Award-winning playwright and screenwriter Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini has been named one of the recipients of the 2025 Windham-Campbell Prize, a prestigious literary honor that comes with a $175,000 grant to support their continued artistic work.
The award recognizes Ibini’s innovative contributions to theater and screenwriting, particularly their powerful narratives centered on Queer, disabled, and Black British experiences.
Ibini joins a distinguished group of 2025 honorees, including Sigrid Nunez, Anne Enright, Patricia J. Williams, Rana Dasgupta, Roy Williams, Anthony V. Capildeo, and Tongo Eisen-Martin.
The prize is administered by Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and seeks to provide writers the freedom to focus on their work independent of financial concerns.
A self-described “bionic, queer playwright,” Ibini is best known for blending magical realism with sharp social commentary. Their breakout debut, Muscovado (2014), explored slavery in Barbados through a lens of Black love and survival. Little Miss Burden (2019) and Sleepova (2023)—the latter an Olivier Award winner—solidified their reputation for fearless storytelling that captures the complexities of identity, disability, and friendship.
Ibini’s reaction to the award was characteristically joyful and cosmic:
“I am over the moon and currently hurtling through space somewhere near Jupiter… just marveling at all of this; the past, the present, and the crystallizing future.”
In addition to theater, Ibini has also written for children’s literature, television, and radio, including producing audio dramas for BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, and Audible. Their creative work draws inspiration from their Nigerian heritage, and even from pop culture touchstones like ’90s anime Sailor Moon, all of which they transform into stories that challenge societal boundaries.
With accolades such as the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright (2023), the Inevitable Foundation x Loreen Arbus Elevate Collective Award (2024), and the Alfred Fagon Audience Award (2015), Ibini continues to reshape the theatrical landscape with energy, empathy, and bold imagination.
