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Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

アヤンナ・ロイド・バンウォ

Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
Trinidad and Tobago
Nationality
Trinidad and Tobago
Languages
English
Residence History
Trinidad and Tobago → London, England

Career

Occupations
Writer, English and literature teacher, Editor (consulting fiction editor), Freelance writer, Corporate communications
Active Years
2014-2025
Affiliations
Moko (consulting fiction editor), Bocas Lit Fest (participant)
Influenced By
Monique Roffey, Funso Aiyejina, Merle Hodge, Earl Lovelace

Education

University of the West Indies
Humanities (Literatures) / Literatures in English
Degree: BA
Period: 2001–2005
Year of Graduation: 2005
Country: Trinidad and Tobago
Studied literatures in English with a minor in history
University of East Anglia
Creative Writing / Creative and Critical Writing
Degree: MA Creative Writing
Period: 2017
Year of Graduation: 2017
Country: United Kingdom
Attended on a full tuition scholarship; some financial support came from GoFundMe donors and a benefactor

Awards

Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize (shortlist)
2014
Work: Walking in Lapeyrouse
Category: 短編
Organization: Wasafiri (Queen Mary)
Result: shortlisted
Small Axe Literary Competition
2016
Work: Public Notice
Category: 短編
Organization: Small Axe Project
Result: second place
OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature (overall winner)
2023
Work: When We Were Birds
Category: 小説
Organization: OCM Bocas
Result: winner
Jhalak Prize (shortlist)
2023
Work: When We Were Birds
Category: 小説
Organization: Jhalak Prize
Result: shortlisted
Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer's Award
2023
Organization: British Library (Eccles Centre & Hay Festival)
Result: winner (shared)

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

When We Were Birds

2022 Novel (magical realism / ghost story)

A woman returns to Trinidad to inherit a house passed down through generations and discovers supernatural ties that bind her to it. The novel blends grief, family bonds, local myth and ghostly elements in a lyrical, evocative narrative.

Loss and griefFamily bondsLocal myth and folkloreGhosts and the supernaturalLand and belonging

Public Notice

2017 Short story

A short story awarded second prize in the Small Axe competition; it explores interpersonal tensions and community dynamics around a public notice.

CommunityCommunication and public noticesTension and conflict

Walking in Lapeyrouse

2014 Short story

A short story shortlisted for the Wasafiri New Writing Prize; an early work notable for its weaving of landscape and personal memory.

MemorySense of placeComing of age

Bibliography

  • Nightwalking (The Caribbean Writer, 2014)
  • Walking in Lapeyrouse (Wasafiri, 2014)
  • Dark Eye Place (Callaloo, 2017)
  • Public Notice (Small Axe, 2017)
  • Homegoing (POUi, 2018)
  • Nothing the Forest Raises is a Monster (PREE, 2018)
  • Sea Change (Anomaly, 2019)
  • When We Were Birds (Hamish Hamilton, 2022)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Lyrical, poetic proseIncorporation of folklore and oral traditionsUse of magical realism elements
Recurring Motifs
Death and ancestorsBirdsHouses and landGhosts / unseen presences

Legacy

Her debut When We Were Birds garnered significant acclaim, establishing her as a writer who sensitively renders local myth and grief in lyrical prose. Award wins and shortlistings have marked her as a promising voice in contemporary Caribbean literature.

Quotes

  • “I've promised my dead three books. It is a pact that I've made with people who are not here anymore.”
    Source: Loop (interview) (2022)
  • “I think that my sensibility for story has always been indigenous Caribbean cadence.”
    Source: Loop / The Observer (interview/profile) (2022)

Trivia

  • Worked as an English and literature teacher for about 10 years before focusing on writing.
  • MA tuition at UEA was supported by a scholarship and fundraising (GoFundMe) donors and a benefactor.
  • Serves as consulting fiction editor for Moko magazine.
  • Won the 2023 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for When We Were Birds.