WNU Women: EMMA DABIRI

Emma Dabiri is an Irish academic, bestselling author & broadcaster, Guardian Columnist and contributing editor to ELLE UK. She wrote the book 'Don't Touch my Hair' in 2019 and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023.

The Interview:

My name is Emma Dabiri, and I am an author, an academic and a broadcaster.

How do you wear your WNU?

I usually wear it with jeans, a shirt with jeans, or maybe over a bodycon dress, something like that…

What do you wish you'd known before you started?

It all falls into place, and it's gonna be ok.

Is there one woman in particular who has impacted your career?

I think as a writer, it would probably be Toni Morrison. When I first discovered her writing, I saw the ways in which it fused the magical and the spiritual with the everyday. I think that was the first time I’d encountered that in that way and also saw that you could write in ways that were challenging and complicated and complex and that was ok.

What is your New Year resolution?

I don't make new year's resolutions but I do try to enter into the new year with things that I want to prioritise, so this year I'm prioritising both rest and movement. 

What would you have said to your younger self?

Even if people tell you that what you study and what your interests are are strange and that you’ll never get a job just remain true to yourself, remain true to your passions, remain true to your interests and it will all fall into place and it will all make sense. 

What are your goals for 2024?

So in 2024, I want to return to the novel that I started writing in 2022 and finish it.