On Ajayi Crowther Street

On the noisy Ajayi Crowther Street in Lagos, neighbours gather to gossip, discuss noise complaints, and faithfully head to church each Sunday. But beneath the surface lies a hidden world of clandestine love affairs, spiritual quackery and hypocrisy that threatens to destroy the community from within.

On Ajayi Crowther Street peels back the curtains on the lives of Pastor Akpoborie and his family, to reveal a tumultuous world full of desires, secrets and lies. His only son, Godstime, is struggling to hide his sexuality whilst his daughter Keturah must hide the truth of her pregnancy to preserve her and her family's image. But it is the Reverend himself who hides the darkest secret of them all.



Elnathan John is a Nigerian writer and one of Nigeria's most well-known contemporary satirists. He has twice been shortlisted for the prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing (2013 & 2015). His writing has been published in Per Contra, Evergreen Review and Chimurenga's The Chronic. His debut novel, Born on a Tuesday, won the Betty Trask Award 2017. He served as a judge for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize.