -> NTU Africa Day 





Celebrate Benjamin Zephaniah Day with us on the 12 April! 

You’re invited to the first-ever national celebration to commemorate and champion the legacy of Benjamin Zephaniah on Saturday 12th April 2025 at Brunel University of London in Uxbridge, West London. 


Hosted by his wife, Qian Zephaniah, and coinciding with his birthday weekend, the inaugural Benjamin Zephaniah Day will celebrate his remarkable contributions to both the arts and activism in the form of a family-friendly festival. 

Highlights include: 
• Performances from poets, musicians and artists from around the world 
• Contributions from the Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature 
• Stage takeovers from the Black Writers Guild and WritersMosaic and Apples and Snakes 
• An opportunity to share your talents with attendees at our Speaker’s Corner 
• Plus creative workshops, exhibitions, film screenings and more 


The Global Majority Writers (GMW) group also feature with GMW Poets: Benjamin Passions (livestream) 
*Abíọ́dún Abdul (11:30am-11:45am) 
*Mbeke Waseme (11:45am-12:00pm) 
*Annette Pateman (12:00pm-12:15pm) 
*Yvonne Howard (12:15pm-12:30pm)

View the full programme and read more about our wonderful performers on the website and book your place here.






YNAD Talks 8 - Nigerian Clothes & Yorùbá Threads: Textiles & Fabric Fashionistas! 


This Nigerian Clothes celebration and Yorùbá Textiles exploration is the eighth of award-winning Yorùbá-Nigerian writer, poet and lecturer Abíọ́dún Ọlátòkunbọ̀ Abdul’s event series focusing on cultural and social themes related to Yorùbá/Nigeria/Africa/Diaspora: YNAD Talks. 

First immerse yourself in an interactive learning session where we’ll explore Nigeria’s multicultural tapestry and the wide-ranging clothing styles adored by different ethnicities. Unravel your curiosity as we then gain insights into different Yorùbá textiles like aṣọ òkè or àdìrẹ and varying strands of their patterns & designs. Next, we’ll discuss why some workplaces remain mentally colonised, favouring Western wardrobes over our professional indigenous attire before basking in Nàìjá clothes pride ranging from Nollywood celebrities to high-profile diplomats and beyond. 

Yes, whilst possibly winning delectable Nigerian snacks and enjoying uplifting Nigerian music, come celebrate with us in this YNAD Talk ‘Nigerian Clothes & Yorùbá Threads: Textiles & Fabric Fashionistas!’ on Thursday 13th March, 1-2pm at Nottingham Trent University, Global Lounge (City Campus), 23 Goldsmith St, NG1 5JT.

...see full YNAD Talks event list here




Decolonise/Internationalise the pen on the road from English Literature to World Literature using more of your mother tongue; in my case Yorùbá. Explore the array of free resources available to take your Yorùbá language skills to the next level!


There’s something for every age group and ability level. Some of my favourites are: 
*Yorùbá Stars - Culture Tree: https://www.youtube.com/c/CultureTreeTVYoruba 
*EA Yoruba - Masoyinbo ‘game show’ https://www.youtube.com/@EAYoruba/videos 



…check out the full list here



GMW is an initiative born out of my frustration of stumbling upon various opportunities for writers of colour in a range of genres I rarely write in. Just because such opportunities didn’t apply me didn’t mean they couldn’t benefit other writers of colour I’d met in different forums. GMW was therefore how I collated my scattered women writer/artist friends of colour from across the UK and beyond to ‘share the love’ as it were! Since December 2022 has organically grown beyond its initial purpose into a friendship space for GMW women to: 
- support/celebrate each other’s writing/arts-related projects 
- share various writing/arts-related events and opportunities 
- coordinate meetups during literary/art events 

From 40 of my initial writer/artist buddies, we are now 188 members strong and growing through constant referrals to other writers/artists wanting to benefit from the GMW community. 



Members Testimonials

“I am having a ‘happy to be on this platform’ moment ladies!” Mbeke Waseme

“It is a superhighway of hot off the press writing events, commissions and so much more” Jackee Holder 

“This is an amazing group. I feel honoured to be part of GMW.” Nelissa Mendy 

“I have always desired to be amongst likeminded creatives. I am delighted to be here, a virtual home, and look forward to seeing your faces in person.” Ọmọ́bọ́lá Osamor


From poets to novelists; crime writers to romance writers; AfricanFuturists to AfroFuturists; fantasists to journalists, memoirists to autoethnographers; playwrights to filmmakers; actresses to academics; novices and scholars; you name it, we have them! All genres and related initiatives are welcome. 


For more details, send a message through the Yorùbá Yonder contact page

Check out my other related sites:

*What Colour Are Your Senses: educational project promoting intercultural intelligence in Japan (...through the Notting Hill Carnival!)


*Global Roots - British Shores: youth group workshops on the importance of exposing and challenging racism through writing, arts and media


*The Scottish Racism Project: research articles focusing on race relations in Scotland.





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