Diran Adebayo is an acclaimed novelist, short fiction writer and cultural critic best known for hispicaresque takes onmodern Britain, and his distinctive ways with language. His debut novel,Some Kind of Black, was one of the first to articulate a British-African perspective, and was hailed as breaking new ground for the 'London novel'. Itwon him numerous awards, including the Writers Guild of Great Britain's New Writer of the Year Award, the 1996 Saga Prize, a Betty Trask Award, and The Authors' Club's 'Best First Novel' award. It was also long listed for the Booker Prize, serialised on radio and is now a Virago Modern Classic. His second novel, the mutli-layered, neo-noir fableMy Once Upon a Timewas also widely praised. In 2004 he co-edited 'New Writing 12', the British Council's annual anthology of British and Commonwealth literature. Diran has presented and written stories and films for television and radio, including the 2005 documentary 'Out of Africa' for BBC2.

As a critic, he's written extensively in the national press and appeared as a guest on shows such as 'Newsnight', 'This Week' and the 'Today' programme, tackling everything from cricket and race to politics and popular culture.

He is currently writing his third novel,The Ballad of Dizzy and Miss P, and a sports-based memoir. He is a member of the National Council of the Arts Council of England and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

VisitDiran's own website.