Author Bio:

Tolu’ A. Akinyemi

(also known as Tolutoludo) is a multiple award-winning Nigerian British writer of twenty-three books in the genres of poetry, short stories, children's literature, and essays.

His works include Dead Lions Don't Roar (poetry, 2017); Unravel Your Hidden Gems (essays, 2018); Dead Dogs Don't Bark (poetry, 2018); Dead Cats Don't Meow (poetry, 2019); Never Play Games With the Devil (poetry, 2019); Inferno of Silence (short stories, 2020); A Booktiful Love (poetry, 2020); Black ≠ Inferior (poetry, 2021); Never Marry a Writer (poetry, 2021); Everybody Don Kolomental (poetry, 2021); I Wear Self-Confidence Like a Second Skin (children's literature, 2021); I Am Not a Troublemaker (children's literature, 2021); Born in Lockdown (poetry, 2021); A god in a Human Body (poetry, 2022); If You Have To Be Anything, Be Kind (children's literature, 2022); City of Lost Memories, (poetry, 2022); Awaken Your Inner Lion, (essays, 2022); On The Train To Hell, (poetry, 2022); You Need More Than Dreams (poetry, 2023); The Morning Cloud is Empty (poetry, 2023); Architects of a Cleaner Financial System (poetry, 2023); Voyage (poetry, 2024); and Home in Motion (poetry, July 2025).

In 2020, he won the Best Indie Book Award for his poetry collection, A Booktiful Love. His collection of short stories, Inferno of Silence, won the 2021 IRDA Discovery Award for short stories and Next Generation Indie Book Awards (2021) for Best Cover Design (Fiction).

A former headline act at the Allen Valleys Folk Festival, Great Northern Slam, Crossing The Tyne Festival, Feltonbury Arts and Music Festival, Havering Literary Festival, Gateshead Central Library Black History Month event, and the Woolwich Centre Library National Poetry Day event. He was also a guest poet at the Havering Libraries Black History Month event. 

His artistic practice covers public speaking, performance poetry, leading workshops, facilitation, and participatory arts practice for young people and adults. He was a participant in the New Writing North Inkubator annual development programme for writers and freelancers who want to develop skills in facilitation and participatory arts practice with children, young people, and adults. He has delivered workshops locally and nationally. Examples include at the Cramlington Writers’ Group, Gem Arts, and Havering Literary Festival, among others. 

Tolu's works and poems have been featured on BBC Sounds, Spark Sunderland, 57th issue (Volume 15, No. 1) of the Wilderness House Literary Review; The Writers Cafe Magazine Issue 18; Lion and Lilac; Agape Review; Black Moon Magazine; Calla Press; African Writer Magazine; Football in Poetry 2 Anthology; and elsewhere.

His poems have been translated into Greek.

He is the founder of The Roaring Lion Newcastle, a UK-based book publisher, and sits on the board of many organisations.


Q:  Who is your favourite author of all time and why? 


TAA: I hold Wole Soyinka and Charles Bukowski in deep affection, and in the highest esteem for the merit of their works and their literary achievements. As a multidisciplinary writer myself, I have a deep bias for writers who produce work across literary genres with great success. 


Q: Where do you find inspiration for your work? 


TAA: From everyday human experiences, the chaos that clouds my sanity and everything in-between. I see myself as a writer who feeds off the human experience, be it my own or the experiences of others. 


Q: When did you realise you wanted to be a writer? 


TAA: I was first a voracious reader before I became a writer. The foundation for writing was laid within my family. My father studied English and Literary Studies at the University of Ibadan in Oyo State, Nigeria, so we had an abundance of books in the house. I found solace in reading; with books, I could travel the world. Books were a means of escape from the realities of my environment at the time and seeing the world through a different lens. Reading shaped my world, and along the line, I started documenting, telling my own stories, first with plays, which later metamorphosed into journalling, essays, poetry, short stories, and children’s literature. 


Q: Why is storytelling important to you? 


TAA: Storytelling is important to me to avoid erasure. I believe it is our duty as writers to keep documenting; that is a sure way to preserve history. 


Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers? 


TAA: Embrace the vulnerability and imperfection that comes with writing. Carve your own path and stay true to your own art and unique voice.