FIRST CONCEPTION
It is not surprising that Nzube first conceived the idea of the brand in his service year in Akwa-Ibom, 2019. Before The Shallow Tales Review was fully conceived, Nzube’s love for curating African Literature was reflected in a weekly publication he started, which went by the name “Be My Guest Writers’ Session” via Medium, an online site for writers and readers alike. The Session was published every Friday with Nzube soliciting creative works from writers around him.
Later on, he fully implemented TSTR in January 2020. This time, he was ready to fully go into the entrepreneurship world, and he handled TSTR as such — a promising brand. With a team of highly skilled editors and writers, they began publishing on WordPress, and in March 2020, they began producing their full magazines.
When asked about the inspiration behind the brand’s unique name, Nzube affirmed that The Shallow Tales Review came to him divinely inspired by God. For a creative individual like Nzube, to start up a magazine that speaks to the shallow Nigerian, the shallow African, the shallow Black, is nothing short of a revolutionary movement.
THE BRAND’S PHILOSOPHY
Having said that, Africans are seen as third world people and have seemingly “third world” ideas. However, TSTR as a brand would bring to the fore such literary, cultural, intellectual, artistic and even sexual issues formerly relegated to the background or avoid outright. According to Nzube, the idea came to set up matters that address these issues squarely and with optimism for a better portrayal. The magazine tackles matters that show that Africans are not“a third world people,” but are a race equally important, replete with intelligent and creative people. In his words, “we developed a magazine to address crucial, thoughtful issues.” This explains the unique identity of TSTR.
In addition, Nzube claims to tell the optimistic African story: