Gboyega Odubanjo: Event to celebrate poet's work after death

Gboyega Odubanjo was last seen at Shambala Festival in Kelmarsh, about 10 miles west of Kettering

The work of an award winning poet who disappeared during a festival will be showcased at a tribute event.

Gboyega Odubanjo, 27 was last seen at Shambala Festival in Northamptonshire on 26 August 2023. His body was found in a lake on the site five days later.

Earlier this year a coroner said his death was accidental.

The University of Hertfordshire, where he was a PhD student and visiting lecturer, is hosting an event "to honour his life and work" on 18 May.

Mr Odubanjo's family, friends and fellow poets will gather for the showcase, A Poetry Tribute to Gboyega Odubanjo, which is part of the university's Festival of Ideas.

The poet, from Bromley, south London, was due to perform at Shambala Festival on the Kelmarsh Hall Estate, west of Kettering but did not arrive for his set.

Mr Odubanjo was "sorely missed", said event host Dr Chris Lloyd

His pamphlet, Aunty Uncle Poems, was a winner of the Poetry Business New Poets prize in 2020.

He was also the recipient of the Eric Gregory award from the Society of Authors and the Michael Marks Award for Poetry Pamphlets.

'Collaborative occasion'

Mr Odubanjo's family previously announced his debut poetry collection, called Adam, would be released posthumously, while they have also founded The Gboyega Odubanjo Foundation to support low-income black writers, with £40,000 raised in his memory by April.

Host Dr Chris Lloyd, Associate Professor of Learning and Teaching at the university, will be joined by fellow poets, including Jake Wild-Hall, Tife Kusoro, Tice Cin, Kareem Parkins-Brown and Keith Jarrett, to perform a selection of Mr Odubanjo's poems alongside their own work.

Dr Lloyd said: "I know that this will be an emotional and poignant event paying tribute to the life and work of Gboyega.

"He is sorely missed but his work lives on and we are pleased to be able to perform it at such a collaborative occasion with his family and friends present."

A Poetry Tribute to Gboyega Odubanjo runs from 12:35 until 15:00 BST on Saturday.

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