Yomi Adegoke

Adegoke is of Nigerian heritage. She was born in Canning Town, east London, and raised in Croydon.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/24/black-girl-woman-bible-elizabeth-uviebinene-yomi-adegoke-slay-your-lane|title=How to be a black woman and succeed: two friends who have written the manual|last=Akbar|first=Arifa|date=2018-06-24|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-11-10}} She attended the University of Warwick and studied law. Her sister, Yemisi Adegoke, is a journalist for BBC Africa. She took a year out of university and in 2013 she founded Birthday Magazine, a publication aimed at black teenage girls.{{Cite web|url=http://blakefriedmann.co.uk/yomi-adegoke/|title=Yomi Adegoke|website=Blake Friedmann|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-11-10}} The magazine discussed race, pop culture and feminism.{{Cite web|url=https://www.warwicksu.com/events/20772/12960/|title=Post Black Talk – Do we live in a post racial society?|website=www.warwicksu.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-11-10}}

Adegoke has written for The Guardian, The Independent and the Pool.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/yomi-adegoke|title=Yomi Adegoke|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-11-10}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/author/yomi-adegoke |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/author/yomi-adegoke |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Yomi Adegoke|work=The Independent|access-date=2018-11-10|language=en-GB}}{{cbignore}} She was selected by The Dots as a woman who was "redefining the creative industry".{{Cite web|url=https://womenslibrary.org.uk/event/slay-in-your-lane/|title=Slay In Your Lane: In Conversation with Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené |work=Glasgow Women's Library |date=23 August 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-10}} An Evening Standard feature included her among "frontline pioneers".{{Cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/who-were-the-suffragettes-london-modern-day-a3759226.html|title=Meet the women who make up our Suffragette City|work=Evening Standard|first=Phoebe|last=Luckhurst|date=2018-02-06|access-date=2018-11-10|language=en-GB}} She has called out racism on university campuses.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/06/warwick-university-investigates-racist-slurs-scrawled-on-student/|title=Warwick university investigates racist slurs scrawled on student's bananas|last=Horton|first=Helena|date=2016-04-06|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2018-11-10|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} She worked for Channel 4 News.{{Cite news|url=http://melanmag.com/2018/02/23/melan-mag-interviews-authors-slay-lane/|title=Melan Mag Interviews: Authors of Slay in Your Lane, Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené |date=2018-02-23|work=Melan Magazine|access-date=2018-11-10|language=en-GB}} In a 2019 [https://medium.com/@yomiadegoke/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-disposable-black-girlfriend-48e1414e995c article], Adegoke coined "The Disposable Black Girlfriend" trope which has since risen to prominence. It describes a recurring pattern in media where black women, often cast as girlfriends or love interests, are introduced only to serve as a temporary distraction from the protagonist's white 'true love'.

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Adegoke collaborated with Elizabeth Uviebinené to write Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible. Nine publishers fought for the rights to the book, with Adegoke and Uviebinené winning five-figure sums. It was published by 4th Estate (HarperCollins) in 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/profile/yomi-adegoke-elizabeth-uviebinen-just-because-something-black-women-and-about-black-women|title=Yomi Adegoke & Elizabeth Uviebinené {{!}} 'Just because something is by black women and about black women, that doesn't mean that it can't be mainstream' |work= The Bookseller|first=Natasha |last=Onwuemezi|language=en|date=2018-06-16|access-date=2018-11-10}} It was described as a "guide to life for a generation of black women".{{Cite news|url=https://www.metro.news/the-women-with-slaying-power-publishing-sensations-elizabeth-uviebinene-and-yomi-adegoke/1139158/|title=The women with Slaying power: Publishing sensations Elizabeth Uviebinené and Yomi Adegoke|work=Metro Newspaper UK|first=Nicole |last=Mowbray|date=2018-07-11|access-date=2018-11-10}} To write the book, Adegoke and Uviebinené interviewed several accomplished black women, including Malorie Blackman, Denise Lewis, jamelia, Laura Mvula, Clara Amfo, Karen Blackett, June Sarpong, Margaret Busby and Estelle. The book covers work, education, money, dating and health, as well as media representation of black women.{{Cite news|url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/slay-in-your-lane|title=The Must-Read Book Empowering Young Black Women|last=Fetto|first=Funmi|work =Vogue|date= 2018-07-11|access-date=2018-11-10}} It was selected by BBC Radio 4 as Book of the Week in July 2018. They discussed the book at the Southbank Centre for the London Literature Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/129689-slay-your-lane-2018|title=Slay in Your Lane|publisher=Southbank Centre|access-date=2018-11-10}} The pair have discussed the success of the book widely, in mainstream media and public discussions.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bbtnjf|title=BBC Radio 6 Music - Amy Lamé, With Elizabeth Uviebinene and Yomi Adegoke on their new book Slay In Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-11-10}}{{Cite web|url=https://info.lse.ac.uk/staff/divisions/equity-diversity-and-inclusion/News-and-events/Whos-Included-Black-Women-and-the-Workplace|title=Who's Included? Black Women and the Workplace|publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science|website=info.lse.ac.uk|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-11-10}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/events/yomi-adegoke-and-elizabeth-uviebinene/|title=Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené |publisher=Bristol Festival of Ideas|access-date=2018-11-10|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://inews.co.uk/opinion/slay-in-your-lane-a-true-depiction-of-the-hardships-of-being-a-black-british-woman/|title='Slay In Your Lane' is a true depiction of the hardships of being a black British woman|date=2018-07-10|first=Victoria |last=Sanusi|work=inews.co.uk|access-date=2018-11-10|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|url=https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/books/slay-in-your-lane-interview/|title=Slay In Your Lane: Why 2018's Black Girl Bible Is Supposed To Make You Feel Uncomfortable|website=Grazia|first= Phoebe |last=Parke|language=en-GB|date=2018-08-08|access-date=2018-11-10}} Complementing the book, in April 2020 Adegoke and Uviebinené launched the Slay in Your Lane: The Podcast, which continued the analysis of news and popular culture topics from a black British female perspective.{{Cite web|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/slay-in-your-lane-the-podcast/id1507952186#episodeGuid=0ad3439a-cd87-46e9-9d62-3bb2c5276e39|title=Slay In Your Lane: The Podcast|website=Apple Podcasts Preview|access-date=28 April 2020}}

In 2023, Adegoke published her debut novel, The List with 4th Estate books (HarperCollins). The book follows internet famous couple Ola and Michael in the run up to their wedding, and how their relationship is affected when Michael's name is included on anonymously curated online list of abusers. It was an instant Sunday Times Bestseller and nominated for two British Book Awards, as well as being selected as a Good Morning America book club choice. In 2023, it was announced that Adegoke would be creating and executive producing a TV adaptation of the book with HBO Max, the BBC and A24.

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Category:Living people

Category:1991 births

Category:Alumni of the University of Warwick

Category:Black British women writers

Category:English journalists

Category:English people of Nigerian descent

Category:English women non-fiction writers

Category:People from Canning Town

Category:People from Croydon

Category:Writers from the London Borough of Croydon