Abiola Bello is a Nigerian-British, prize-winning, bestselling children’s/YA author who was born and raised in London. Abiola is an advocate for diversity in books for young people. She’s the author of the award-winning fantasy series EMILY KNIGHT (EMILY KNIGHT I AM, EMILY KNIGHT I AM…AWAKENED and EMILY KNIGHT I AM BECOMING). EMILY KNIGHT I AM…AWAKENED was nominated for the CILIP’s Carnegie Award, won London’s BIG Read 2019, and was a finalist for the People’s Book Prize Best Children’s Book. EMILY KNIGHT I AM...POWER was released on April 28th 2025. Abiola contributed to THE VERY MERRY MURDER CLUB, a collection of new mystery fiction from thirteen exciting and diverse children’s writers which published in October 2021 (Farshore/HarperCollins) and was selected as Waterstones Children's Book of the Month. THE SUPER SUNNY MURDER CLUB which published in June 2023 (Farshore/HarperCollins). It was a Blackwell's Children's Book of the Month. Her debut YA, LOVE IN WINTER WONDERLAND, sold in a six-figure pre-empt, which published November 2022 (Simon & Schuster UK). It was an Amazon Number 1 bestseller, The Bookseller One To Watch, Amazon Editor's Choice for Black History Month 2022, featured in The Guardian Children's & Teens Best New Novels and was on an Amazon Billboard for Black History Month in Leicester Square. Rights sold to the US, Germany and Poland. The US edition is a Junior Library Guild Pick, a Target Book Club pick and the German edition was shortlisted for Best YA and Best Cover for the Lovely Books Community Award 2023.ONLY FOR THE HOLIDAYS, which published October 2023 (Simon & Schuster UK). It was The Bookseller One To Watch, one of Waterstones Best Paperbacks of 2023 and featured in The Guardian Children's & Teens Best New Novels. Rights sold in USA and Germany. THE LOVE DARE published July 2024 (Simon & Schuster UK). It was shortlisted for the Peters Children's Book of the Year 2025 and was one of National Book Token Best Summer Read. Rights sold to Germany.Abiola's younger fiction series WILD MAGIC: LEGEND OF THE BLACK LION was featured in The Guardian Children's & Teens Best New Novels and BookTrust book of the day. Dutch rights sold. Abiola's next book is WILD MAGIC: JOURNEY OF THE LOST ELEPHANT out August 2025. Abiola is a finalist for the Black British Business Awards - Rising Star in Arts and Media 2023. Abiola won The London Book Fair Trailblazer Awards 2018 and is the co-founder of Hashtag Press, Hashtag BLAK, The Diverse Book Awards and Ink Book Prize. Abiola has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Female First Magazine, The Mirror, BBC1XTRA to name a few. As well as being a writer, Abiola is a professional dancer. She performed for more than a decade in prestigious venues including The Royal Opera House, The Barbican, Sadler’s Wells, Hammersmith Apollo, Unicorn Theatre. Abiola has also appeared on BBC’s The Apprentice, “Got To Dance” and Street Dance AllStars The Movie.
