Irenosen Okojie was born in Nigeria and moved to England aged eight. She attended Gresham’s Boarding School in Holt, Norfolk, for several years before becoming a pupil at St Angela’s Convent School in east London.
Along the way, she has worked as a freelance writer, Marketing Assistant and Editorial Assistant. She is a currently a freelance Arts Project Manager and Coordinator.
Her debut novel Butterfly Fish, published by Jacaranda Books, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Edinburgh First Book Award. Her short story collection, Speak Gigantular, was shortlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Saboteur Awards and nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. It was selected by film director Carol Morley as an Observer Summer Read.
Irenosen lives in east London, and is the Prize Advocate for the SI Leeds Literary Prize.