GCLF 2012 Bookfair

Iheoma Nwachukwu: On PH World Book Capital Bid

The Adventure of Port Harcourt’s Bid to Become World Book Capital City

By Iheoma Nwachukwu

Peter Pan and Port Harcourt have one thing in common—Lewis Harcourt, for whom the city is named. In 1912, the year the city was christened, Lewis Harcourt, serving in H.H. Asquith’s cabinet, authorized the placement of the Peter Pan statue in London’s Kensington Gardens. He might as well have authorized the placement of the statue in Port Harcourt (or the placement of the Muse in Port Harcourt), because the qualities of adventure, diversity, and eternal youth that Peter Pan personalizes, that the Peter Pan story embodies, are attributes that have drawn migrants, and writers, to Port Harcourt for all of its hundred years.

Peter Pan

Port Harcourt’s bid to become the 2014 World Book Capital City then comes as little surprise for a city that shares a historical bond with probably the most popular, most exciting, most adapted character in children’s literature.

The World Book Capital City title, which began in 2001, is presented by UNESCO to a city with the best programme that promotes books and reading, and shows the most convincing dedication of all players in its local book industry.

The title runs from April 23 (UNESCO’s World Book and Copyright Day) to April 22 of the following year. Madrid won the incipient award; Yerevan in Armenia currently holds the 2012 award. Oxford (United Kingdom) and Pula (Croatia) are just two of the other cities Port Harcourt has to defeat for the 2014 title.

Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state and Nigeria’s oil capital, seems the obvious choice for the 2014 title given the quality, variety, broad international scope, and commitment of all actors in the local book industry, evident in its World Book Capital City programme. First, the theme for the bid—Books: Window to Our World of Possibilities—evokes a potent image of the book, knowledge, as the lens through which we interpret and influence our world.

The Port Harcourt World Book Capital City programme proposes to begin with the performance of an inspiring theme song, performed by a popular Nigerian artiste, and written by a lucky youth whose work is chosen from a nationwide pool. Another slated activity is a national symposium which will assemble stakeholders in the book chain industry to discuss the future literacy and literary culture in Nigeria, and the importance of literature in unlocking the potentials of the country’s youth. The Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, an avid reader who holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in English Literature, will lead this discussion.

Nigeria’s President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, will also be invited to read an excerpt from a classic Nigerian novel to children. The President recently led a national reading campaign named ‘Bring Back the Book,’ and his involvement will surely encourage more young people to read and write. Also expected to read to children at chosen locations across the city of Port Harcourt are authors, poets, and celebrities from film, music, sports, as well as the business communities.

Perhaps the greatest boon to Port-Harcourt’s bid is the Garden City Literary Festival, held yearly in Port Harcourt since 2008 by the Rainbow Book Club. The festival, which has seen attendance by writers like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Ngugi Wa Thiong’O, and Ama Ata Aidoo, holds author readings, fiction and poetry workshops for emerging writers, writing, drama and arts workshops for children, book fairs, and many other activities over a five-day period. Thus, the World Book Capital City programme will gain from the experience of the administrators of the literary festival, since the Rainbow Book Club, which runs the festival, manages Port Harcourt’s bid, too.

Nigeria’s literary heritage is not in doubt; it has gifted the world legendary writers like Wole Soyinka, the first person of African descent to win the Nobel Prize for Literature; Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, the most widely read book by an African; and other world-renowned writers such as Ken Saro-Wiwa, J. P. Clarke, Ben Okri, and Elechi Amadi.

Port Harcourt’s win will not only cast a fresh eye on Nigeria’s past achievements, but will also catalyze the intense literary scene (many successful young Nigerian writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who runs a yearly workshop, and Port Harcourt-born Igoni Barrett, already inspire lots of Nigerians) and give Nigerian literature a helpful jab in the arm. In its own right, Port Harcourt has a rich literary pedigree, and has provided roof and Muse to writers for decades. For example, it is home to numerous authors, including the iconic novelist Elechi Amadi, the brilliant poet Gabriel Okara, as well as celebrated historians like Robin Horton and E. J. Alagoa. Also, Old Port Harcourt Town was a vibrant cultural centre in the 1970s, and provided entertainment and education through plays directed by the likes of Comish Ekiye with a distinguished cast that included actors Doye Agama, Barbara Soki, and Aso Douglas. Some of the famous early educational institutes in Nigeria such as the Okrika Grammar School, and the Archdeacon Crowther Memorial Girls Secondary School, also actively promoted literature in Port Harcourt.

