To commemorate the College’s bicentenary in 2023, we’re showcasing 200 ‘Birkbeck Effects’ which capture the incredible stories of our vibrant and diverse community, highlighting their achievements and impact on the world. 

Abi is a Nigerian-born award-winning novelist who received critical acclaim for her first novel, The Girl With the Louding Voice. The book won the Bath Novel Award for unpublished manuscripts back in 2018 and went on to become a New York Times bestseller.

She graduated with a Master’s in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, of which she has said: “I needed to sit with people like myself, like minds who had an interest in writing. I wanted to do something serious with it. So that’s where I started my publishing journey from. The book was part of my thesis.” She has also credited her supervisor, Julia Bell with encouraging her to enter writing competitions.

In 2021, Abi was one of the twenty-four essay contributors for You Are Not Going Back: An essay from the collection, Of This Our Country, which offers an honest depiction, told by Nigerians themselves, of the culture and traditions of their Nigerian identity. She now works in project management for an academic publisher.