Deborah Falaye
Deborah Falaye grew up in Lagos, where evenings often carried the sound of stories, tales of Yoruba gods and spirits told by her grandmother, echoing alongside the books of African and diasporic writers she devoured as a child. Those early influences, at once mythic and deeply human, became the foundation of her own storytelling voice. At twelve she moved to Canada, a shift that sharpened her awareness of identity, heritage, and belonging. These themes linger at the heart of her writing. In her debut novel, Blood Scion, she brought them to life through Sloane Folashadé, a teenager descended from Orisha gods and forced into a brutal army that…