Taiye Selasi

Taiye Selasi is an American writer, photographer, and filmmaker of Nigerian and Ghanaian origin whose work explores African identity, diaspora, and belonging on a global stage. Selasi earned a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies at Yale University and a master's degree in international relations at Nuffield College, Oxford. She worked in television production before focusing on fiction, screenwriting, and photography. Describing herself as a local of cities including Accra, Berlin, New York, and Rome, Selasi embodies the cosmopolitan, multi-rooted identity she articulates in her work.

Selasi first gained international attention with her essay "Bye-Bye, Babar (Or: What is an Afropolitan?)," which introduced the concept of Afropolitan identity and sparked a broader conversation about the African diaspora. During her studies, Selasi became acquainted with Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, who encouraged her to write prose. This led to the short story "The Sex Lives of African Girls," published in Granta and later included in the anthology "The Best American Short Stories 2012."

Selasi's debut novel, the New York Times bestseller "Ghana Must Go," was selected as one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. The novel received favorable reviews in publications such as The New York Times, The Economist, Entertainment Weekly, and Elle, and was sold in 22 countries. Selasi followed this with the children's book "Anansi and the Golden Pot."

Selasi has been recognized as one of Granta's 20 Best Young British Writers and named to the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of Sub-Saharan African writers under the age of 40. Granta also included her on its decennial list of Britain's best young novelists, alongside writers such as Martin Amis, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Zadie Smith. Her TED talk, "Don't Ask Where I'm From; Ask Where I'm a Local," has reached millions of viewers and contributed to global conversations about personal identity.

Beyond literature, Selasi serves as executive producer of "AFRIPEDIA," a six-part documentary about African creatives, and is developing "Exodus," a feature documentary about global migration. She has also created the TV series "Victoria Island," a comedy drama set in Lagos that follows a Nigerian-American woman navigating life and business in the city. Selasi writes and executive produces the series through her production company Cocoa Content. Her work continues to challenge audiences to reconsider definitions of identity, home, and belonging across literature, film, and television.