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Inua Ellams

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Inua Ellams
MBE FRSL
Born
Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II

(1984-10-23) 23 October 1984 (age 40)
Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria
CitizenshipNigeria
EducationFirhouse Community College, Dublin, Ireland
Occupation(s)Poet, playwright
Known forBarber Shop Chronicles
AwardsEdinburgh Fringe First Award (2008)
Websitewww.inuaellams.com

Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II[1][2] MBE FRSL[3] (born 23 October 1984)[1] is a Nigerian-born British poet, playwright and performer. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to the arts.[4]

Early years and education

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Inua Ellams was born in 1984 in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, to a Muslim father and a Christian mother.[5] When he was 12 years old, he moved with his family to England, and three years later to Ireland, where he attended Firhouse Community College.[6]

Work

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Ellams has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company,[7] Royal National Theatre and the BBC.

In June 2018, Ellams was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature as part of its 40 Under 40 initiative.[3][8] He took part in The Complete Works mentoring programme for poets of colour.

Poetry

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  • Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales (flipped eye publishing, 2004)
  • Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars (flipped eye publishing, 2010)
  • The Wire-Headed Heathen (Akashic Books, 2015)
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  • The Salt Book of Younger Poets (Salt, 2010)[9]
  • The Valley Press Anthology of Prose Poetry (Valley Press, 2018)[citation needed]
  • Ten: The New Wave (Bloodaxe, 2013)[9]

Performances and plays

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The 14th Tale

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Ellams's one-man show The 14th Tale was awarded an Edinburgh Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2009, and later transferred to the Royal National Theatre, London.[10]

Untitled

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A one-man show staged at the Soho Theatre in 2010,[11] telling the story of twins born on Nigeria's independence day.[12]

Barber Shop Chronicles

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Barber Shop Chronicles is a play set in black barber shops in six cities on one day, against the backdrop of a football match between Chelsea and Barcelona. The play explores the African diaspora in the UK,[13] masculinity, homosexuality and religion. The play was produced by the National Theatre, Fuel Theatre and Leeds Playhouse and was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award in 2017.[14] Following a period of touring, the play was also performed at the Roundhouse in 2019,[15] and a recording of the National Theatre production was streamed in May 2020 as part of the National Theatre at Home season.[16] For the production, Ellams recorded 60 hours of "male banter"[17] in barbershops all over Africa and in London at his barber Peter's shop Emmanuel's in Clapham Junction.[17] This project originally did not secure funding.[18]

An Evening with an Immigrant

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At the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 2017, Ellams performed a live stage programme titled An Evening with an Immigrant, with anecdotes of his childhood and his experiences as a refugee.[19] An excerpt was shown at the Hay Festival on 24 May 2020.[10][20]

The Half God of Rainfall

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In April 2019, his new play, The Half God of Rainfall, was presented at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre,[21] in advance of its run at London's Kiln Theatre, as well as its publication as a book.[22]

Three Sisters

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In December 2019–February 2020, a reworking by Ellams of Chekhov's play Three Sisters was performed at the Royal National Theatre, London.[23] The play restaged the story in the 1960s in the midst of the Biafran war in Nigeria.[24]

Television

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Doctor Who

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In January 2025, it was announced that Ellams had joined the writing team of the fifteenth series of Doctor Who.[25][26] Ellams is the first black man to have written for the television series, and the fourth black writer overall (after Malorie Blackman, Charlene James and Sharma Angel Walfall).

Ellams wrote the episode The Story & the Engine, set in contemporary Lagos, Nigeria, which was broadcast on 10 May 2025.[27]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b "inuaellamsCV copy" (PDF). InuaEllams.com. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  2. ^ "Inua Ellams". Inua Ellams. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Royal Society of Literature >> Inua Ellams". The Royal Society of Literature. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  4. ^ "No. 64082". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2023. p. B18.
  5. ^ Harris, Elizabeth A. (26 September 2020). "This Basketball-Loving Poet Resists Categorization". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  6. ^ Van Nguyen, Dean (18 May 2017). "'It was difficult settling in to Dublin, dealing with racism and ignorance'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  7. ^ "'The first time I read Shakespeare's The Tempest, I got angry.'". BBC World Service - The Cultural Frontline. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  8. ^ a b "The RSL elects 40 new Fellows under the age of 40". The Royal Society of Literature. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Inua Ellams – Poetry Spotlight". Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  10. ^ a b c Jarrett-Macauley, Delia (2018). "Inua Ellams - Literature". British Council - Literature. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  11. ^ skill issue (2010). "Theatre review: Untitled at Soho Theatre". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  12. ^ Gardner, Lyn (5 October 2010). "Untitled - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  13. ^ Lang, Kirsty (23 November 2017). "BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Inua Ellams on Barber Shop Chronicles, Battle of the Sexes, Charles Causley, Godless". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  14. ^ a b "2017 Awards - Alfred Fagon Award". Alfred Fagon Award. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  15. ^ Gillinson, Miriam (26 July 2019). "Barber Shop Chronicles review – hair-raising ebullience". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  16. ^ Akbar, Arifa (13 May 2020). "Inua Ellams: 'Barber shops are a safe, sacred place for British black men' (Interview)". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  17. ^ a b Butter, Susannah (23 July 2019). "Inua Ellams interview: 'Men think they have to be tougher to downplay the frailties they feel' (Interview)". Evening Standard - GoLondon. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  18. ^ wildness (October 2017). "An Interview with Inua Ellams (Interview)". wildness. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  19. ^ Gardner, Lyn (23 August 2017). "An Evening With an Immigrant review – how poetry saved Inua Ellams's life". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  20. ^ "Inua Ellams - Hay Festival". Hay Festival. 24 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  21. ^ "The Half God of Rainfall - Birmingham". Birmingham Repertory Theatre. April 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  22. ^ Armitstead, Claire (22 April 2019). "Inua Ellams: 'In the UK, black men were thought of as animalistic'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  23. ^ Saville, Alice (11 December 2019). "'Three Sisters' review". Time Out - London. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  24. ^ Dickson, Andrew (22 March 2020). "Playwright Inua Ellams on poetry, basketball and the Nigerian melodrama of Chekhov". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  25. ^ Goldbart, Max (27 January 2025). "Juno Dawson Joins 'Doctor Who' Writers Room". Deadline.
  26. ^ Eddy, Cheryl (27 January 2025). "Doctor Who Is Adding Fresh Writers for Ncuti Gatwa's Season 2". Gizmodo. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  27. ^ Cremona, Patrick (3 May 2025). "What Time Are New Episodes of Doctor Who Released? Release Schedule". Radio Times. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  28. ^ Love, Catherine (16 March 2017). "Inua Ellams: 'I'm bracing myself for a showdown with UKIP'". The Stage. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  29. ^ "The Break - five original short monologues". BBC Writersroom. BBC. 2 November 2015.
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