Osayi Endolyn is a two-time James Beard award-winning writer and culture strategist who creates narrative, visual, and experiential storytelling. As an author, editor, producer, and curator she transforms complex ideas into enriching stories, products, and events.
Her culture newsletter TEXTURE launches January 20, 2026. TEXTURE is a newsletter about pop culture, the arts, food and drink, and media, through a lens of identity and social dynamics. All the things that encapsulate how we view, experience, and describe our world.
Her work ranges from content development for major media and publishing platforms, to production and consulting for brands and organizations in hospitality, entertainment, and social change. Notable brand engagements include serving on PepsiCo’s advisory council for equity, campaign content for Pandora Music, exhibition content for the Museum of Food and Drink, and live experiences with the Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa, BLM, and Emerson Collective.
With her unique mix of candor, humor, and approachability, Osayi’s voice is sought after on subjects of culture discourse, food and drinks, global travel, and identity. She has James Beard Awards in journalism and broadcast media, an arts and culture Webby, a journalism fellowship from UC Berkeley-11th Hour, among other celebrated residencies, writing awards, and industry honors. She has an MFA in writing from SCAD, and a BA from UCLA.
Osayi wrote and co-produced a four-part miniseries, Black Futures Featuring Osayi Endolyn, which documents her work in food culture through the lens of community. Her writing is published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Oxford American, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Departures, Eater, Esquire, The Cut, and more. Her on-camera commentary is featured on popular shows like Chef’s Table, Ugly Delicious, and The Next Thing You Eat.
An in-demand writer and editorial lead on genre-defining narrative cookbook collaborations, Osayi has also contributed to multiple acclaimed anthologies. Her authorship includes The Rise, Black Power Kitchen, and most recently Kwéyòl/Creole, her latest collaboration with award-winning chef Nina Compton. Her book contributions cumulatively represent more than 150,000 copies sold.
Osayi is a storyteller because she believes we can imagine transformative futures when we better understand and honor our collective histories. Her multidisciplinary approach attracts brands that wish to have a meaningful, action-oriented, long-term impact with audiences. As a consultant and creative, she understands how expressions like food, language, music, and art are the outcomes of people whose experiences are shaped by where and how they live. Osayi brings a vital, energized approach to her craft that embraces, celebrates, and shifts the culture.
Photo credit: Lanscine Janneh/BFA.com