Tolu Daniel is a Nigerian writer and essayist whose work explores themes of migration, urban life, and the African Diasporic experience. A graduate of Washington University in St Louis with an MFA in Creative Writing, and Kansas State University with an MA in English. Tolu is currently pursuing a PhD in Comparative Literature, with research interests that include radio drama, cultural memory, black diaspora, and postcolonial studies. His essays are known for their innovative use of narrative structures, blending personal and collective histories with a peripatetic mode inspired by writers like W.G. Sebald. Tolu is also the founder of Ellipsis, a newsletter featuring Diasporic voices on Culture, Migration, Displacement and Literature via Personal Essays & Interviews. Tolu has served or is currently serving in several Editorial Boards, including "Panorama Journal of Intelligent Travel," "Spectacle Magazine", "TSSF Journal", "Touchstone Literary Journal", "Afridiaspora" and a few others. His first book "Exodus," a collection of essays will be published by Cavan Kerry press in 2027.
Personal life.
Tolu Daniel was born in Abeokuta in June 1989. His parents are from Western Nigeria. He completed his secondary education in Ogun State and earned a degree in Economics from Tai Solarin University of Education before moving to the United States to earn multiple Master's degrees in English and Creative Writing from Kansas State University and Washington University in St Louis. He is currently a PhD Student in the Department of Comparative Literature & Thought at Washington University in St Louis.
Literary & academic influences.
Tolu's work is heavily influenced by contemporary African Writers like Teju Cole and Helon Habila, Noviolet Bulawayo and Chimamanda Adichie, especially with the focus of their writings centered on the themes of migration, identity, and urban life. The use of walking, travelling, and fragmented storytelling to bridge past and present, often blending personal and historical elements are particular ways through which these influences show.