The award-winning poet Gboyega Odubanjo has been missing since early Saturday morning, and Northamptonshire police are appealing for help in finding him.
Odubanjo, 27, was last seen on August 26 at around 4 a.m. He was in attendance at the Shambala event in Northamptonshire’s Kelmarsh district since he had a performance scheduled for later that day.
Odubanjo is described by the authorities as being 5 feet 6 inches tall with short black dreadlocks and a full beard. He had spectacles and was last seen sporting a black gilet with red and white stripes underneath, a beige or cream bucket hat, black trousers, and dark-coloured shoes.
Odubanjo, who hails from Dagenham, is a rising star in the UK poetry scene. In 2020, his pamphlet Aunty Uncle Poems won the Poetry Business New Poets award. He also received a Michael Marks pamphlet award and an Eric Gregory award from the Society of Authors.
The missing poet is an editor at Bad Betty Press and the poetry magazine Bath Magg, and his forthcoming collection, Adam, explores structural inequality when it comes to searching for missing black people in the UK. The unsolved murder of “Adam,” a young male toddler whose body was discovered in the River Thames in 2001, served as the inspiration for the collection.
The plea for information has received a lot of attention on Twitter and Instagram, where poets like Tice Cin, Raymond Antrobus, and Victoria Adukwei Bulley have added their voices.
Appealing for help to find him, Cin said, “My best friend, Gboyega Odubanjo, is the light of my life, an acclaimed poet, a highly anticipated novelist, and the best son and brother. We need help bringing him home; nobody deserves to go missing in a society with all the resources to find our loved ones.
“Help us to find this brilliant, kind man, the type of man who you can ring at 3 a.m. when your back is hurting and you can’t sleep. His future is so bright, and we must rally together, over nature walkers, the press, civilians, and more, to bring him back to where he is loved and safe.”
According to Antrobus, who last saw Odubanjo on Thursday, August 24, he said he was in “a good mood and excited for the festival”. He described Odubanjo’s disappearance as “unusual and upsetting”.
In a joint statement, Odubanjo’s family asked the public and the police to assist them in finding him.
They said, “We appeal to you today with heavy hearts and profound concern to help us find our beloved son and brother, Gboyega.
“Gboyega is a loving and caring son who means the world to our family. He is currently studying for his PhD in creative writing at the University of Hertfordshire. He has a warm and infectious personality, a contagious smile, and a heart full of kindness.
“We believe that Gboyega’s disappearance is entirely out of character for him, and we are genuinely worried for his safety and wellbeing. We are reaching out to the community, friends, and all compassionate individuals who may have any information that could lead to his safe return. No piece of information is too small, and your help could be the key to bringing him back to us.
“Thank you for taking the time to read our appeal. We pray for Gboyega’s safe return and for the strength to endure this challenging time.”
According to Northamptonshire police, the agency is looking into “all lines of inquiry, while friends and family of Odubanjo are putting together a search team.
