Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is a writer from Trinidad & Tobago. She is a graduate of the University of the West Indies and holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, where she is now a Creative and Critical Writing PhD candidate. Her work has been published in Moko Magazine, Small Axe and PREE, among others, and shortlisted for Small Axe Literary Competition and the Wasafiri New Writing Prize. When We Were Birds is her first novel; she is now working on her second. Ayanna lives with her husband in London.
This magical tale of a Trinidadian gravedigger searching for a
father he never met proves we should believe the hype
*Stella, Sunday Telegraph*
Luminous, gripping, packed with drama, colour and tension... A
thoroughly original and emotionally rich examination of love, grief
and inheritance... Like the vultures which escort dead souls to the
afterlife, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's novel takes flight and soars
*Economist*
Tender and lonely and powerful... A love letter to Trinidad [and] a
vivid debut about romance and loss in the Caribbean... It also
centres another kind of love: the complexity of mothering and its
beautiful and terrible consequences... Lloyd Banwo conjures an
aching sexual energy, places the lovers in deliciously paced
jeopardy and takes the tale to an agreeably thundery climax
*Guardian*
Beguiling, mesmerising, vibrantly alive... There's a lovely
dreaminess to the prose and a heart-stopping romance alongside the
supernatural magic but it's a novel firmly rooted in the nitty
gritty of life
*Daily Express*
Soulful, haunting, a deep-rooted love story... Uniquely tackling
themes of grief, identity and acceptance, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's
rhythmic prose builds tension at every step... A tale of finding
one's self
*Stylist*
Lyrical, powerful, thought-provoking... This is a book about the
histories we try to erase and the importance of reckoning with
them. It is about 'small lives'; about honouring deaths that have
gone 'unclaimed', 'unremembered', 'unmourned'
*Irish Independent*
Suffused with myth and magic, eerie, enchanting... The atmosphere
is intensely conjured, with squalling storms, luscious food and
sinister acts by night... In the Trinidad of Ayanna Lloyd Banwo,
the departed are never gone
*Sunday Telegraph*
Mythic and captivating, electric, breathtaking... The anchor of
this story is Trinidad itself. Banwo roots the reader in its
traditions and rituals, in the sights and sounds and colours and
smells of fruit vendors, fish vendors, street preachers and
schoolchildren, in the glorious matriarchy by which lineage is
upheld
*New York Times Book Review*
Rich and rhythmic, triumphant and joyous... An enchanting
exploration of love and loss, a ghost story whose characters are
haunted by their ancestral responsibilities... I only wish I could
have basked in the beauty of [the love story] for longer
*New Statesman*
A searing symphony of magic and loss, love and hope, where in the
middle of death, love comes shiny, sparkling and alive. This book
might just heal you
*Marlon James, author of 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf'*
Exceptional. The originality of its premise, the power and beauty
of its prose, the depth of its explorations of what it means to
love and be loved... When We Were Birds is about the silver cord of
memory and blood and history that binds a family of women even
after death. I loved this book
*Jacob Ross, author of 'Black Rain Falling'*
A fabulous journey to a fictionalised Trinidad, where reality and
imagination, the living and the dead converge... Lovers of the
magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabel Allende will
feel right at home... A warm, vibrant and ultimately, uplifting
debut
*Sunday Independent*
Combining the richness of myth with razor-sharp observation of
contemporary life, When We Were Birds marks the emergence of a
distinctive and powerful voice
*Pat Barker, author of 'The Silence of the Girls'*
I was spellbound! A gorgeous, fantastical story that deftly weaves
the earthly and ethereal and melds their boundaries. Womanhood and
life within death is told through magical realism. A mesmerising
love story that is achingly tender
*Bolu Babalola, author of 'Love in Colour'*
A rich mixture of the real and fantasy landscapes of Trinidad...
Lloyd Banwo gives both [protagonists] an authentic voice, and we
feel their conflicts and urges deeply. As the novel rushes them
towards its dramatic conclusion, you almost wish for more time with
them and the enigmatic world she has created
*i paper*
A beautifully rich and alluring love story... When We Were Birds is
a mesmerizing work of fiction, embedded with timeless, mythic magic
and wisdom. A stunning new voice in fiction, Banwo's tale is a
standout from the crowd
*Daily Hive*
Heart-warming and heart-breaking, fantastical and familiar, with
characters that burrow their way into your heart and mind with
their tragedies and triumphs, When We Were Birds is the kind of
story that makes you want to spread your arms open wide, embrace
the sky, and take flight in your own little way. It is glorious
*Robert Jones Jr, author of 'The Prophets'*
Magical, enchanting, majestic... Infused with the lush and terrible
beauty of the Trinidadian landscape, When We Were Birds weaves
dreams and apparitions, religion and myth, into a story of love in
its many manifestations
*Barbara Jenkins, author of 'De Rightest Place'*
An eloquent and breathtaking novel from an irresistible new voice.
The words are there on the page and then whoop! Suddenly they are
right in the centre of your heart. Ayanna Lloyd Banwo writes on the
wings of love and death
*Tessa McWatt, author of 'The Snow Line'*
A moving and fervent meditation on belief, love, family and the
transitionary power of death, Banwo's spirited, finely wrought
prose draws you in and doesn't let go. When We Were Birds marks a
distinctive, bold and truthful new voice in literature. Long may
she fly
*Courttia Newland, author of 'A River Called Time'*
I absolutely loved it, and I'm sure everyone who picks it up will
love it too. When We Were Birds has a similar power and depth to
This One Sky Day. It is a love story between two outsiders but also
a love letter to language itself, full of myth but deeply grounded
in reality. I cannot wait to read what Ayanna writes next!
*Anna Ellory, author of 'The Puzzle Women'*
Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is one of those rare voices you come across once
in a long while - strong, confident and necessary. She reminds us
what we should expect from great writing: the daring to take
chances and to experiment with language and form
*Helon Habila, author of 'Travellers'*
Set in a Trinidad both magical and real, and written in a rich
demotic; so much more than a love story
*Louise Kennedy, author of 'Trespasses'*
Uplifting, engaging, expansive: this was just the book I needed. In
a voice infused with the rhythms of Trinidad and Tobago, Banwo has
crafted the perfect love story, one that moves with deftness
between the furies of urban poverty and the gentle infinities of
the afterlife. The hard-won peace and redemptive love in this story
are real, and something we need more of in the world
*Kawai Strong Washburn, author of 'Sharks in the Time of
Saviours'*
A vibrant and immersive exploration of the bonds that connect us to
the past and to each other. Here, history reverberates and
intoxicates. Ayanna Lloyd Banwo has swept me off my feet - she
writes with the confidence and skill of prize-winning greats like
Marilynne Robinson, Toni Morrison, and Isabel Allende
*Megan Bradbury, author of 'Everyone is Watching'*
It's a knockout, and Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is a star. I want to read
everything she writes. Deep with magic, superstition, grit and
heart, [and] a powerful conduit to our ownership of personal
heritage
*Niven Govinden, author of 'This Brutal House'*
A shining new light on the literary scene. When We Were Birds is a
novel reminiscent of old folklore tales, woven with myths, ghosts
and love, and told with a powerful voice that is simply
unforgettable
*Ronali Collings, author of 'All the Single Ladies'*
Stunning, lyrical, original. A work of real power and beauty, a
story of magic and love, the living and the dead in Trinidad, this
novel had me spellbound. I was with Yejide and Darwin all the
way
*Zoe Somerville, author of 'The Night of the Flood'*
Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's voice is haunting, and When We Were Birds is a
novel of exquisite detail that opens up the liminal space between
folklore and the world we inhabit
*Avni Doshi, author of 'Burnt Sugar'*
Haunting, beautiful and sharply observed. A story that gets under
your skin, with characters that burrow into your heart. I adored
it
*Sara Nisha Adams, author of 'The Reading List'*
Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's electric, musical prose draws us in - we
follow Darwin and Yejide as they slip in and out of incredible
worlds. This is a story fluttering between dark and light, life and
death, hollowing out a place in us all for love
*Richard Georges, author of 'Make Us All Islands'*
Authentic, stirring, magical - a book that will haunt you long
after you finish reading it. Full of intricate details and rhythmic
prose, it explores the complexities of love and legacy, the
struggles of life and the rituals of death
*Shakirah Bourne, author of 'In Time of Need'*
A love story, a ghost story and a coming-of-age story, all
masterfully woven into one. I loved it
*Claire Adam, author of 'Golden Child'*
This wonderfully original debut novel unspools at the stormy
crossroads that separate the living and the dead... Banwo has
created a unique world expansive enough to contain a ghost story, a
love story, a mysterious mythology, and a thoughtful examination of
how family bonds keep us firmly rooted to our pasts... [She] deftly
weaves the realistic and the fantastic into a strange and
compelling tapestry, a world readers will happily return to, even
if they don't usually gravitate toward fantasy
*Kirkus*
[A] love story threaded through with supernatural events and
dangerous secrets
*Daily Mail*
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