American writer and photographer (born 1979)
Taiye Selasi (born 2 November 1979) is an American writer and photographer.[1][2] Of Nigerian and Ghanaian origin, she describes herself as a "local" of Accra, Berlin, New York and Rome. In 2005, Selasi published "Bye-Bye, Babar (Or: What is an Afropolitan?)", her seminal text on Afropolitans. Her novel, Ghana Must Go, was published by Penguin in 2013.
Early life and education
Taiye Selasi was born in London, England, and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, the elder of twin daughters of Dr. Lade Wosornu, of Ghanaian descent, a surgeon in Saudi Arabia[3] and author of numerous volumes of poetry,[4][5] and Dr. Juliette Tuakli, of Nigerian heritage, a paediatrician in Ghana[6][7] known for her advocacy of children's rights, including sitting on the board of United Way. Selasi's parents separated when she was an infant. She met her biological father at the age of 12.[8]
Selasi graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA degree in American studies from Yale,[9] and earned her MPhil in international relations from Nuffield College, Oxford.[10]
Career
In 2005 The LIP Magazine published "Bye-Bye, Babar (Or: What is an Afropolitan?)",[11] Selasi's seminal text on Afropolitans. In "Bye Bye Babar", Selasi describes a new African diaspora: "Perhaps what most typifies the Afropolitan consciousness is the refusal to oversimplify; the effort to understand what is ailing in Africa alongside the desire to honor what is wonderful, unique."[11] Selasi does not seek recognition as the originator of Afropolitanism, "She makes a point not to claim to have coined it, and she downplays her own role in the whole phenomenon that followed from it."[12] Selasi is the first writer ever to publish on the subject of Afropolitan identity. The conversation of Afropolitanism increased following the essay, and this paved the way for scholars such as Simon Gikandi and Achille Mbembe to "further develop"[13] the term, Afropolitan, into a widely known and used ideology. The same year she wrote the essay, she penned a play that was produced at a small theatre by Avery Willis, Toni Morrison's niece.[14]
In 2006, Morrison gave Selasi a one-year deadline; she wrote "The Sex Lives of African Girls" to meet it. The story, published by UK literary magazine Granta in 2011, appears in Best American Short Stories 2012.[15]
Selasi's novel, Ghana Must Go, was published by Penguin in 2013. It was acclaimed by Diana Evans in The Guardian,[16] Margaret Busby in The Independent,[17] by The Economist,[18] and by The Wall Street Journal.[19] Selected as one of the 10 Best Books of 2013 by The Wall Street Journal and The Economist, the novel had been sold in 22 countries as of 2014.[20][21][22]
Selasi collaborates frequently with fellow artists. In 2012, she partnered with architect David Adjaye to create the Gwangju River Reading Room, an open-air library erected in 2013 as part of the Gwangju Biennale's Folly II.[23] With director Teddy Goitom, founder of Stocktown, Selasi is Executive Producer of Afripedia, a documentary series about urban African creatives. With producers Fernando Meirelles and Hank Levine, Selasi is developing Exodus, a feature documentary about global migration.[citation needed]
In 2013, Selasi was a juror in the Italian reality TV show Masterpiece on Rai 3 with Andrea De Carlo.[24]
Selasi has been outspoken on publishers' tendency to pigeonhole African writers, making them bear the burden of representing their continent.[25][26] She chooses to identify herself with localities, rather than with countries, having lived in New York City, Berlin, Rome, and Lisbon, as well as regularly visiting Accra.[27][28]
She is a contributor to the anthology New Daughters of Africa (edited by Margaret Busby, 2019).[29]
In a 2020 interview published in Brittle Paper, Selasi's response to a challenge by Bhakti Shringarpure to "Define or Defy(ne) 'African' Literature" was: "Any human literature informed, to some meaningful extent, by one (or more) of an infinity of time-space realities described, by the author of said literature, as African (winks)."[30]
Selasi is the author of the children's book Anansi and the Golden Pot, published in 2022.[31]
Personal life
Her given name means first twin in her mother's native Yoruba.
Her twin sister, Yetsa Kehinde Tuakli, is a physiatrist in the US. The first African member of the International Paralympic Committee, she competes in the long jump for Ghana's national team.[32]
