Tomi Adeyemi (August 1, 1993) is a Nigerian-American novelist and creative writing coach.

Quotes

• People say you’ve got to write honestly and that sounds great but also, what does that mean? I think part of that is knowing there are some things black people go through that are universal and those things are how the world shapes you…if you’re in a racist encounter, they’re not going to say, “Oh, you’re Jamaican, oh, you’re Nigerian; oh, you’re full African American; your ancestors were brought here on slave ships.” That’s not what other people see. In the outside world, we have a kind of universal experience but it also changes depending on whether you’ve grown up in predominantly white spaces or predominantly black spaces…
  • On how Black people go through various experiences in “15 MINUTES WITH TOMI ADEYEMI AT SAN DIEGO COMIC CON” in Book Riot (2018 Aug 2)

• The thing is that underneath we are all humans…Everyone has people they love and people they want to protect, everyone has things they are afraid of or that cause them pain.
  • On aiming to write multifaceted characters in “Meet Tomi Adeyemi: the politically-charged author you need to know about in 2019” in Harper’s Bazaar (2019 Mar 26)

• I saw the opportunity to show the beauty in the culture and show that these words sound magical. We’re so used to using Latin, but if J.K. Rowling saw magic in that, you can see magic in your own culture. And if you can see it, you can help other people to see it.
  • On showcasing the Yoruba culture in Children of Blood and Bone in “Meet Tomi Adeyemi: the politically-charged author you need to know about in 2019” in Harper’s Bazaar (2019 Mar 26)

• …I had a lot of different reasons for writing the book but at its core was the desire to write for black teenage girls growing up reading books they were absent from. That was my experience as a child. Children of Blood and Bone is a chance to address that. To say you are seen.
  • On her primary motivation to write Children of Blood and Bone in “Tomi Adeyemi: ‘We need a black girl fantasy book every month’” in The Guardian (2018 Mar 10)

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