Profile of Abimbola Alao

Abimbola is the director of Lampo Education Ltd. and here is her story:

Education: I read Classics at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, where I obtained a BA (Hons) in 1988 and an MA in 1991. I later did a PGCE (post 16) and an MA in Creative writing at the University of Plymouth. Presently, I teach Creative Writing at the University College Plymouth, St. Mark & St. John (UCP Marjon), in the UK.

Writing: In 2003, I wrote a teenage novel tilted ‘The Legendary Weaver’, (now sold out but a second edition will be published in autumn 2010). My latest book, ‘The Goshen Principle’, was published in May 2010, please read more about it on the Writing and Publishing page.

Over the years, I have written short a number of short stories and plays. My short play, ‘Legal Stuff’, recently won the BBC and Royal Court ‘24 Degrees’ Writing Competition. Please click on the link below for more: http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Lecturer-stars-writing-contest/article-259970-detail/article.html

Translation: Between 2005 and 2007, I translated eight children’s books to Yoruba for dual language publisher, Mantra Lingua. My best work was the children’s classics 'Hansel and Gretel' but I found the dual language dictionary challenging, because I had to create words that do not exist in Yoruba e.g. ‘radiator’! Who ever heard of one in sub Saharan Africa! Thankfully, the publisher accepted a '5-word' sentence as translation. These books are available from the publisher’s website – www.mantralingua.com but you can see them on the Writing & Publishing page.

Storytelling: I began telling stories when I was about 10 years old, and siblings were my audience. I am the first of four children and at that time, my parents refused to invest in a television set, so to entertain my siblings I imagined stories of all sorts and told it to them. We had so much fun that during holidays when children complained of boredom, my siblings never had a dull moment. We did not play with plastic toys; rather we all acted out the stories that I told them.

When I went to study at the university in 1984, I stopped doing performance storytelling for my siblings and for many years I concentrated on Classical studies. However, I re-discovered the art of storytelling when I became a mum and I started sharing stories with my children, in the oral tradition manner, rather than just reading them bedtime stories. Not only did we share stories, we also engaged in story-making and I watched as they blossomed into confident, avid readers and good storytellers.

This program is now enjoyed by thousands of children in the counties of Devon, Cornwall and beyond. Please visit my other website at: www.lampoeducation.co.uk for details of my programs and workshops for schools and colleges.

Newspaper Interview with Abimbola: Please click on the link below
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/life-stories/article-221596-detail/article.html

Awards: Winner, BBC/Royal Court 24 Degrees Writing Competition. Please click on the link below.
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Lecturer-stars-writing-contest/article-259970-detail/article.html