Samuel Kolawole
410 Burrowes Building
Mailroom: 430 Burrowes Building
Mailroom: 430 Burrowes Building
Office Hours
Education
Professional Bio
Samuel Kọ́láwọlé was born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria. His debut novel, The Road to the Salt Sea, won the 2025 Whiting Award for Fiction, was a finalist for the International Book Awards, was longlisted for the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize, and is currently a finalist for the 2025 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel.
Other honors for his work include being a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Graywolf Press Africa Prize, and the UK's The First Novel Prize.
He studied at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and holds a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing with distinction from Rhodes University, South Africa; is a graduate of the MFA in Writing and Publishing at Vermont College of Fine Arts; and earned his PhD in English and Creative Writing from Georgia State University.
He teaches fiction writing full-time as an assistant professor of English and African studies at Pennsylvania State University. He recently joined the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers as a faculty member.