The promotion of literature among the youth is one obvious impact of any literary programme, especially one overseen by UNESCO. The Garden City literary Festival is proof of this kind of impact. Dana Donubari, who attended one of the festival workshops in 2009, was inspired to publish a collection of poems titled Tears for Ogoni. Port Harcourt, which until recently experienced violent activity from militant youth demanding a fair share of Nigeria’s oil wealth, has the potential to change the lives of even more youth as a World Book Capital City—perhaps reach an ex-militant and inspire this youth to tell his story.

There is so much potential here, and UNESCO must know this, too. Port Harcourt looks ready to become World Book Capital City. This would be something of an adventure, a win that has potential to draw the adventure-boy himself, Peter Pan, to the fascinating coastal city of Port Harcourt. As well as draw the gaze of the entire globe.

The world can hardly wait.

Iheoma Nwachukwu is a creative writer. He has received fellowships from the Chinua Achebe Center for African Writers and Artists, Bard College, New York, and the Michener Center for Writers, University of Texas, Austin.

Sylva Ifedigbo: On the PH World Book Capital Bid

Books Are a Window to Our World of Possibilities: A Look at the Port Harcourt Bid for UNESCO World Book Capital City

By Sylva Nze Ifedigbo

Home to renowned writers such as Elechi Amadi, Gabriel Okara and Kaine Agary, Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s oil-rich city and capital of Rivers State, has announced its bid to be named the UNESCO World Book Capital City in 2014, a bid which will see it emerge as the first city in Sub-Saharan Africa to hold the enviable title.

Every year UNESCO convenes delegates from the International Publishers Association, the International Booksellers Federation, and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions to grant the title of UNESCO World Book Capital to one city. This city holds the title for one designated year, from 23 April (UNESCO World Book Day) until 22 April of the following year and undertakes to organize a series of enriching, educative and entertaining events around books, literature and reading. The title of World Book Capital is given to the city with the best programme dedicated to books and reading.

The Port Harcourt bid for this title—which is spearheaded by the Rainbow Book Club, organizers of the annual Garden City Literary Festival, in conjunction with the Rivers State Government—sees Port Harcourt pitched against cities like Oxford in the United Kingdom, Vilnius in Lithuania, Pula in Croatia and Yaoundé in Cameroon, the only other city from Africa. The title, which was launched in 2001 and is currently held by Ljubljana in Slovenia, has been held at various times in the past by Madrid, Alexandria, New Delhi, Montreal, Antwerp, Turin, Bogotá, Amsterdam, and Beirut, with Bangkok already announced as the chosen city for 2013.

The bid by Port Harcourt comes at a time when Nigeria is experiencing a literary revival with the rise of writers such as Sefi Atta (Winner of the Noma Award, 2009), Kaine Agary (NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature, 2008) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (winner of the Orange Prize, 2007), Commonwealth Book Prize winners like Helon Habila, Uwem Akpan and Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Caine Prize Winner E.C Osondu, and a host of others who are blazing the trail globally.

Closely related to this is the increased focus on literary activities in the country. This commendable trend is highlighted by programmes such as the President Jonathan-initiated “Bring Back the Book” project, the Farafina annual creative writing workshop, and the Garden City Literary Festival. Also worthy of note is the institution of competitive literary prizes and awards such as the Caine Prize, the Wole Soyinka Prize, and the NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature which at $100,000 stands as the most lucrative literary award in Africa.

The city of Port Harcourt, significant for its mix of cultures and its status as the hub of the oil-rich Niger Delta region, has come of age as a haven of culture and is fast making a name for itself as a major player on the global literary stage. Port Harcourt is also home to the annual Garden City Literary Festival. This festival is organized by Rainbow Book Club and has been described by Thisday Newspapers as “arguably the biggest event of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa.” The festival in its five years of existence has attracted such literary heavyweights as Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Ghana’s Ama Ata Aidoo and Nigeria’s Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, J. P. Clark and Sefi Atta. Other guests of honour at the GCLF include dignitaries such as former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku, as well as revered civil liberties activist Reverend Jesse Jackson.

