Musa Okwonga is an award-winning author, broadcaster, poet, musician, a co-host of the Stadio football podcast, and a regular guest on the Wrighty’s House football podcast. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Honorary Fellow of St. John’s College, University of Oxford, he studied law and then qualified as a lawyer before leaving that profession to pursue a career as a performance poet and musician. He has written seven books. His first book, “A Cultured Left Foot”, was nominated for the 2008 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, and his most recent book, “Striking Out” - co-authored with the English football legend Ian Wright - won the 2022 Sunday Times Children’s Sports Book of the Year Award. His debut novel, “In The End, It Was All About Love”, was nominated for the 2021 Gordon Burn Prize and named as one of the Irish Times’ books of the year for 2021; it has since been translated into German (“Es Ging Immer Nur Um Liebe”, Mairisch). Stadio, his podcast with co-host Ryan Hunn, was nominated for the 2024 Sports Podcast Awards in the categories of Best Football Podcast and Diverse Voices, while Wrighty’s House was nominated for the same awards in the categories of Best Football Podcast, Diverse Voices, and Best Sports Talk Podcast.

Musa writes fiction and non-fiction for children and adults on the subjects of politics, sport, race, music and culture. He was commissioned by the Football Association to write “An Ode To Football,” a poem to mark its 150th anniversary, and was commissioned by the Bundesliga to write and perform “Football As It’s Meant To Be”, a piece of music to promote its work in the United States. His essays, journalism and opinion pieces have been published by, among others, British GQ, Byline Times, Crack Magazine, Die Welt, Die Zeit, Devex, ESPN, Foreign Policy, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The New Statesman, The Observer, The Ringer, Stranger’s Guide, The Washington Post and The New York Times, for whom he wrote the lead newsletter for the 2018 World Cup. He has been profiled by The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Observer, and The Rumpus. He lives in Berlin.