Oloruntobiloba Abiodun, known as Tobi Abiodun, is a Nigerian poet and spoken word artist born in 1994 in Benin City, Edo State. His work has been described as eyes looking around and into its own body. His writings have been considered rebellious yet conscious. Known for his witty ability in wordplay and sarcasm, his poems are in all points truth, serious yet entertaining.
Tobi is the founder of ‘Before The Silence‘, an online poetry workshop that teaches the need for defeating silence, and why it is necessary to be loud- because voices are meant to be heard. Before The Silence opened for the first time in 2019 and was co-facilitated by Nkateko Masinga, a South African poet, TedX speaker and Mandela Washington Fellow. The workshop had participants from different countries in Africa and Europe. In 2017, he coordinated a Poetry Workshop at the Total Writers Convention, Abeokuta.
His work has received great acclaim including his short story ‘Eyes Like The Burning End of A Cigarette‘ longlisted for the PIN Prize for Short Fiction. He was a Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest finalist in 2015. Tobi was also the convener and director of ‘The Renaissance’ in 2015, a poetry and stage drama event that was held in Delta State Polytechnic. He received a Dean’s Recognition in 2015 for his contribution to the Poetry Culture in Delta State Polytechnic and was awarded DEA Best Poet in 2015. In 2018, Abiodun was named Number One Spoken Word Poet who rocked Nigeria and was given a Sam Dede Award for Spoken Word Poetry in the same year. His poems are forthcoming in Animal Heart Press Anthology and elsewhere.
He has shared his poems across Nigeria and has performed in South Africa at the Poetry Africa Festival in late 2019. In Nigeria, his work has reached VibesFm in Benin (2014, 2015), CityFm (2019), More Life Concert (2018, 2019), Say It Out (2018, 2019), Lagos International Poetry Festival (2018, 2019), Spoken Word Poetry 101 Book Launch (2018), Poetry Room (2018), Echoes Concert (2018), Lights Camera Africa Film Festival (2019), Guinness Pride Of Africa Awards (2019).
In the slam poetry stage, Tobi has received several titles which include: SOS Poetry Slam (2016), PHLS Poetry Slam (2018). He was runner up in ALS Poetry Slam (2017) and was a finalist in War Of Words Poetry Slam(2017).
Tobi Abiodun is regarded as one of the poets who have taken poetry to the mainstream entertainment stage with his Pidgin spoken-word poetry advert for Heritage Bank.
instagram: @toby_abiodun
Twitter: @abiodun_toby
Link to work: http://bit.ly/2q670m7