Adam

SHORTLISTED FOR THE T. S. ELIOT PRIZEThe debut collection of poetry by Gboyega Odubanjo.
‘On 21 September 2001, the torso of a black boy was discovered in the River Thames, near Tower Bridge in central London, clothed only in an orange pair of girls’ shorts. Given the name “Adam” by police officers, the unidentified boy was between four and eight years old. What comes next cannot without a story of water and offering.
The sun shines and we gather because the river allows it. Na from clap dem dey enter dance. We enter with, and as, Adam.’ – Gboyega OdubanjoHaunted by the discovery of the remains of a young Black boy in the River Thames in London, 2001, Gboyega Odubanjo’s Adam builds from the Genesis myth and from Yoruba culture to examine with an unflinching eye the disappearance of a child and its implication for all Black lives, and for the society in which we live.
Gboyega Odubanjo (1996-2023) was born and raised in East London. He is the author of three poetry pamphlets: While I Yet Live (Bad Betty Press), Two stops short of Barking (The Alternative School of Economics) and Aunty Uncle Poems (The Poetry Business/New Poets List), winner of the Michael Marks Poetry Award and an Eric Gregory Award. A Barbican Young Poet alumnus, Odubanjo was an editor at bath magg journal and Bad Betty Press, co-chair of Magma and a member of the Roundhouse Poetry Collective, after which he later became a Roundhouse Resident Artist.
He was a creative-writing tutor on the Creative Future IMPART programme, supporting writers from underrepresented backgrounds. His UK garage single ‘LDN GRLS’ with Love Remain is out with the Sony Music UK label Black Butter Records. The Gboyega Odubanjo Foundation for low-income Black writers was established in 2023 to honour his legacy.
Adam, published posthumously in 2024, is his debut poetry collection. ‘What a voice he has – fresh, worn, elegiac, present. If ever a volume offered a story about water, loss, migration and every last one of us, Adam does.’ Andrew O’Hagan, Observer’Here is a heavy, mystical, humorous and lyrical Black British voice that will live forever.’ Raymond Antrobus’Adam is a watery chorus, spirited and kinetic.
These poems crackle with love and risk . . .
Odubanjo was a singular voice in British poetry, one which will endure.’ Momtaza Mehri’With Adam, it feels like Gboyega Odubanjo excavates traditions to create a new world with a language and texture completely of its own.’ Tife Kusoro’Adam is an anticipated debut, from a poet rooted in community. A poet whose name and charm will continue to live in our hearts and minds for generations.’ Yomi Sode’An extraordinary and arresting book.’ Kate Kellaway, Observer’A monumental polyphonic odyssey . .
. Reading this collection is an experience of exquisite heartbreak.’ Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Guardian’Odubanjo’s art was – and is, in the never-ending presentness of his book – an art of the impossibly perfected everyday . .
. Adam grants its readers extraordinary perceptions throughout – it’s a light, keeping visible a story too likely to fade from view, and making more visible a poet who must be read.’ Shane McCrae, Daily Telegraph’Gboyega Odubanjo’s posthumous debut, Adam (Faber), took the story of the torso of a Black boy found in the Thames in 2001 and explored its symbolism for the poet’s youth in a London where “the streets are paved with cousins”. It’s a profound loss that his first book is also his last.’ Jeremy Noel-Tod, TLS Books of the Year 2024 ‘Odubanjo’s Adam (Faber, 12.99) – a many-voiced, richly imaginative response to the death of a Nigerian boy whose body was found in the Thames in 2006 – is almost certain to make this much-missed poet the first posthumous winner of a TS Eliot Prize since Ted Hughes.’ Telegraph, Best Poetry of 2024 ‘Flowing between different voices – news reports, myth, London dialect – Gboyega memorialises an anonymous boy’s death, and offers a conflicted love-letter to the capital.
TFS’ Telegraph, ‘The 50 Best Books of 2024 – ranked”Blending English, Pidgin and Yoruba, Odubanjo’s language is by turns laser sharp, expansive and indelible: “there is nothing left to dig a grave / wait and enjoy life / wait and bury me / your touch is life / your gapped teeth please me / the story is yours”. Finishing the book leaves you mesmerised, and keening for what would have come next.’ Rishi Dastidar, Guardian Best Poetry Books of 2024