It is to such earnest efforts in promoting literature that the award of the UNESCO World Book Capital title is sure to make the most impact. The status will contribute in no small way to maintaining the focus on literary activities in Nigeria. Furthermore, should its bid be successful, Port Harcourt will no doubt have a golden opportunity to build on the legacy of its literary history and culture to expand its role and influence on the continent.

One big plus for Port Harcourt’s bid is the endorsement and spirited support it enjoys from the government of Rivers State led by Rt. Honourable Rotimi Amaechi. The governor, a literary enthusiast, has committed to supporting a dynamic team composed of literary figures and leaders from the private sector, coordinated by the Rainbow Book Club, to drive the activities for the 2014 bid. This team includes such names as Noble Pepple, Ndidi Nwuneli, Anthony Epelle and A. Igoni Barrett, and it is chaired by Koko Kalango, founder of the Rainbow Book Club and Director of the Garden City Literary Festival.

As part of the bid process this committee has chosen the theme of “Books: Window to our World of Possibilities” to drive the 2014 activities in Port Harcourt. A rich itinerary of events is also planned to run through the World Book Capital year in Port Harcourt, including the opening of the multi-purpose Garden City Library Complex, drama performances, celebrity book reading sessions, a national symposium, and a host of other projects.

It is interesting to note that the 2014 bid by Port Harcourt coincides with the centenary celebration of Nigeria as we mark 100 years since the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates by the British colonial government. It will be a befitting gift for the entire country if Port Harcourt were to become the World Book Capital at this time. Besides being a valid acknowledgement of the country’s rich literary heritage, it will also be a worthy template for emulation by other African countries in the promotion of reading, literature and the arts in general.

It is exciting that Port Harcourt is in contention for the World Book Capital and one must applaud the vision and forthrightness of the Rainbow Book Club and the Rivers State Government. As a major city in the literature-rich country of Nigeria, Port Harcourt will present unique opportunities for enhancing the idea of the “book” in the 21st century and its role as a window to a world of opportunities. This is one commendable effort that surely needs all the support it can get.

Sylva Nze Ifedigbo is a creative writer and communications practitioner who lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

A Bit of Difference: Sefi Atta's Latest Novel

Sefi Atta is the author of  the novels Swallow and Everything Good Will Come, and a collection of short stories, News from Home. She has been awarded the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature and the NOMA Award. Sefi Atta was a guest author at the Garden City Literary Festival in 2010, and she said the following of her her experience there: "This literary Festival was the best I've ever attended."

On A Bit of Difference
In this interview on Publishers Weekly, she speaks about the opening of the novel: "I begin it with a short description of the poster of an African woman advertising a charity, and the rest of the novel is a profile of Deola, a young Nigerian woman who notices the poster at an airport. Her views are similar to mine: If the occasional stereotype is all she has to deal with as an African woman, then she is fortunate. I don’t set out to challenge Western perceptions of Africa, but I might by writing honestly."

Dialogue Series attempts a synopsis of the novel: At thirty-nine, Deola Bello, a Nigerian expatriate in London, is dissatisfied with being single and working overseas. Deola works as a financial reviewer for an international charity, and when her job takes her back to Nigeria in time for her father's five-year memorial service, she finds herself turning her scrutiny inward. In Nigeria, Deola encounters changes in her family and in the urban landscape of her home, and new acquaintances who offer unexpected possibilities. Deola's journey is as much about evading others' expectations to get to the heart of her frustration as it is about exposing the differences between foreign images of Africa and the realities of contemporary Nigerian life. Deola's urgent, incisive voice captivates and guides us through the intricate layers and vivid scenes of a life lived across continents. With Sefi Atta's characteristic boldness and vision, A Bit of Difference limns the complexities of our contemporary world.

Praise for A Bit of Difference

"Atta's splendid writing sizzles with wit and compassion. This is an immensely absorbing book." —Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters Street

"Like Teju Cole’s Open City, Deola’s story is low on drama but rich in life, though Atta’s third-person voice makes less for a portrait of a mind in transit than a life caught in freeze-frame, pinned between two continents and radiating pathos. Wholly believable, especially in its nuanced approach to racial identity, the story feels extremely modern while excelling at the novelist’s traditional task: finding the common reality between strangers and rendering alien circumstances familiar" —Publisher's Weekly

Programme for GCLF 2012 (Tentative)

Download the complete programme HERE.

