🎙 In this episode of Geordie Pride: Voices from the North East, we’re joined by the one and only Tolu’ A. Akinyemi—multi-award-winning author, publisher, performance poet, and proud “Lion of Newcastle.” 

Originally from Nigeria and now calling Callerton home, Tolu’ shares how Newcastle stole his heart and inspired some of his most personal and powerful work to date. With over 22 books published across poetry, short stories, essays, and children’s literature, his creative journey is as expansive as it is inspiring. 

We dive into everything from: 

🦁 How Tolu’ became known as “The Lion of Newcastle” 
📚 The stories and meaning behind his upcoming poetry collection Home in Motion 
💼 Why he wrote a full-length book of Financial Crime Compliance Poems (!), and what it says about the world today 
🌍 His experience performing poetry across Nigeria, Italy, Paris and the UK 
❤️ How the warmth of Geordie culture, community, and spirit shaped his creative voice 

Tolu’ also reads aloud two poems from Home in Motion—a special sneak peek ahead of its July 1st release—and reflects on what it means to feel truly at home in a place, creatively and personally. 

This episode is packed with powerful storytelling, poetic brilliance, and a heartfelt celebration of Newcastle as a creative haven. ✨ 

🎧 Listen now and don’t forget to follow Geordie Pride for more voices from the North East!  

TOLU’S BIO: 
Tolu’ A. Akinyemi (also known as Tolutoludo & the Lion of Newcastle) is a multiple award-winning Nigerian British writer of twenty-two books in the genres of poetry, short stories, children’s literature, and essays. 
 
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 Great Northern Slam, Crossing The Tyne Festival, Feltonbury Arts and Music Festival, The Havering Literary Festival. He was the guest poet at Havering Libraries Black History Month event in October 2021 and has previously headlined at Woolwich Centre Library National Poetry Day event in October 2018. 
 
His works have been featured on BBC Sounds, Spark Sunderland, Lion and Lilac, and elsewhere. 
 
He is the founder of The Roaring Lion Newcastle, a UK-based book publisher, and sits on the board of many organisations. 
 

🔗 USEFUL LINKS: 

📘 Website: tolutoludo.com 
📸 Instagram: @tolutoludo 
📘 Facebook: Tolu A. Akinyemi 
🐦 Twitter/X: @toluakinyemi 
📺 YouTube: Tolu's Channel 
🔗 Home in Motion (pre-order): Read more here 

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