Maria Motunrayo Adebisi is an avid biscuit eater who enjoys lip syncing to songs and going on adventures! 

She is also the author of an epic middle grade fantasy series based on Nigerian Mythology. Maria Motunrayo’s first novel Kòkú Àkànbí and the Heart of Midnight has recently been nominated for the Spark Book Awards 2024.

It is a thrilling tale of ancient tribes, dangerous demons and vengeful mermaids. It contains eye-catching comic book-style illustrations that will appeal to even the most reluctant of readers. Maria Motunrayo’s second novel, Kòkú Àkànbí and the King of Lost Souls will be published in August 2024.

Maria Motunrayo is particularly passionate about diversity and representation in children’s novels which is why she is incredibly excited to work with Coram Beanstalk! Her inspiration for Kòkú Àkànbí came from her desire to write a novel that would speak to children straddling British and African identities and make them proud of both.

In October 2023, Maria hosted an event for Beanstalk children at our annual Coram Beanstalk BookFest. Her inspirational talks which include an author Q&A, book signings and photographs for the children attending are aimed at KS2 and cover topics of Fantasy and Myths, African History and Belonging complete with activity sheets. If you would like further information on this please feel free to check out her website here