GCLF 2012 Guest Speaker: LIZZY ATTREE

Lizzy Attree is the Administrator of the Caine Prize for African Writing. She will appear on a panel at GCLF 2012.

GCLF 2012 Guest Artist: DOREEN BAINGANA

Doreen Baingana is the author of the 2006 Commonwealth Writers' Prize-winning collection of stories, Tropical Fish: Stories Out of Entebbe. She will facilitate the fiction workshop at GCLF 2012.

Samuel Kolawole: On Being a Writer

Samuel Kolawole, author of a collection of short stories The Book of M, writes about what it means to be a published writer. He was at GCLF for the first time in 2009; since then, it has been an annual pilgrimage for him. We will publish an excerpt of his work-in-progress next week.

I am an enthusiast of the written word. I do not really enjoy giving readings, though flattered at the requests to do so. It’s one thing to write, it’s another thing to perform what you have written. That's what I think readings are, performances of the written word. Writing provides for me a way of hiding while concocting tales that will hopefully travel beyond my personal space; readings, on the other hand, take me out of that space.

I try to find the clearest, most engaging way of telling stories. I conjure up things and discard them. I toil. I fine-tune my sentences. I look for that missing thread, that magical connection that transforms a narrative into a delight. I am wary of giving too much credence to my work, but I can't but be fascinated by the idea that I have created a fantasy someone can live in, even for just a moment.

I am happy when things turn out well and my work makes it through the valley of rejection. When it doesn’t, I immediately begin making plans of a comeback. My goal as a craftsman is to develop a stronger and more confident voice. My better work is always the one I am going to do next.

It is said that writing is a solitary occupation but not really a lonely one. Truth be told, writing can be grueling. The writer's imagination is mobbed with characters, imagery, and language fighting for expression, waiting to be inked in the correct manner.

It is so easy to completely immerse yourself in the creative process that you forget there are other elements apart from the craft of writing responsible for a successful writerly vocation like embedding yourself within a writing community or standing before suspecting bookish fans and white-haired pundits at readings.

Over the years, I have learnt to invest my time in going to places where I would come face to face with others in the world of writing and get clearer sense of the demands of my industry. In 2009, I was invited to a fiction writing workshop as part of activities of a literary festival. I'd submitted a short story, as required, and months later received an email inviting me to show up in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, a place I had never been to before; and the rest, as they say, is history. This annual festival of words has become a pilgrimage of sorts for me. I have come to know Garden City Literary Festival as a one-stop literary event for readers, writers, publishers, and stakeholders in the book industry.

I have since published a story collection, The Book of M; contributed short stories to literary journals on three continents, and won a writing fellowship. A few weeks from now I will once again be thrust into the public glare. I have been invited to a talk show at a local TV station to talk about my life as a writer of macabre stories. Hopefully I will survive this one, although I can always use more of them. Passion is never enough. In the world of imaginative literature sometimes you need to wake up, make the coffee, and then enjoy the coffee.

Samuel Kolawole has contributed short fiction to Jungle Jim, Translitmag, Superstition Review, and Sentinel Literary Quarterly. His stories are forthcoming in Outcast, an anthology of African and Asian writers, and the ISFN anthology, a Canadian-based imprint. A winner of the Reading Bridges fellowship, Samuel lives in Ibadan, where he has begun work on his novel.

Port Harcourt Announces Bid for World Book Capital

From the bid website:

The title ‘World Book Capital’ is conferred by UNESCO to a city in recognition of its quality of programmes to foster the promotion of books and encourage reading. The scheme was launched in 2001 with Madrid as the first city to be given the title, followed by Alexandria in 2002 and New Delhi in 2003. Bangkok was most recently selected as the 2013 World Book Capital. Port Harcourt has submitted a bid to become World Book Capital in 2014.

The bid was submitted a team headed by Rainbow Book Club founder Koko Kalango, who's also the Director of the Garden City Literary Festival. For more information you can download the bid summary here.

CATE celebrates 13

Children and the Environment (CATE) is an NGO working with children and young people to build awareness on environmental matters. It also promotes sustainable ecotourism as a tool for poverty alleviation in targeted communities.

The celebration of the 13th anniversary of CATE's founding holds tomorrow, Saturday 16th June, 2012 at the CORA office, 1st Floor, 95, Bode Thomas Street, Surulere, Lagos.

