World Theatre Day 2013

The National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP Abuja Chapter) will join theatre practitioners across the world in the celebration of this year's World Theatre Day on Wednesday 27th March, 2013.

In collaboration with the Arts & Culture Departments of the FCT Social Development Secretariat and other private theatre companies and outfits in Abuja, NANTAP Abuja have the following activities lined up:

10:00am: Opening Ceremony

Opening ceremony and interactive session on the theme: National Security and the Role of Artistes, under the chairmanship of Prince Nwazuruahu Shield, the Special Adviser to the Minister of FCT on Security. A theme talk on the above topic will be delivered by Mr. Bill Strassberger, Head of Public Affairs unit of the Embassy of the United State in Abuja.

12:00 - 1:00pm: War Horse Seminar

A cutting edge production seminar for practitioners, based on the War Horse, a 2011 war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is an adaptation of British author Michael Morpurgo's 1982 children's novel of the same name set before and during World War I. The seminar is powered by the Open Mic Forum and will hold immediately after the brief opening ceremony.

5:00pm: Presentation of WTD Play and Award Night

The day will be rounded up with Arojah Royal Theatre's production of Seyi Adigun's play Call for me, my Osheni which will be supported by The Village Square Children Theatre's presentation of a drama sketch on water and other attractions such as music and comedy. The highlight of the 2013 celebration of World Theatre Day in Abuja will be the presentation of awards to three Nigerians who's contribution to the theatre and arts in general, both in FCT and Nigeria at large has been phenomenal. 

RSVP the event here

Social Media and Publishing

Last month, we were at the Social Media Week, specifically, the event on Social Media and Publishing. Tagged "Publishing in the Age of Social Media" the speakers were: Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, the Publisher, Cassava Republic Press; Azafi Omoluabi-Ogosi, the Managing Editor, Parresia Publishers; Gbenro Adegbola, CEO First Veritas Educational Content Delivery Ltd; Tolu Ogunlesi, Journalist and writer  and Ebi Atawodi  Head, High Value Events & Sponsorships at Etisalat. 

The event raised several questions: if there are over 90 million active mobile phone users, 48 million Internet users and 6.5 million Facebook members; what does it hold for the publishing sector? How can publishers tap into this massive opportunity? What is being done? What can be done? 

Here are some interesting quotations from the event. This is the first of our instalments on social media and publishing. 

"It's going to take a lot of patience. I was 18 when I got my first email address. Things have changed a lot since then. The young people now will do their socialising on social media and not for long, they will have the buying power and will be able to buy books online...so in another ten to fifteen years, it will be easier to buy things online" Tolu Ogunlesi

"People will soon start to use it for content creation when the internet gets quicker and cheaper. It depends on how we engage with the audience. We need to look at these things relatively to the market that exists here." Ebi Atawodi

Social Media, Attention Span and the Novel Form

"What I suspect is that we will have novels in instalments. There will be a lot of fiction in little bits." Gbenro Adegbola

"Short form or long form, people will have the challenge to read from the screen. I do not like Kindles, I am a book person. There are people who prefer books in paperback regardless. It plays its part as a marketing tool, to create awareness about our work, our books...in the long run and presently, that's what social media can do." Azafi Omoluabi-Ogosi

"The large part of what social media would do would be on the road to the finishing. Soon social media will expand in the way that we engage with books, not just the finished book but the way books are made. " Bibi Bakare-Yusuf

"The history of the novel has changed fairly, from the War and Peace era.  As time went on, our attention span has reduced. We think of Africa as a place where things come to us and not a place of innovation. How can we think of books in new formats? More publishing houses are returning to the novella form and short stories in the West. I don't think that social media is just about marketing but also  about content." Bibi Bakare-Yusuf

"We should stop talking about the digital ousting the traditional but about newer forms, experiences. I am thinking of Teju Cole's "Small Fates". We should be looking at newer forms but not as digital as coming as a threat to oust the traditional form." Gbenro Adegbola

Quality vs content proliferation

"Curating reduces the number of quality in terms of choice; I prefer ten well-edited books to 100 books. If you feel that you have the writing prowess, go and engage the shorter form." Ebi Atawodi

"When the US Postal Service was first invented, it was to send posts, newspapers. It was expensive. So, people would make holes in newspapers to send messages. There is nothing that we can do about that-the quality of books. Quality books will find their level. I think that there will be a backlash when quality starts to fall and content proliferates, we will have to return to another form." Tolu Ogunlesi

"We are just at the point where people put themselves out as self-publishers. They do not know that your book needs to have that ecstatic appeal to buyers. Some publishing houses have done this; they have their traditional arms and their self-publishing arms. Eventually we will get to that point where, if we are not getting enough quality, it will drop." Azafi Omoluabi-Ogosi

