Born: 23rd October 1984 (as Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II)

Inua Ellams was born in Jos, Nigeria; he immigrated to the United Kingdom in 1996, and later to Dublin, Ireland. Growing up in poverty, he could not afford to spend money on entertainment so instead he entertained himself, developing his imagination and his creative skills. Ellams became recognised for his talent as a performer, a graphic artist and designer -- mixing both digital and traditional methods -- and as a poet, playwright and scriptwriter. His first book of poetry was Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales, released in 2005 by Flipped Eye Publishing. Ellams' debut play, The 14th Tale, premiered at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival to great acclaim. He earned his first television credit in 2016 with an episode of The Break, and he was later part of the writers' room for We Are Lady Parts. Ellams was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018, and in 2023 he was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the arts. He has written an adventure for Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor, to be broadcast during 2025.