The CATE Team was at GCLF last year. Led by author Sola Alamutu, they took 100 children, (fifty primary school and fifty secondary school students) through a three-day series of creative writing, arts and drama workshops on the theme "Reading and Leading." At the conclusion of the workshops the GCLF Director Koko Kalango presented over 200 students with a bag of books sponsored by the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency, headed by Noble Pepple.

Koko Kalango: For the Love of Books

On Sunday, June 3rd, 2012, ThisDay Newspapers published a piece (on pages 78 and 79) titled "For the Love of Books", which focused on Rainbow Book Club's book reading on May 28 to encourage reading among children. The Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, read to public primary school children  in the Enuoha Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The article was also about Koko Kalango's work with the Garden City Literary Festival and the Rainbow Book Club. Below are excerpts.

On the Origin of the Name "Rainbow Book Club"

"Over time, the sign  of the rainbow has been used by different people to designate different concepts. But it has its origin in the Bible. The rainbow was given by God as a sign of promise. All the work that I do comes under the name as a reminder that I am ultimately accountable to God."

On RBC's Significance

"The book club's visit to schools, has, meanwhile, begun to yield results. A boy in one of the schools was once moved to tell a story of how reading had changed his life. A flurry of emails also came from university undergraduates, who were in secondary school when they attended the reading programmes. Keeping in touch with RBC was their way of saying "Thank You."

RBC's Ultimate Goal

"The book club's ultimate goal is to change the society through changing the mindset of its citizens. And this is possible through the love of reading. We also hope, as a long-term goal, to change the entire continent."

The festival is scheduled to hold between October 15-20, 2012. Keep those days open. 

Crown Troupe of Africa Celebrates 16 Years

On the first day in the month of June 1996 a group of young people came together. They met in the sitting room of a flat occupied by the mother of one of them in the house of foremost Nigerian musician King Sunny Ade. His son Adekunle Adegeye was one of them, and he went on to become the first choreographer of the repertory group. These young people shared one thing in common--passion for performance. They started Crown Troupe of Africa. Over the years, the group has metamorphosed into a socially conscious one, from entertainers to commentators. Located in Bariga, a place noted for (amongst others things) poor living standards, the group has continuously created a platform of expression through the arts for young people who otherwise might be tempted to channel their youthful energy to less auspicious vocations.

Crown Troupe has been selected to be part of Contacting The World, a biennial youth theatre festival organized by Contact Theatre, which is based in Manchester. They have been twinned with another UK Based Theatre Company, Boundless Productions, Manchester. There have been exchanges between the two companies, with a member of Crown Troupe visiting Boundless Productions in March and the visit reciprocated in April by Cat Dowling of Boundless Productions.

It's Crown Troupe's 16th year of creative engagements, and they plan to celebrate the anniversary with a mixed menu of performances at different locations in Lagos, culminating in a grand finale at the National Theatre on Friday 29 June 2012. There will also be a tour of some Nigerian universities (among them Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife and University of Ibadan) with two new creations, before the group heads off to the International Youth Theatre Festival at which they were selected and are slated to perform in Manchester.

Dates and venues the Crown Troupe 16th anniversary performances

• June 8, The Life House, Sinari Daranijo, Victoria Island
• June 10, Ember Creek, Awolowo Way, Ikoyi
• June 29, National Arts Theatre, Orile Iganmu.

(The Director and Choreographer of Crown Troupe, Segun Adefila, facilitated a drama workshop for children at GCLF 2011.)

Years of Nigerian Literature by Prof. Olu Obafemi

As Nigeria celebrates its democracy today, we bring you an interesting excerpt from the keynote address presented at the 2010 Garden City Literary Festival by Professor Olu Obafemi, entitled "Years of Nigerian Literature: Prospects and Problems". Happy Democracy Day!

For a blossoming literary culture to emerge and be sustained in 21st century Nigeria, some of these steps must be taken and maintained.

1. To stimulate and enhance literary creativity, literary competitions and contests, which used to be the practice in the colonial days, need to be resuscitated. The colonialists did it in the 1930s. Even the radios and TVs did it. It should involve all departments of creativity in indigenous and foreign languages—drama, prose, poetry, short stories, film and video, etc. Attractive material rewards should be attached to winning texts. The successful texts should be distributed. Government and corporate bodies must embark on wide distribution of the winning texts in schools and public libraries. The winning texts must be toured and read in many public institutions. If the colonialists did it with the result of an appreciable growth in the writing and reading culture of the time, there is even a greater need for our governments – at the center and in the States – to do so.

