Adedayo Agarau

Adedayo Agarau is a Nigerian poet, editor, and educator. Born in 1994, he attended Bodma International School Ibadan (1996-2003), Ibadan Boys High School (2004-2007), and Scores College, Ibadan (2007-2009). He holds an N.D. and H.N.D. in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from The Federal Polytechnic, Ede (2015) and The Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (2019), respectively.

Agarau received his M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Iowa in 2023 and is currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University (2023-2025). His debut collection, The Year of Blood, is forthcoming from Fordham University Press (Fall 2025). His writing is represented by Salma Begum at The Greyhound Literary Agency.

His work has appeared in publications including Poetry Foundation, Iowa Review, Transition, and World Literature Today. Agarau is the author of five chapbooks, including The Origin of Name, selected for the New-Generation African Poets series by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani (Akashic Books, 2020), The Arrival of Rain (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, 2020), and Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry (Animal Heart Press, 2020).

Agarau has been recognized as a finalist for the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship, the Montreal Prize, and the Narrative Magazine Annual Poetry Contest. He is a Cave Canem Fellow and was selected to participate in the Watermill Residency in New York.

Agarau has participated in numerous literary festivals, including the Lagos International Poetry Festival, where he served as a panelist discussing “Silk Routes for African Verse: A Creative Economy” (2023). He has also been featured at the Benue Books and Arts Festival (2022), and has presented at the Abuja International Poetry Festival (2024). 

His poems have been featured in exhibitions at the Wellcome Collections of Medicine in London and the Paris Photo Exhibition. Currently, Agarau serves as Poetry Book Reviews Editor at The Rumpus and as Editor-in-Chief of Agbowo Magazine. He has taught at Stanford University, the University of Iowa, and various programs in Nigeria.

Agarau is actively involved in developing literary communities in Nigeria. He is a member of The UnSerious Collective Fellowship, an initiative supporting emerging Nigerian writers. Additionally, he is a founding editor of Poetry Sango-Ota, which organizes poetry workshops and mentoring opportunities for young Nigerian poets. 

Agarau is fluent in English, Pidgin, and Yoruba. His work often explores themes of migration, cultural memory, and postcolonial identity.