Báyò Akomolafe, Ph.D., is a Nigerian-born writer, teacher, and visionary thinker whose work explores the sacred, the ecological, and the unexpected possibilities that emerge when we loosen our grip on certainty. Rooted in Yoruba cosmologies and shaped by a life of spiritual seeking across continents, Báyò invites us into “other ways of knowing” — pathways of postactivism, myth, ancestry, and the radical re-imagining of belonging. He is the author of These Wilds Beyond Our Fences and We Will Tell Our Own Story, and founder of The Emergence Network, a global collective exploring new responses to complexity and crisis.
A celebrated international speaker and beloved guide to many, Báyò has taught at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Middlebury College, Simon Fraser University, Sonoma State University, and Schumacher College, and serves on the boards of organizations including Science and Non-Duality. His most sacred work, however, is life with his partner EJ and their children, Alethea and Kyah — a daily invitation, as he says, “to learn the importance of insignificance” and to live more intimately with a world that is alive, mysterious, and always becoming.
The beginning of our retreat with Báyò as special guest coincides with Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, the largest celebration of traditional Irish music in the world. We will of course provide opportunities for retreat participants to experience this remarkable event. The retreat will be limited to around 25 participants, and two days after the retreat ends we will host Story Glen: Transformative Storytelling in Belfast - a larger public gathering across two days, featuring Báyò and other guests exploring the ways we need to be both de-storied and be re-storied. Details of that event are here. But please read on below for more details of this rare retreat opportunity.