"Governments, voluntary agencies and organizations should endow writers fellowships and offer literary prizes to motivate writers to train and write in a sustained and enduring manner...In very specific terms, the National Endowment Draft Bill, which I believe has been with the National Assembly since the year 2004, has not been signed into law."

2. Journals, magazines, newspapers should show greater interest in the publication and serialization of literary texts. The growth of a literary and reading culture have benefited tremendously from the spaces which literary journals and newspapers devoted to works of literature. Black Orpheus, The Horn, Nigeria Magazine, Okike and so on, consciously helped to nurture literature. The example of Dandali which I mentioned earlier is worth emulating. The defunct New Nigerian, Daily Times and many of the more serious newspapers and tabloids in circulation today give prominence to serialized creative works, especially prose and poetry. They also give focus to literature and to book and play reviews. The fresh impetus began with The Guardian and it has been replicated in many of our newspapers. This is a direction to go. Indeed, the print media in Nigeria can move a step further by publishing the final products of the books they serialize after careful editing. To put it firmly, I am suggesting that newspapers should become publishers of literary work, if they wish, and they should ferment robust synergy with the creative arm of the pen fraternity.

"In spite of the provision in our Constitution for funding the arts, and in spite of the robust achievements of Nigerian artists, especially writers on the international scene, there are no grants or fellowships to support creative arts in Nigeria. This is simply unspeakable..."

3. Governments, voluntary agencies and organizations should endow writers fellowships and offer literary prizes to motivate writers to train and write in a sustained and enduring manner. The fellowships should cater for writers’ needs—feeding, accommodation, and honoraria that will enable writers complete creative works in progress with less difficulty than it is now. In very specific terms, the National Endowment Draft Bill, which I believe has been with the National Assembly since the year 2004, has not been signed into law. Government should expedite action on this. In July 2004, during a courtesy visit to the President of the Federation, ANA under my leadership reiterated this fact that Nigeria is perhaps the only country of its stature where such an Endowment does not exist. In spite of the provision in our Constitution for funding the arts, and in spite of the robust achievements of Nigerian artists, especially writers on the international scene, there are no grants or fellowships to support creative arts in Nigeria. This is simply unspeakable and we must constantly remind the Nigerian government to desist from the business of consciously setting aside a mandate of our Cultural Policy, which states, unequivocally and heart-warmingly, at Section 6.1.2., that ‘The State shall promote and encourage the establishment of writers clubs, art clubs, creative centres for encouraging creativity and popularizing the arts’. Section 6.1.3 more germanely and directly states that ‘the State shall support the associations and clubs through government subventions, grants and other forms of assistance.’ Government must stop provoking these high cultural people to resort to rough tactics before getting their rights! The Pen is lethal, I must warn!

4. The tragic issue of piracy and intellectual property crime is still very much with us. Whatever reward that should attend the intellectual labour of writers and other artists are carted away by privates. I appreciate the effort of the Nigerian Copyright Commission in dealing, legally and administratively with the burning, raging crime. I also appreciate the Commission’s partnership with the Reproduction Rights Society with regard to licensing on reprographic work. It is time however, that government committed more resources to dealing with the menace of copyright violations, which like fake drugs, and drug trafficking, is synonymous to pronouncing a death sentence on creative artists. This may be an opposite point to raise the issue of the National Creativity Prize which the Obasanjo Administration introduced in 2000. Its first and only edition was won by the venerable, octogenarian literary patriarch, Chinua Achebe. I recall, with pangs of nostalgia, the remarkable ceremonies that heralded and adorned the Prize. A government that is continuity-conscious would have sustained such a noble gesture of recognition to the creative literati and a promotion of creative excellence. Government should urgently revisit that Prize and revive it.

5. Associations related to literature—writing and reading—should enhance their activities of promotion and nurturing. ANA has created many literary prizes and is collaborating with government and corporate citizens on workshops, prizes endowments and seminars. Others, like Readers Association of Nigeria (RAN), the Literary Society of Nigeria (LSN) and the Association of Non-Fiction Authors of Nigeria (ANFAAN) should work more conscientiously to promote literary awareness, help build a reading and writing culture.

