Angular distributions for the elastic scattering of 8 Li on 9 Be and the neutron transfer reactions 9 Be( 8 Li, 7 Li) 10 Be and 9 Be( 8 Li, 9 Li) 8 Be were measured with a 27 MeV 8 Li radioactive nuclear beam. Spectroscopic factors for 8 Li ⊗ n = 9 Li and 7 Li ⊗ n = 8 Li bound systems were obtained from the comparison between the experimental differential cross section and finite-range distorted-wave Born approximation calculations with the code FRESCO. The spectroscopic factors obtained were compared to shell model calculations and to other experimental values from (d,p) reactions. Using the present values for the spectroscopic factor, cross sections for the direct neutron-capture reactions 7 Li(n,γ ) 8 Li and 8 Li(n,γ ) 9 Li were calculated in the framework of a potential model.