Award-winning poet, in an enthralling blend of poetry and film, captures the collective identity of Newcastle.

The Nigerian British author, Tolu’ A. Akinyemi, renowned for his poetic works, has released an audio-visual tribute to Newcastle, This Is Our City, that stirs the emotions.

Published in his poetry collection, Home in Motion in 2025 by The Roaring Lion Newcastle, This Is Our City reflects on a journey of pain, growth, and belonging in a city that has both witnessed the past and provides a substrate for the future.

Akinyemi uses Newcastle as a benchmark to chronicle the struggles and triumphs of urban living in this powerful poetic audio-visual fusion.

“This is our city—Newcastle City,

Where anyone from anywhere,

Anyone from anywhere, can crystallise

Into a finished work of art.”

The poem paints its core belief in this stanza, which stands at the end, that Newcastle is a home and city of transformation–molding identities, birthing dreams, and turning an individual’s potential into reality.

The video, which was produced and directed by Benson Omoruyi, is a potent visual characterisation of memory and possibility, where beauty and suffering coexist and bridges span not only rivers but also lives, cultures, and futures.

View the video online via Tolu Akinyemi’s YouTube channel now.