"People like drama; they like something that's interesting, what people are talking about. Part of the problem is from us--the content generators. We have to make people interested. People like to carry on interesting issues. Don't blame the audience. If the content gets to them and is interesting, it will spread like wildfire." Ebi Atawodi

"Social media as a marketing tool has nothing to do with quality control. Whatever process it takes to get the book out, social media is just a tool to push out the book." Azafi Omoluabi-Ogosi

Social Media and Book Sales

"Face-to-face is important, and it is social media that drives that. The social media space is our advert space. We place our information there and people turn out. Most of us, book lovers, are social people and love to interact. Never mind if they don't buy books. How many books do those that social media drives to your events buy? That's another question. For publishers, we like to socialise with our readers but that does not necessarily translate to sales." Bibi Bakare-Yusuf

"There are people who come to the bookshop, love to read, who do not have power or internet in their houses. There are people who come into the bookstore to buy books because they heard about that particular author online, on social media. Even if we dont have the book in the store, we go to look for it. Social media will help us to find new authors, new writing, even while the curating goes on." Ore Somolu, Patabah Books

"It is rare to have attendance and sales tie in together. There are many reasons that drive attendance at events. The author drives attendances and sales. Organising book readings is a funny one. There are times when people came, were entertained yet there was not much book sales. It is complex. We use social media to drive book events. There are book clubs that have started on social media." Azafi Omoluabi-Ogosi

What do you think: can social media be used as a tool to transform the publishing sector in Nigeria?

--Quotations compiled by Temitayo Olofinlua

Achebe Goes Home...

Chinua Achebe (1930-2013)lived a memorable life, he wrote more memorable books. Many remember him for his works. He may be gone but his words, his works live on; they echo even beyond the grave. Those words, they will echo on, to generations unborn. 

Achebe was an honourary member of the Garden City Literary Festival. We will miss him. 

The tributes have been pouring in, here are some excerpts. 

An elegy from Chimamanda Adichie

Ife mee. Nnukwu ife mee. Chinua Achebe anabago. Onye edemede nke di egwu, onye nnukwu uche, onye obi oma. Keduzi onye anyi ga-eji eme onu? Keduzi onye anyi ga-eji jee mba? Keduzi onye ga-akwado anyi? Ebenebe egbu o! Anya mmili julu m anya. Chinua Achebe, naba no ndokwa. O ga-adili gi mma. Naba na ndokwa.

Translation

‘A tree has fallen. A mighty tree has fallen! Chinua Achebe is gone. The inimitable wordsmith, the sage, the kind man. Now who is there for us to boast about? Who will be our rampart? How are the mighty fallen! My eyes are in flood with tears. Chinua Achebe may your soul rest in peace. It is well with you. Rest in peace.--Translation done by Mazi Nnamdi Nwigwe

Achebe and the Bravery of Lions by Annalisa Quinn

Achebe's influence is most visible in the extraordinary output of a handful of prominent young Nigerian writers and other African literary elite. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a MacArthur Fellow and perhaps the most famous young Nigerian writer, said in a 2009 Ted talk that "[B]ecause of writers like Chinua Achebe and Camara Laye...I realized that people like me, girls with skin the color of chocolate, whose kinky hair could not form ponytails, could also exist in literature."

The Nigerian writer A. Igoni Barrett wrote in an email of Achebe's "saintly status among Nigerian writers," adding that "His was the strongest voice of Africa's generation of angry voices."

And Ellah Allfrey, the deputy editor of the literary magazine Granta, who was born in Zimbabwe, wrote in an email that, even though she grew up far from Nigeria, "[Things Fall Apart] is the book that allowed me to read in the first person — a perspective and a story that offered me a landscape and characters who (even though they were across the continent from my home) I could identify as my own — or, at last, were closer to me than any I had read before."

Ike Anya's tribute in Granta
He was the antithesis of the Nigerian Big Man: softly spoken, thoughtful with a quiet dignity that echoed in his work. And he could be trusted to speak out when there were difficult things that needed saying. But they were also delivered with a dose of the subtle wit and humour that illuminated his being and his work.


All day I have fielded calls from distraught friends in different parts of the world. In tears, they echo my thoughts, our shock at the suddenness, our illogical hope that he would be always be here, a sudden wrenching feeling that something huge and irreplaceable has been lost; his passing a painful reminder that we are losing a generation of wise elders.

Who will speak out for us now? Who will ask the hard questions of us and the world that he did? Where are the drums and the flutes to dance a great masquerade on his homeward journey?

We will take solace in the words that he has left behind, words that will live on long after we have all gone, words that hopefully will continue to inspire us to acknowledge each other’s humanity; to be greater, to be more.

That will be his legacy.

Femi Kayode: Poetry of the Heart

Still in the spirit of the International Poetry Day celebrations, here is a poem from Femi Kayode, one of the participants of the 2012 edition of the GCLF poetry workshop. Do you have a poem to share? Send it to us: gclfblog@gmail.com

Femi Kayode: Poetry of the Heart

I pick my pen,

Cuddle my paper

Wrack my brain

Search its nooks, crannies

Nothing to write.

No words. Not about you or me

Only words for our dear country Nigeria.

Write, I must

So let me make your heart my slate

My voice, the pen

So I write…

My heart weeps, my eyes beat

My legs eat,  my hands walk

My nose hears, my ears suck in air

My teeth taste, my tongue chews

Things are upside down, downside up.

Cassowaries fly

Snails lead a hundred metre dash

Fish bleat and cocks mow

Frogs bag awards, ants threaten elephants 

Square pegs in round holes.

Leaders loot, followers look

Phone thief jailed. Mobbed. 

Treasury looter freed. Presidential Pardon.

Few feed fat on our flesh. 

We starve. They FART.

Some quench their thirst with our tears. 

We famish. They DROWN. 

My words, from my heart, I pen

...on your heart. 

Femi Kayode has a way with words. It does not matter if he is doing a poem on his name or on Nigeria, his words warm through your hearts and ruffles you in your seats. One of his poems recently won the 30House Nigeria Arts Grant.  He was part of the Garden City Literary Festival's poetry workshop in 2012. When he is not doing poetry, he is acting or writing copy for an advert.

Today is the International World Poetry Day

You didn't know that there was a day to celebrate poetry right? Well, there is. And according to UNESCO, today is the day. 

According to the UNESCO: "Poetry contributes to creative diversity, by questioning anew our use of words and things, our modes of perception and understanding of the world. Through its associations, its metaphors and its own grammar, poetic language is thus conceivably another facet of the dialogue among cultures. Diversity in dialogue, free flow of ideas by word, creativity and innovation. World Poetry Day is an invitation to reflect on the power of language and the full development of each person’s creative abilities. Every year on 21 March UNESCO celebrates the World Poetry Day. A decision to proclaim 21 March as World Poetry Day was adopted during the UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999."

Poetry is a journey – not in a dream world, but often close to individual emotions, aspirations and hopes. Poetry gives form to the dreams of peoples and expresses their spirituality in the strongest terms-- it emboldens all of us also to change the world." Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General's Message on Poetry Day 2013

So, how do you celebrate? You decide. Write a poem. Read a poem to a child. Share your favourite poem on social media. Share your thoughts on poetry with loved ones. Have an online discussion about poetry. Whatever you do, celebrate poetry today. 

Here at the GCLF, we are celebrating by sharing poetry; the first poem is from poet and blogger, Kola Tubosun. Share love, poetry; not war! Enjoy it. 

Stoning the Devil by Kola Tubosun 

(written originally for Iraq, and Mecca, and Amina Lawal about to be stoned: March 2003. Now also for Kano, and Afghanistan, and Mali…)

        A million march of contrite feet

Have trudged on these bright hallowed grounds

While rams of hate graze along in God’s own fields.

        Heavy paces in annual contrition

Have trekked like peasant armies on a sea of evil heads,

On thousand squelching grains of stone

As small rocks of war.

     Thousand heads have rolled in this dust

In mounds against target gods…

      “We are stoning the Devil”

We are always stoning the devil.

        Eternal zest with religious strength

Have pelted the Significant with harsh pellets

And a stone will to fiery extinction, yearly,

At varying levels of human will…

        “Gbosa!”

        Rocks have darted across in wilful spread

on evil personified ahead of the surging crowd.

Hate yet thrives in unnumbered axes

In rains and moulds, on hills and western skies.

         So cast the first stone then

When evil remains in hearts across the open earth.

Cast a stone as hate grips like a fiery noose

Around a strained neck of drunken love?

     Cast the first stone.

      On a crooked way to light

Always lies this crude, black rock.

Culled from Headfirst into the Meddle (2005)

Writers' Studio Holds in Ibadan

Spark your creativity at Ibadan's innovative creative writing school WRITERS’ STUDIO. Creative writing courses offer people an opportunity for self-expression and help them to shape their thoughts and transform their experiences into powerful stories or pieces. Whatever you write Writer's studio is the place for you.

About Writers’ studio

Writers studio offers life-changing creative writing experiences to anyone who writes. Our classes are for both beginner writers who want to get the fundamental techniques of writing under their belt, and also for experienced writers who wish to sharpen their writing skills. At the writers' studio, we organise broadly based and specialised programs for anyone wishing to nurture their creativity, inspire their imagination and develop their writing skills. We provide you a supportive space where your creativity can flourish.

Our classes and seminar groups are facilitated by tutors who are published authors and passionate instructors. Our one-day intensive comes on Saturday, the 6th of April, 2013. To book, please call 08079774009 or 08033508505

Time: 9am

Venue: Supreme Management Consult 60/64, Francis Okediji Street, Off Awolowo Avenue, Old Bodija, Ibadan.

Courses and tutors for the one-day intensive class

Developing as a Creative Writer with Samuel Oluwatosin Kolawole

Samuel Kolawole has contributed short fiction to Eastownfiction,Translitmag, Superstition review, Sentinel literary Quarterly, Short Story Day Africa amongst other literary journals. Samuel featured as author of the month for his story “Memories and Penitence” at Tea with George, a project from Desperanto and Kanev Books in New York interested in showcasing the amazing talent of writers of poetry and short stories. He is a contributor to Jungle Jim, a groundbreaking African Pulp fiction Magazine based in South Africa. His story has been published in “Behind the shadows” an anthology of African and Asian writers and forthcoming in ISFN anthology, a Canadian-based imprint where his writing life will be also showcased. Samuel also contributes regularly to South Africa based efrika journal, and recently the Guardian, UK featured his work. His collection of stories The Book of M. was published in 2011. Samuel lives in Ibadan, where he has recently completed work on his first novel. He is the Director of Writer's Studio

Elements of Poetry with Tade Ipadeola

Tade Ipadeola is the author of two volumes of poetry – A Time of Signs (2000) and The Rain Fardel (2005). He has also published short stories and essays. In 2009, he won the Delphic Laurel in poetry with his poem ‘Songbird’ in Jeju, South Korea. He is currently working on his third volume of poetry provisionally titled The Sahara Testaments, a sequence of 1000 quatrains on the Sahara. Tade currently serves as the President of PEN Nigeria Centre and lives in Ibadan, Nigeria, where he writes and practises law.

Elements of Fiction with Yewande Omotoso (Guest writer)

Yewande Omotoso was born in Barbados and grew up in Nigeria with her Barbadian mother, Nigerian father and two older brothers. The family moved to South Africa in 1992. Omotoso studied architecture at the University of Cape Town, worked as an architect for several years and went on to complete a Masters degree in Creative Writing.

Bom Boy is Omotoso’s debut novel, published in 2011 by Modjaji Books. It won the 2012 South African Literary Award for First-Time Published Author, and was shortlisted for the 2012 Sunday Times Fiction Prize in South Africa as well as the M-Net Literary Awards 2012. She is currently working on her second novel. Yewande lives in Johannesburg. 

Factual writing with Temitayo Olofinlua

Temitayo  Olofinlua studied Literature at Obafemi Awolowo University and currently works as a freelance writer and editor. She is a multiple award winning essayist and recently won the "Peter Drucker Challenge" an international essay contest for young managers, entrepreneurs, and students, organized by the Peter Drucker Society Europe Her writing has been featured in various publications, online and in print. She loves teaching and lazing around with a good book and a cold drink.

Keep your creative fires burning, register now at Writer's studio

Venue

The seminar room at Supreme Management Consult, venue of Writer's studio provides an ideal environment for creative writing and learning. The unique features of this executive room includes:

-Comfortable leather seats with spacious built-in table for every participant

-Ultra Modern Lectern Unit with built in Loudspeakers - audible quality

-Top Class lighting and illumination effects

-2 (4 × 8 Ft) Magnetic Boards

-1 Flip Chart Board

-1 Notice Board

-Projector Screen

-2 Units 30 Horsepower A/C

-Fully Functional Wireless Internet Service

-A Working lavatory seperated for male and female for participants' convenience

To book a place Call 08079774009 or 08033508505

BusinessDay Essay Competition

So you think you can write? Here is your chance to write and make some cash while at it.

Businessday newspaper is calling all aspiring writers to participate in its writing competition on the topic "How Information Technology Affects your Education".The competition opened on February 1st and qualifying entries run from February 4th up to the 29th of March, 2013. 

First prize winner receives N250,000; second and third placers will be awarded N150,000 and N100,000, respectively. All winners will be offered an internship with Businessday.

The competition was organized in partnership with Microsoft, Nokia and Yookos.com.

Click on the picture for more information. All the best!