Reviving Literature for the Distracted Generation: Toheeb Dele-Balogun’s Vision

In a captivating conversation with The Guardian, Toheeb Dele-Balogun, a Nigerian creative based between Lagos and the UK, shares his journey from award-winning copywriter to a partner at The Hook Creative Agency and his foray into fiction. Known for crafting impactful brand stories, Dele-Balogun now seeks to challenge the status quo of traditional literature with his upcoming book Don’t Tell These Stories, a unique collection of short stories set to be released later in October 2024. He opens up about the inspiration behind his work, the creative challenges he faced, and his mission to revive the reading culture for modern, distracted audiences.

Please can you start by sharing a bit about yourself and your background? What led you to pursue your current field?

My name is Toheeb Dele-Balogun, and I’m a Nigerian based in Lagos and in the UK. I work in the creative side of advertising, where I tell stories for brands. Currently, I am partner at The Hook Creative Agency. My role involves creating impactful brand ideas and communication strategies for private and public institutions. I have always believed in the power of storytelling to shape individuals and society at large.

So how have you been telling these stories over the years?

I was copywriter for a long time. I did campaigns for most of the top brands in Nigeria and won lots of industry awards. I still tell brand stories now but my role has evolved. I consult for brands as a partner at The Hook. And I am currently exploring other forms of storytelling, particularly, fiction. I have a book coming out later in October 2024. It’s called Don’t Tell These Stories. In fact we just did a pre-launch show at Creative Bloc Carnival.

Interesting. What were the highlights at the Pre-launch show?

Creative Bloc Carnival is an annual event. I used the carnival to preview my book. The reaction to the book project was massive. “Don’t Tell These Stories” is a thought-provoking collection featuring about 70 short stories. These include stories on child marriage, moral decline, patriotism, politics among others.  Each story addresses a different human issue, and the book is an artwork in its execution. It is unique and rare in its format.

See, I wanted to rekindle the passion for reading by presenting the book in ways that attract the modern reader. You will pick it up if you see it, it’s irresistible. The cover will immediately attract you. Once you start a story, you will finish it because it’s short. We’ll produce copies in different forms; for instance, one version will be entirely black with white text, limited to only 10 copies. Then, there will be burnt copy. These ones will have visible burnt scars on them and impactful visuals inside; it will be available at the exhibition later this month and will be sold in Art galleries across country. Lastly, we will have the basic copy, it’s text only. It will be available in bookstores across Nigeria and, globally, on Amazon.com and their kindle platform.

What inspired you to write this story?

About 10 years ago, I stumbled on this six-word story written by Ernest Heminway, ‘For sale: baby’s shoes. Never used’. It’s about a pregnant woman who bought shoes for her future child, but tragically, the child never got to wear them. The story is really brief and profound. So I gave myself a challenge to write something similar. This project started as that, six-word story. With time I discovered that some stories couldn’t retain their profoundness within the limit of six-words. I became more flexible with the number of words I used but I as still committed to using the least number of words possible for as long as the story is profound. In Don’t Tell These Stories you will find stories that are just six words and other that are more, in fact most of the stories can be described as very short stories, not six-word stories. I didn’t want to box myself with number of words. I followed my muse.

Why very short stories?

Times have changed. We live in the most distracted era ever so literature as we know it needs to evolve as well to keep performing its function in shaping the consciousness of society as large. I am writing for the distracted generation. Thomas Hardy wrote Tess of the d’Urbervilles for people without Television, radio or digital entertainment. He wrote for people that will queue to read the news bulletin. His writings were accessed by most people that could read then. Literature and fiction, as a genre, were the mainstream entertainment. So people that could read had their consciousness and morality shaped by the works of these great authors. Overtime, literature has been struggling to have that kind of influence because of the influx of other active entertainment platforms. Most people that could read now don’t see literature as the go-to entertainment. The percentage of literary audience among the large literate population is decreasing every year. We need to do something about it.

I’m writing for a people with fleeting attention span. I want to do fiction that will actually be read by most people that can read and I hope to have profound effect on their consciousness using the least number of words possible. All the feedback I have had on this project have been exciting. “I will totally read this”, I have heard that from countless number of people during preview sessions.

How do stories shape the society?

We are shaped by things we experience. If people are exposed to low-thought materials on social media it will influence the how they think and perceive the world around them. There’s no vacuum in nature. Literature and its long form structure have struggled to keep up with the evolving reading audience. That needs to be fixed. Literary works are not just stories, they are philosophical gems delivered in stories. I aim to improve the quality of thought and conversation with my work. The stories in my book might be short but a lot thought went into writing every single line.

Can you give a general view of what the book is book?

The themes I explored are today’s: the external pressures on relationships, the daily conflict with conscience, japa, race, morality, traditional values that we need to regain and those we need to lose among others. There’s a story that I really like, it’s titled Viral Hugs:

John’s depression tweet got 30,000 likes, 10,000 shares. And zero phone call.

The story is really short but it has gained traction among younger audience that are living in the dual reality of digital versus physical worlds.

Looking ahead, what upcoming events are you most excited about?

I am most excited about my upcoming exhibition on the 27th of October, which will take place in Lagos, Nigeria. It’s an exclusive event to launch my project. The exhibition is set to fully explore the multi-modal nature of the book, Don’t Tell These Stories. We’re creating a space for people to not just read, but experience these stories and make memories off it.

What is your long-term vision for this project? How do you hope they will evolve in the future?

My long-term vision is to take my exhibitions beyond Lagos. I plan to host book shows and exhibitions events in various cities across world. After I’m done with Lagos, London is next.

There’s a universal aspect to my stories and I think the world should experience it.

What challenges did you encounter while writing this book, and how did you overcome them?

Honestly, I didn’t face many external challenges, but I did struggle personally. There were moments I had doubts on proceeding on a story because of its sensitive nature but I remind myself that that’s the whole essence of the book, Stories that shouldn’t be told.

The stories are thought-provoking and addresses themes that some might find uncomfortable. I have pushed through that internal struggle and defied self-doubts to finish the project. I was able to push through because of the support of family, my partners at The Hook, and my creative sparring partner, Ayo Ishola. They have all made these project a reality.

What impact do you want your project to have on the world?

To make the world a better place: from the level of the individual to the world at large.