Introducing Àaló

Stories, community, humanity

Àaló is a Nigerian digital media and publishing company centred on storytelling, especially Nigerian stories told by Nigerians. It is concerned with creating a conducive environment for the people telling the stories, emphasising community and humanity.

“Àaló” is named after the Yoruba word for “tales” to honour my heritage and to evoke the nostalgia of the many nights I sat with my grandfather to hear stories about Ijapa and Yanibo, the nights we were huddled up by the radio listening to Kola Olawuyi tell stories of the bizarre happenings in Nigeria. Those were my under-the-moonlight experiences.

Àaló was inspired by stories, both real and imagined, and it will be a home to them and the people sharing those stories.

WRITING

We are interested in stories (fiction and nonfiction), poetry, reviews and analyses, interviews, and opinion pieces. We also hope to publish blogs and travelogues.

PODCAST

We hope to produce a variety of podcasts under different categories, all tailored to telling unique and authentic Nigerian stories. We also want to provide the resources needed to tell stories while allowing the podcasters to have full creative control of how they want their story to be told. We hope to create a platform that helps new podcasters in the nitty-gritty of podcasting so that they can focus on just creating while we help amplify their stories.

ÀALÓ STUDIOS

We plan to incorporate visual storytelling, be it photography, vlogs, travelogues, documentary series, etc., into the stories we aim to tell. We are interested in sharing the mundane most extraordinarily.

We want to tell stories that resonate with our audience.

CREATIVE COMMUNITY

We believe that community is a fundamental part of creating.

At Àaló, we hope to develop and build a network of seasoned and rookie creatives, where it is easy to share ideas and resources needed to create.

We want to create shared spaces for different creators to work and network to better their crafts.

ÀALÓ’S OPEN MIC

Imagine a night where you are surrounded by people with great conversations, food, stories, and a microphone to stand up and be the star of the show. Àaló’s open mic is going to be that and a lot more.

We want to create opportunities for people to share their stories surrounding a theme we have chosen in a relaxed environment while keeping those stories in formats that can be shared.