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Tolu Oloruntoba

@tolu.ca
2.5K followers 1.5K following 2.2K posts

Bumbler, quitter of things, poet, and project management person (in that order). My new Collection, UNRAVEL, was a National Book Critics Circle finalist. Opinions mine. bio.site/tolu.ca he/him

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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 24/09/2026
Root canal next week. Hopefully the dentist gives me a smol treat when the ordeal is over.
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David Demchuk 👻 (he/him) 📚 @daviddemchuk.com · 18/09/2026
a delightful 🧵 (and a delightful 🧶)
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 22/09/2026
This poem by Richard Siken, which begins the collection I DO KNOW SOME THINGS, ends on such a satisfying note. poets.org/poem/real-es...
poets.org
Real Estate
My mother married a man who divorced her for money.
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martyfive @martyfive.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
22: vegetable #swordtember
drawing of a sword in its sheath. the handle of the sword is green, and the sheath is bright orange. with those two details put together, it makes the sword look like a carrot.
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Alastair Morrison @alasmorrison.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
My first ever chapbook of poems, “Frozen River,” is out now. Truly grateful to the marvelous people at Anstruther Press, and to everyone who’s read these little songs. Order a copy and we’ll be friends forever! Shares most welcome! www.anstrutherpress.com/new-products...
anstrutherpress.com
Frozen River by Alastair Morrison — Anstruther Press
Chapbook In Stock ISBN - 978-1-998774-90-6 Please allow 2 weeks for shipping
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 17/09/2026
Babe wake up they’ve launched the little sister on Gabby’s Dollhouse.
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Raoul Fernandes @raoulfernandes.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This starts in less than a week! Well, if I get a few more students!? 😬 So doing one more push to let you know, and to let your budding (or more blossomed) writer friends know. Feel free to DM me if you have questions
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Amanda Earl @amandaearl.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
In one month, on my 63rd birthday, I am hosting the 23rd annual John Newlove Poetry Award with music by Ness, a chapbook launch by Susanne Fletcher, readings by this year's Newlove Poetry Award recipient $ honourable mentions, as judged by @tolu.ca
TEXT: 2026 John Newlove poetry award. 2026.10.15 6:30pm. Club Saw. 
3 photos: Ness playing guitar and sitting in front of a flower strewn microphone at Night Oat. Susanne Fletcher starting to the left in front of a house, wearing green and a flower necklace. LOGOS: Ottawa, Bywords. Ottawa International Writers Festival
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 15/09/2026
One of the lesser known facts about the Mandela Effect is that it has always been known as the Mandala Effect.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 14/09/2026
Me when @wtalabi.com featured “Issalova, dun cry dun beg” in SHIGIDI.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 13/09/2026
I tried to rewatch Age of Ultron and had to quit in less than 10 minutes. Unwatchable nonsense. It’s apparent now how much their output depended solely on hype.
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Jared Pechaček @vandroidhelsing.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Hi Homer, I recently came across The Iliad and was blown away by its expansiveness, its humanity, and its complex use of . Have you considered new ways to promote your book and expand its reach across various platforms? I would love to connect and hear your ideas. Kind regards, Apollonius
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 07/09/2026
