The exciting line up includes
several writers who have been part of the Caine Prize journey over the years,
including Caine Prize Patron, Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka; three Prize winners, Binyavanga Wainaina (2002), Olufemi Terry (2010) and Rotimi Babatunde
(2013); three shortlisters, Florent Couao-Zotti (2002), Mukoma Wa Ngugi (2009)
and Abubakar Ibrahim (2013); and several workshop participants, including
Ayodele Morocco-Clarke (2011), Bryony Rheam (2014) and Clifton Gachagua (2014);
and former judge, Bernardine Evaristo (2012). Caine Prize Director Lizzy Attree
will also feature in the programme, in the panel discussion entitled “What are publishers looking for?”
The festival will involve 13 panel discussions with stimulating topics
ranging from "Writing Back/Writing Forward: Representations of Africa in
New Fiction”, chaired by Lizzy Attree, to “Slave Narratives and the
Burden of Memory,” featuring the Jamaican poet Kei Miller, who has recently won
the prestigious Forward Prize for the best poetry collection of 2014, for The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way To Zion,
based on dialogue between a mapmaker striving to impose order on an unfamiliar
land and a Rasta-man who queries his project.
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| The books up for discussion at the Festival |
Other activities include master classes on science fiction writing,
comic drawing and documentary making from distinguished professionals; art
exhibitions; drama displays; documentaries; poetry readings; school visits; and
book chats. Ten books have been chosen for discussion, giving the audience
the chance to interact with the authors. One of the books up for discussion
this year is Children of Paradise written by acclaimed British-Guyanese poet, novelist and playwright Fred D'Aguiar, the novel explores the events surrounding the
Jonestown tragedy.
The festival will also screen a new documentary, made by Yaba Badoe, about the Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo. The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo celebrates
Aidoo and her work as one of Africa’s foremost women writers, and brings it to
new audiences.
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| Yaba Badoe's documentary about Ama Ata Aidoo will be screened at Ake Festival |
On the sidelines of the festival, an annual
multi-lingual, cross cultural literary journal called Ake Review aims to create a platform for showcasing and discussing current
trends in African arts and culture. Kola Tubosun recently
interviewed Caine Prize Director Lizzy Attree for Ake Review about how the Prize has developed
over its fifteen year history – A Prize is Only As Good as Those Who Enter.
With the extraordinary line up of authors, and broad
ranging topics for discussion, participants are in for an exhilarating few days
in Abeokuta
this year.
