Biography Intro: Simi Bedford is a Nigerian novelist based in Britain. Her best-known work is Yoruba Girl Dancing (1991), an autobiographical novel about a young Nigerian girl who is sent to England to receive a private school education.

NAME:  Simi Bedford

PLACE OF BIRTH:  Lagos, Nigeria

OCCUPATION:

EDUCATION:  Law at Durham University,

CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES: Worked in the media, including as a radio presenter and a television researcher.

PUBLICATIONS: Bedford’s debut novel Yoruba Girl Dancing is semi-autobiographical, recounting the experience of a Nigerian girl’s education in Britain.[8] A five-part abridgement of Yoruba Girl Dancing (by Margaret Busby, read by Adjoa Andoh and produced by David Hunter) was broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime in October 1991.

Bedford’s second novel, Not With Silver (2007), is historical fiction, focusing on mid-18th-century West Africa, slavery and court intrigue.[10] Drawing on its author’s own ancestral history, Not With Silver is unique among books about slavery in depicting the lives of people in Africa before they were enslaved. The Spectator′s reviewer concluded: “This relentlessly honest book has no false or sentimental notes, absolutely no prettifying. A black warrior facing unexpected danger is taught to imagine the worst, ‘look the leopard in the eye.’ Simi Bedford does just that. A brave and uncomfortable labour of love