Tobi Abiodun is a Benin City-born storyteller and poet telling conscious personal stories through poetry, performance, music, and film. Heavily influenced by his upbringing, he is most known for popularizing the use of 'pidgin' through his performances. His short story EYES LIKE THE BURNING END OF A CIGARETTE was long-listed for the PIN Prize for fiction, and his poems have appeared in NantyGreens, Animal Press, Feral, Komorebi Magazine, Malimbe Magazine, and others. He has performed at the Poetry Africa Festival in Durban, the Lagos International Poetry Festival, and the Global Literary Festival Conference, earning poetry slam titles and awards from prestigious Nigerian literary bodies. Tobi has shared work on BBC Radio London, produced spoken word for Guinness Nigeria, Oando PLC, and Hewlett-Packard, and co-created Oriona, a poetry film series. He is the founder of BEFORE THE SILENCE, a virtual poetry workshop with alumni across the USA and Europe.