Tolani Akinola

Tolani Akinola is an Atlanta-based writer. She is a 2023 Reese's Book Club LitUp fellow and a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her debut novel, Leave Your Mess at Home, is forthcoming with Pamela Dorman Books.

While at MacDowell, Akinola mainly worked on revisions for Leave Your Mess at Home. The novel is a portrait of one Nigerian American family's life, centering four siblings on their quests for love, purpose, and belonging. During her time at MacDowell, Akinola also made significant progress on a second novel.