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Tolu Oloruntoba was born and practiced medicine in Nigeria before migrating to Canada. He is no stranger to the experience of conflict and human fragility as well as the experience of displacement and resultant isolation — themes in his poetry. Oloruntoba’s debut collection The Junta of Happenstance won the 2021 Governor General’s Award and the prestigious 2022 Griffin Poetry Prize. His latest book, Each One a Furnace (2022), uses the imagery of migratory finches to express restlessness, immigration, and the othering that are prevalent globally. Oloruntoba currently resides in the traditional territory of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, and Kwantlen Nations.