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Gboyega Odubanjo: Family raise £40,000 in memory of 'beloved' poet

Northamptonshire Police A headshot of the poet Gboyega OdubanjoNorthamptonshire Police
Gboyega Odubanjo was last seen at Shambala Festival in Kelmarsh, about 10 miles west of Kettering

The family of an award-winning poet who went missing at a festival before a body was later discovered have raised over £40,000 for a fund in his memory.

Gboyega Odubanjo, 27, from Bromley, south London, was last seen at Shambala Festival in Northamptonshire last Saturday. A body was found on Thursday.

Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

The Gboyega Odubanjo Foundation for low-income black writers is set to be launched by his family with the money.

The fundraiser, organised by Rose Odubanjo, described him as a "beloved son, brother and friend" whose life was "so suddenly cut short".

'Shining light'

Mr Odubanjo was last spotted at 04:00 BST the day before he was due to perform at Shambala in Kelmarsh, west of Kettering. He did not arrive for his set on the Sunday.

Northamptonshire Police carried out a "methodical" search of open land and nearby water following his disappearance.

Police said the case was "fast-paced and complex", with many lines of inquiry still being considered.

A body was discovered in the Kelmarsh area the following Thursday and Mr Odubanjo's family was informed. Formal identification was due to take place.

Meanwhile, tributes have been paid throughout the week to the award-winning performer, who was described as a "shining light" and an "incomparable" poet.

Before the discovery of a body, his godmother, Antonia Onigbode, said he was an "exceptionally gifted person" with "a bright future ahead of him", adding his disappearance was "out of character".

Poetry Society Gboyega OdubanjoPoetry Society
Mr Odubanjo was one of poetry's "shining lights", said independent poetry publisher Bad Betty Press

Mr Odubanjo's pamphlet, Aunty Uncle Poems, was a winner of the Poetry Business New Poets prize in 2020. He had also been the recipient of an Eric Gregory award from the Society of Authors and a Michael Marks pamphlet award.

He had been studying for a PhD in creative writing at the University of Hertfordshire and had previously attended the University of East Anglia.

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