[Comment about weight and harmful doctors] I was at my heaviest ever the last time I saw my doctor and he asked "Why did you do this?" in an incredulous tone. Like I wanted this. Anyway I'm looking forward to my visit tomorrow and being shamed again ( /s ) , because I've gained even more weight.
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Citizen.Coping @propcazhpm.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
"Pick a Color" by Souvankham Thammavongsa "a revelatory novel about loneliness, love, labor, and class, an intimate and sharply written book following a nail salon owner as she toils away for the privileged clients who don’t even know her true name" #Lit All the nametags say Susan...
hachettebookgroup.com
Pick a Color
WINNER OF THE GILLER PRIZE A USA Today Bestseller From O. Henry Award winner and two-time Giller Prize winner Souvankham Thammavongsa comes a revelatory nov...
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 06/09/2026
Souvankham Thammavongsa has said in interviews that she approached the construction of PICK YOUR COLOUR the way she would have a book of poetry. It made for a delicious reading experience, with each chapter landing the way a great poem would.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 01/09/2026
Very sad to hear of Wendell Berry's passing. The Berry Center and his publisher Jack Shoemaker were very kind to me when I was seeking his permission to use his line "a three-dimensioned life;" (from his poem "How to be a Poet") in a cento for Unravel. www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...
poetryfoundation.org
How to Be a Poet
Stay away from anything that obscures the place it is in. Of the little words that come out of the silence, like prayers prayed back to the one who prays,…
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 19/08/2026
It’s only a heroic sonnet crown if you can actually finish it (and if the end result is intelligible).
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Jane Shi | 皮爬高 echolalia echolalia is out now @pipagaopoetry.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Day 9 of the #SealeyChallenge finds me fleeing the smoky residues of wildfires burning and into the clarity of breath and thinking of @tolu.ca's Unravel "One must / imagine the test subject hangry." "I realize now that I do not wish to be repaired" 🫨🫨🫨
portrait of amendmhat III, a statue head with the nose missing on a white cover of Tolu Oloruntoba's Unravel, letters are read while bg is white "Winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize"
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University of Alberta Press @ualbertapress.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Lisa Richter reads with Anna Veprinska and Tolu Oloruntoba at Owl's Nest Books in Calgary on Monday, July 20. Hosted by @michelinemaylor.bsky.social. All are welcome! bit.ly/4froYFi @lisarichter.bsky.social @tolu.ca @annaveprinska.bsky.social #books #poetry #YYC #readings
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 29/06/2026
Best Canadian Poetry 2027 will be published on November 17, 2026. It was the honour of a lifetime to serve as guest editor, working alongside the brilliant series editor, Anita Lahey.
Book Cover: Best Canadian Poetry 2027 Selected by Tolu Oloruntoba There is a small mustard-colored moose against a magenta background, which the text is also presented against.
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Samantha eff Jones @sjonespoet.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Two more research workshops added in British Columbia! Looking forward to visiting Smithers and Prince George this July. See thread for details. #PoeticForecasts #PoeticInquiry #Climate #Weather #Health #Wellness #SSHRC
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 16/06/2026
Vancouver Poet Laureate @eleekg.bsky.social will be launching "sometimes, forest" at @shelflifebooks.bsky.social tonight at 7 PM. @nikkireimer.bsky.social @ryanfitzpublic.bsky.social @sjonespoet.bsky.social and I will be reading briefly, in support. Hope to see you there!
Event poster with the following text: Book Launch June 16 | 7 PM | 1302 4 St W | Free
Shelf Life Books
With Author
Elee Kralji Gardiner

Joined by
Tolu Oloruntoba
Samantha Jones
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Nikki Reimer

There is a photo of the cover of “sometimes, forest” by Elee Kralji Gardiner at the left corner of the graphic. Photos of the readers are also featured against a teal background.
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Samantha eff Jones @sjonespoet.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Book Launch: sometimes, forest Shelf Life Books June 16, 7:00 PM Elee Kraljii Gardiner launches her new book of poetry, sometimes, forest, a “hylofeminist”  work exploring how our bodies and those of the ecosystems around us are permeated and interwoven.
Book launch event for “sometimes, forest” by Elee Kraljii Gardiner at Shelf Life Books in Calgary, Alberta, on June 16 at 7:00 pm. Joined by poet friends Tolu Oloruntoba, Nikki Reimer, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Samantha Jones.
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Jade Wallace (they/them) @nycterosea.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Was quite surprised & delighted to find that my poem "We Go Down to the Sea of Myrrh," which opens with the ever so endearing line, "Molly, I hate your husband" (& which appeared in @cv2magazine.bsky.social), will be in Best Canadian Poetry 2027. Many thanks to @tolu.ca, Anita Lahey & Biblioasis.
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Sarah Wolfson @sarahwolfson.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
So grateful to have a poem forthcoming in Best Canadian Poetry. Thank you to @thewalrus.ca for first publishing “And Then Came the Day” and to guest editor @tolu.ca for selecting it for this anthology.
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Misha Solomon @mishasolomon.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Thrilled to have my "Meditations in an Emergency" in Best Canadian Poetry 2027. Kinda flabbergasted that this is the 3rd poem from my debut to appear in BCP. So grateful to @biblioasis.bsky.social, to Anita Lahey, and to @tolu.ca. And what a bonus that @sarahwolfson.bsky.social is in there with me.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 19/05/2026
Tinnitus is a constant fridge hum in my head. But I also have to deal with the *actual* fridge hum.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 09/05/2026
Skarsgård is great, but Kevin R. Free is *my* Murderbot. So glad he voiced the new book.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 04/05/2026
PLATFORM DECAY arrives tomorrow. Not everything is horrible. torpublishinggroup.com/platform-dec...
torpublishinggroup.com
Platform Decay
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 21/04/2026
Roger Zelazny’s "The Chronicles of Amber"
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aaron boothby @ellipticalnight.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
I think my actual answer as much as I care to have one and works for kids too is "words that make music when you say them out loud"
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adamsol.bsky.social @adamsol.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Words that want to be music.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 18/04/2026
I love this. Also more age-appropriate than Anne Carson’s "If prose is a house, poetry is a man on fire running quite fast through it." 🙃
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 18/04/2026
My 5 year-old asked “What’s a poem?” when I told her what I was scribbling on the side while I made lunch. My older kid and I really struggled to explain. How does one define poetry for a kindergartener?
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 15/04/2026
Me when I started having nightmares set in my childhood home again, after I already beat that level.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 10/04/2026
My sleep tracker tells me I had a sleep score of 99. The highest I've ever had. But I spent more time in REM sleep, having ridiculous, distressing dreams. I feel very poorly rested and sad. But yay for my high score.
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King Algamemnon @adamrothman.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
If you think this is exhausting, imagine being Iranian.
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s. e. smith @sesmith.lol · 07/04/2026
Anyway, we have ample research on how living under a state of sustained terror and stress causes life-long health problems as well as intergenerational epigenetic effects. This feels like it's making you sick because it actually is making you sick.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 08/04/2026
I did think he was going to use nukes. I’m so relieved that I’m in tears. Fuck that guy.
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Shepseskare in Love @upfromsumdirt.blacksky.app · 07/04/2026
Cholesterolemia by @tolu.ca
open.substack.com
Cholesterolemia
In declaring filial bankruptcy I must confess as well, the death of my relative, who drank of our family’s teapot, who I did not warn that this, our oily blood, will abrade your pipes, will confirm yo...
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 04/04/2026
Danny Go!: I owe you an apology. I wasn’t really familiar with your game.
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Twonks @twonks.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Hope you have a Good Friday
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 24/03/2026
Waiting for Sharknado 2: Cocaine Shark
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 24/03/2026
I’m proud of myself for teaching my kids the “It’s got electrolytes” refrain from Idiocracy. But I don’t always make good decisions. Today, I was in a shop and bought harmonicas for both of them on a whim. I usually have better judgment than this, but you can’t win them all.
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Derek Beaulieu @derekbeaulieu.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
hey, it's #worldpoetryday -- here, help yourself to free PDFs of everything i've written: derekbeaulieu.ca/pdfs/
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 20/03/2026
Many thanks to George for publishing this poem.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 20/03/2026
I realized yesterday that NOT ONCE have I ever found that I forgot to lock the garage or front door, or turn off the stove when I went back to check.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 16/03/2026
Finally got one of those AI-generated author emails. It was so long. It. Just. Kept. Going. I think they function on the same principle as many scam emails. It’s a numbers game but every now and then, they find someone who is so needy / greedy / uninformed, that they actually work.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 08/03/2026
I can’t prove it but Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” is about a snoring companion.
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Tolu Oloruntoba @tolu.ca · 08/03/2026
Whenever I watch alien invasion movies like War Machine, I chuckle in my knowledge that they are about immigrants (see also, Lovecraft). Gives the movies a certain je ne sais quoi.
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