Yor ba Boy Running charts Samuel Ajayi Crowther’s miraculous journey from slave to liberator, boy to man, running to resisting
‘Run, j yi, run!’
The day the Malian slave traders invaded the Nigerian town of Osog n, thirteen-year-old j yi’s life was split in two.
Before, there was his childhood, surrounded by friends and family, watched over by the ancient Yor ba 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 j yi 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 j yi’s last day of freedom to his consecration as the first African Bishop of the Anglican Church, Biyi Bandele’s kaleidoscopic reimagining of Crowther’s life is a brilliant tour de force.
Review: Riotous, exquisite, mesmerizing . . . Bandele’s prose mutates in tone from exuberance to sobriety, from the epic to the intimate, from bawdy humour to glacial understatement . . . [he] shifts from farce to tragedy and back, with lewd jokes suddenly giving way to scenes of sheer terror or gruesome violence . . . Yoruba Boy Running doesn’t pander to any fixed position: it is a testament to Biyi Bandele’s courage and integrity that, in this age of strident polarization, he chose not to shy away from moral complexity * Times Literary Supplement *
A remarkable saga of perseverance, dedication and triumph over adversity . . . The wit and dramatic timing read like something by Wole Soyinka . . . We are lucky and grateful that the author was able to leave us with this bookend to his glorious if truncated career — Helon Habila * Guardian *
Biyi was a unique, all-responsive talent . . . The more he achieved, the further he aimed — Wole Soyinka
[A] literary maverick . . . His was a talent unrestrained by genre, medium, geography or period — Alex Clark * Guardian *
Biyi Bandele had a prolifically talented and creative mind, shown in everything he touched. Yoruba Boy Running is no exception
A magical, immersive journey . . . Bandele effortlessly draws the picture of the birth of colonial Nigeria with such panache and vibrancy that you are entertained while being deeply enlightened . . . Bandele allow us to both observe and care for the characters he brings us, from village elders and Muslim slave traders to English colonisers. Biyi Bandele’s wise and lyrical voice will be sorely missed
Bandele excels both himself in this richly crafted novel, brimming with mirth, fervour and his sheer joy of language . . . This is the novel as homage, truth-telling, illumination. I’m in awe, inspired. We have been gifted an almighty legacy — Courttia Newland
Bandele provides a fitting capstone to his career with this astonishing novel based on the life of Samuel Ajayi Crowther . . . an unforgettable chronicle of an extraordinary man * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *
Biyi Bandele’s remains a master storyteller to the end. A magnificent novel; rich, humorous, lyrical, breathtaking. What a joy — Chikodili Emelumadu
In Yoruba Boy Running, Bandele writes with a nimble, rigorous prose. He has left us a matchless parting gift in this magnificent, unforgettable novel. And we, his readers, are grateful — Chika Unigwe
Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
Publication date: 10/07/2025
