The festival was organised by Lola Shoneyin and her team and if this list is anything to go by they successfully gathered a large crowd of very cool artists at the literary festival.
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| L-R Lola Shoneyin, Governor Ibikunle Amosu, First Lady of Ogun State and Ogun State Commissioner of Culture and Tourism |
And I couldn't find a single complaint from the guests which for a bloggeratti like myself was a bit disconcerting, as controversy is my lifeblood; drama and mishaps are the things that drive traffic. None seemed to be forthcoming and for this I (reluctantly) salute the team.
There were films and plays galore for those who wanted to
experience the written word acted by thespians who knew their craft. There was
no Nollywood type fare, of ghosts looking left and right before crossing the
road or mermaids with brooms for the tails, on offer.
The films and documentaries were from the likes of Yeepa a filmed play by Tunde Kelani and October 1 by Kunle Afolayan and The Art of Ama Ato Aido by Yaba Badoe. Then there were plays like Qudus: My Exile is in my Head and a musical Call Mr. Robeson.
This blog is not dedicated to all the arts but rather it
focuses on literature from the continent and there was a lot on offer in this
respect for those lucky folks in Abeokuta State. |
| Nollywood mermaid fare |
The films and documentaries were from the likes of Yeepa a filmed play by Tunde Kelani and October 1 by Kunle Afolayan and The Art of Ama Ato Aido by Yaba Badoe. Then there were plays like Qudus: My Exile is in my Head and a musical Call Mr. Robeson.
There were book chats with authors like Okey Ndibe, Nnedi
Okorafor, Zukiswa Wanner, Nike Campbell-Fatoki, Yejide Kilanko, Barnaby
Philips, Chude Jideonwo. And Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria
(1999-2007) who has several memoir type books to his name.
There was the launch of Beverly Nambozo's poetry anthology A
Thousand Voices Rising. And also in the house was Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka
who we are all celebrating as he goes through Soyinka @ 80.
There were many panel discussions where authors of prose and
poetry discussed such topics as Mutation and Mutilation: Feminism in Africa,
What are publishers looking for in fiction, Poisonous Gas: The Crude Oil
Politics in West Africa and many more.
There were also important announcements.The Caine Prize for African writing, of which Lizzy Attree is Director, unveiled their 2015 judging panel to the public and they are Zoë Wicomb, Zeinab Badawi, Neel Mukherjee, Cóilín Parsons and Brian Chikwava.
The Writivism team (Dami Ajayi, Zukiswa Wanner, Lizzy Attree
and Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigire) announced the list of ladies and gentlemen who
could be the new faces of African writing. They will be attending workshops in different African cities run by Dilman Dila (Kampala), Zukiswa Wanner and
Anne Ayeta Wangusa (Dar es Salaam), Yewande Omotoso and Saaleha Idrees Bamjee
(Johannesburg), Dami Ajayi (Lagos), Donald Molosi and Lauri Kubuitsile
(Gaborone).
As an East African the announcement closest to my heart was
that of the new Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili prize for African Writing, a brainchild
of Mukoma Wa Ngugi and Lizzy Attree. The new award promotes writing in African
languages and encourages translation from, between and into African
languages. Prizes will be awarded for
the best entry of an unpublished book or manuscript, prose or poetry in the
Kiswahili language. Very cool.
After the whole conference, without any drama to tout I
sadly add, the evening ended on Saturday with a shebang that was so loud (maybe
the neighbours complained hopefully?) we could hear the stomping of feet to
Dorrobucci from Nairobi where we were mourning the “mauling” of Arsenal by Man
United. And some other more national matters.
Here's a link to James Murua's original blogpost:
http://www.jamesmurua.com/category/ake-festival-2014/
Here are a few other views from the people who were actually
there:Here's a link to James Murua's original blogpost:
http://www.jamesmurua.com/category/ake-festival-2014/
Here are some images from the festival events, courtesy of the artists and the organisers:
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| Beverley Nambozo launches the anthology A Thousand Voices Rising |
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| (right) Nnedi Okarofor |
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| (left) Okey Ndibe |
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| L-R Lola Shoneyin and First Lady of Abeokuta State Mrs Folusho Amosun |
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| Olisakwe Ukamaka |
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| L-R Eghosa Imasuen, Zukiswa Wanner and Jekwu Ozoemene |
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| (left) Mukoma Wa Ngugi |
