Tag: African literature

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Accra Chronicles: An Unforgettable Journey to a Literary Extravaganza (1)

Accra called out to us from all over the world for a five-day feast of words, companionship and one of the biggest symposia on the continent this year, bringing writers of class across Africa’s breath and the diaspora for a top class literary production. The cast for the event was a scheduled thirty-seven all-star ensemble that grew into a larger gathering of legends. Topping the headlines for the NYU Accra Lagone Dialogue was the Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka and the keynote speakers, Chris Abani, Aminatta Forna, and Jennifer Makumbi – people whose names all speak for themselves. I found my name on the list, courtesy of an invitation by the Director of the NYU Accra site, Chike Frankie Edozien, seasoned journalist and author of The Lives of Great Men. He had pursued me with his invitation from Abuja to London and Nottingham, ensuring in his magnanimity that my costs of travel were fully covered, even if I was to come in from the North Pole. Well, that is where my story starts…like every journey, at the point just before I got to the bus park.

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AFRICAN LITERARY TITANS GATHER IN ACCRA TO RECLAIM NARRATIVES AT THE LABONE DIALOGUES (OCTOBER 19-23rd 2023)

The literary headlines are set to explode with various takeaways and exciting episodes from Lagone, Africa from 19th October 2023 and beyond as Africa’s finest literary heavyweights across generations converge in Lagone, Accra, Ghana for what might be one of the continent’s finest literary festivals this year. ‘The Labone Dialogues by NYU Accra’ curated by … Continue reading AFRICAN LITERARY TITANS GATHER IN ACCRA TO RECLAIM NARRATIVES AT THE LABONE DIALOGUES (OCTOBER 19-23rd 2023)

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ANNOUNCING: The SEVHAGE Literary Prizes for Africans 2023 (Deadline: 21st August 2023)

Calling all African wordsmiths and literary trailblazers! Prepare to embark on an exhilarating journey into the world of captivating storytelling and profound insights. The SEVHAGE Literary Prizes are back, bigger and better than ever before, and this time, we are calling on African writers from all corners of the globe to unleash their creative brilliance. … Continue reading ANNOUNCING: The SEVHAGE Literary Prizes for Africans 2023 (Deadline: 21st August 2023)

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PAN AFRICAN WRITERS ASSOCIATION RELEASES POETRY LONGLIST WITH NIGERIAN ALL-STAR CAST FEATURING DENJA ABDULLAHI, TANURE OJAIDE, SERVIO GBADAMOSI, OBARI GOMBA, ONYEKA NWELUE, ECHE NDUKA AND OLUMIDE OLANIYAN

by S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema The Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) has today released her poetry prize longlist in four categories (English, Arabic, French and Kiswahili). The signed release by the Association’s Secretary General, Dr. Wale Okediran, shows a total of fifty-three longlisted entrants, with fifteen in each category, except for Kiswahili with eight entries. … Continue reading PAN AFRICAN WRITERS ASSOCIATION RELEASES POETRY LONGLIST WITH NIGERIAN ALL-STAR CAST FEATURING DENJA ABDULLAHI, TANURE OJAIDE, SERVIO GBADAMOSI, OBARI GOMBA, ONYEKA NWELUE, ECHE NDUKA AND OLUMIDE OLANIYAN

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Niyi Osundare’s new book ‘Green: Sighs of our Ailing Planet’ debuts January 2022

This is awesome news for Niyi Osundare’s fans: he has a new book out in January 2022. Yaaaaay! Titled Green: Sighs of our Ailing Planet, the collection is an urgent collection of necessity born out of the poet’s need to speak to issues that plague the world. The overview of the book on Barnes and Noble notes that it “is a critical pastoral of poems concerning the environment aroudn the world, from place to place…a book relevant and hopeful for people to stop and reflect on the endangered beauty of all of nature.”

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BENUE BOOK AND ARTS FESTIVAL FOR JUNE 20 TO 22 2019 IN MAKURDI, NIGERIA

The Benue Book and Arts festival (presented by SEVHAGE) is scheduled to take place in Makurdi the capital city of Benue State in Nigeria from 20th to 22nd June, 2019. It is being organised by SEVHAGE Literary & Development Initiative and SEVHAGE Publishers as part of the SEVHAGE Presents series of festivals. Featured writers include Professor Dul Johnson (Winner, ANA Prize for Fiction 2017), Dr. Maria Ajima (multiple award winning writer and critic, leading voice in Northern Nigerian literature), Agatha Agema (nee Aduro) (author of The Enchanting and other poems); sensational writer and prolific author, Chuma Nwokolo, Innocence Silas Sharamang (Double Winner of the Korea Nigeria Poetry Prize), Servio Gbadamosi (ANA Prize for Poetry 2015 and Shortlist, Wole Soyinka Prize 2018); the literary administrator and author of City of Memories, Richard Ali; short story writer and social media influencer Eketti Edime, Bizuum Yadok; T. J. Benson (award winning author of We won’t fade into darkness); spoken word maestro Bash Amuneni; spoken word diva and amazing poet, Daisy Odey; Maik Ortserga; Jide Badmus (author of Scriptures), Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto (multiple award winning poet), Seun Odukoya, Ahmed Maiwada (award winning poet), Isaac Attah Ogezi (award winning playwright), Mimi Werna, Aondosoo Labe, Debbie Iorliam, Oko Owi Ocho; Torkwase Igbana; Odoh Diego Okenyodo; amongst several others.

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Wreaths for a Wayfarer: A Poetry Anthology in Honour of Pius Adesanmi (1972-2019)

adesanmi

On Sunday, March 10, 2019, Pius Adebola Adesanmi, writer, scholar, educator, and public intellectual, was killed along with 156 others from 35 countries in the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed close to Addis Ababa airport shortly after take-off. Prior to his death, Payo (as he was fondly called by many) was the Director of the Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada. His tragic demise at the age of 47 has left people in the communities where he conducted his professional work and social activism reeling with pains. The tragic nature of his death invites us to reflect on his life and times, as well as to philosophize on the immortal lines of the English poet, John Donne, in his “Meditation XVII”: “All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated… As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all… No man is an island, entire of itself… any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

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NLNG PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2019 CALL FOR SUBMISSION ($100,000) DEADLINE 5th APRIL 2019

The Nigeria Prize for Literature aka the NLNG Prize for Literature worth $100,000 is calling for submissions in the category of Children’s Literature! No time. Do you have a children’s story book written in the last four years? Do you think it is worth the prize? What are you waiting for? … Wait, are you Nigerian and do you have a national passport or national identity card? Weya o!

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