New details have emerged regarding the death of renowned Nigerian novelist and filmmaker Biyi Bandele.
In August 2022, his daughter, Temi Bandele, announced his sudden passing at the age of 54, with the cause initially undisclosed. A report from The Guardian UK has since revealed that Bandele took his own life in August 2022.
According to the report, Bandele died a day after discussing his novel, Yorùbá Boy Running, with his editor, Hannah Chukwu, after which he sent her a revised manuscript. “On the following day, the 54-year-old filmmaker, playwright, and novelist took his own life,” the newspaper stated.
It continued, “He left behind an impressive and strikingly varied body of work: the film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, which took seven years to make; stage versions of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko and Lorca’s Yerma; poetry, screenplays and several novels including 2007’s Burma Boy, which told the story of his father’s harrowing and brutal experiences as a British army soldier in the second world war.”
Temi Bandele expressed her belief that her father found contentment in his final work, Yorùbá Boy Running, stating, “He knew it was going to be the last words that he was writing. And you can really feel the energy of that.” She noted that he intended the novel to spark ongoing conversations after his passing, underscoring the weight of his creative vision.
Biyi Bandele’s untimely death sent shockwaves through the literary and film communities, with family, colleagues, and friends mourning his loss worldwide.
Born in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, to parents from Abeokuta, Ogun State, Bandele pursued his passion for the arts at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in Ile Ife. His talent was recognized when he won the BBC Playwriting Competition, leading him to relocate to England, where he built a successful writing career.
Before his death, he directed and adapted the screenplay for Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman in 2022, a film based on Wole Soyinka’s classic drama, Death and the King’s Horseman, produced by EbonyLife Films and released on October 28, 2022.