Femi Osofisan (L) and Olu Obafemi

6. Our libraries are virtually dead. There are only very few public libraries in this country. There are fewer reading rooms around. Government should adopt a policy of acquiring at least 5000 copies of one successful creative text of every Nigerian author registered with ANA and distribute them in libraries and reading rooms, which should now be rehabilitated, or rebuilt, as the case may be.

7. The electronic media have been of tremendous help to the growth of creativity in the country, and especially in the north in the past. I have mentioned the role of the FRCN. The radio audience, of the Hausa programmes, for instance, is in millions. This could be replicated in the other languages of Tiv, Fulfulde, Kanuri, Idoma, Okun, Igbirra, Nupe, Yoruba, Igbo, Ijaw, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Igala and so on. Radio Kaduna encouraged literary development by regularly broadcasting poems, short stories, drama sketches and story-telling sessions. The broadcast of their creative works have availed the authors access to wide audiences. My first dramatic text, Pestle in the Mortar, was broadcast on the Radio/Television Kaduna in 1974 and it was of tremendous inspiration for me. The Hausa television drama evolved out of the broadcast of radio plays by FRCN. This tradition of media intervention and propagation of literature has been long established in the Southern parts of the country—Village Headmaster, Cockrow at Dawn, and so on, nudged our creative consciousness. This trend should be re-energized, even now when profit consideration is a foremost preoccupation of the electronic media.

8. Literature is the soul of the society and no subsidy to develop, sustain and nurture it would be excessive. Fifty years after independence, literacy and the reading culture in Nigeria is still dismally poor. We are in a knowledge-driven, global world in which literacy is a critical element of economic development (knowledge, including literary knowledge). All arms of society—government at all levels, cooperate societies and citizens, genuinely rich Nigerians, etc, should commit resources and resource-input to the nation’s creative enterprise and the creative community, if our civilization and humanity will be both enhanced and ennobled indirectly by all involved. Governments should invest in the literature of the nation and grant generous subsidies to literary institutions and literary people in their domains.

—Prof. Olu Obafemi

Garden City Literary Festival: 5 Years On

“The festival would stir interest in literature and inspire a reading culture.” Those were the words of the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, five years ago at the first Garden City Literary Festival. GLCF is sponsored by Rivers State, hosted in Port Harcourt, and organized by the Rainbow Book Club.

2012 will make five years of GLCF, five years of staying true to that aim by finding ways to make reading interesting. GLCF has featured over twenty well-known writers from different parts of the world. Through the festival's writing workshops, several budding writers have gotten the push that they needed to get their works out there for the world to read.

Annah Dornubari, a poet based in Port Harcourt, is an example. After participating in one of the GLCF workshops he published a collection of poetry titled Tears for Ogoni. Sometimes, interacting with writers who have crossed the many hurdles of publishing is all that one needs to take a leap. Maybe that was what Annah needed, and GLCF gave him that.

Ochogwu Abbas Onoja is another example. The student of the Faculty of Law at the Plateau State University was spotted by Prof. Wole Soyinka at the maiden edition of GCLF. With Prof. Soyinka’s support, Onoja represented Nigeria at preliminaries of the World Debate Institute at Legon University, Ghana. He was one of the four best speakers from the continent, and the first Nigerian to qualify for the World Final International Tournament. At the grande finale in London, Onoja was acknowledged for his oratory skills.

Preparations are now in top gear for the this year's edition of GLCF, which is scheduled for October 15-20, 2012. In the coming days we will bring you more success stories from past editions of GLCF, as well as interviews with past participants. So, "favourite" this blog on your browser. And please share the articles on Twitter, Facebook, and everywhere else.

Finally, if there's anything or anyone you'd love to see at the next GLCF, drop a comment.

The Photo Says It All

Welcome to The Voice*, the come-to portal for information about the Port Harcourt-based Garden City Literary Festival [and here, in case you're wondering, is the go-to portal]. Apart from doing our job [which is basically to promote the GCLF through guest writer interviews, profiles, photos, Twitter reportage, Youtube videos, Facebook polls, chatty commentary, etc etc], we will also blog about anything we consider connected to literature. [Such as this.] So stay connected to The Voice*. And prepare to be thrilled, informed, engaged.

P/S: Do you have any questions/requests regarding the festival? Drop a comment.