Born in Bristol and raised in Lagos (Corona School, Queens College, University of Lagos), Nikki May is Anglo-Nigerian and loves both her homes fiercely.  

Her critically acclaimed debut novel Wahala won the Comedy Women In Print New Voice Prize, was shortlisted for the Diverse Book Award and the Fingerprint Debut of the Year Award, and longlisted for the Goldsboro Glass Bell Award. It’s being turned into a major BBC TV drama series.  

This Motherless Land is her second novel. In the USA, it was a Read with Jenna book and was shortlisted for the 2025 Edward Stanford Prize for Fiction with a Sense of Place. It is currently being adapted for TV. 

Nikki lives in Dorset with her husband and way too many books. She visits her father in Nigeria as often as she can. She should be working on her next book, but is probably reading.