The Voice Diary: October 16, 2012

The day started from where it stopped yesterday--with creative workshops for children.  The children were divided into two classes facilitated by Polly Alakija and Sola Alamutu of Children and the Environment (CATE). The children in the class facilitated by CATE were taught to make use of three primary art forms to tell stories: acting, writing and drawing. The acting class had two guiding rules: always watch and learn. The other class was divided into three groups, each group worked on a unique story which they expressed through painting.

The afternoon sessions featured writers' workshops, fiction and poetry. However unlike the previous day, there were more practical sessions, with the writers working their crafts. The fiction workshop, still held by Doreen Baingana focused on style and setting in writing.

After the writers' workshops, there was a seminar facilitated by the Association of Nigerian Authors, Rivers State. There were three invited women--Mrs Duru, Mrs Agabi and Mrs Anyanwu--to talk about the theme: Literature and women in national development. The forum revolved around issues surrounding, literature, women, history, politics and national development. The key questions that were addressed include: is there a place for women in Nigerian literature? Do women contribute to literature? Does literature, contribute in any way to national development? How can women writers through their works, change the society? How can they inspire the youths to leadership? How can they inspire budding female writers? 

The well-attended forum saw the panelists respond to the issues from various interesting perspectives.

Dr Mrs Agabi said about the role of literature in national development "Apart from economic importance, there is also touristic importance, for instance we are here in Port-Harcourt for the GCLF, all to celebrate women. Women have come out; they have written books; they are bringing issues to the front burner, and are contributing to social development. Most of the women are enlightened and they have written about other women in their works. I think that women can learn from other women characters in literature. People are aware of issues that were considered taboo until certain women wrote about them. We won't be here today if not for the role of literature."

Mrs. Anyanwu was of the opinion that women in literature have a role to contribute to youth enlightenment. "My interest is focused on the "how" of fiction writing. Fiction should be entertaining and should not be a repetition of the serious academic work that happens in schools. The writers should fit their writing into what obtains in the society now, their works should address the societal issues now. For instance, most of the time children these days are online. When we are writing and want to get youths interested, we should think of getting our works to where they are: online. If the internet is possessing them, I will propose that we also possess the internet with our writing." She said that writing online does not only benefit children in the community but the impact goes far and wide "It is not just our children in our immediate environment but also those in the Diaspora that we teach. That way, we reach them, we impart them." She also encouraged female writers to put more efforts into their writing "I encourage female writers to go the extra mile. Many of us are not writing, not because we do not have stories but there is a lot of illiteracy and the women today have a lot to contend with--the financial income remains the same yet the extended family keeps extending. If given more education, women would be able to impart more than they've already given."  

On the contribution of African female writers to writing, Mrs Agabi said "African female writers have done a lot, yet are still aware that there is still a lot more to be done. That's why events like this create awareness for aspiring female writers; they will see that it is possible for women to write and be successful."

The attention moved to the members of the audience who asked an array of questions, raising serious issues, at times arousing laughter in the crowd, and at other times, an applause. The highlight of the question session was the comment made by Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, foremost Nigerian writer and lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt. She raised  issues ranging from values in the society to patriarchy to the ability of literature to speak to everyone, not just children. She defined patriarchy thus "Patriarchy doesn't mean women versus men. It is the structure of the women versus the women. For women to see themselves as human, men also need to help them." 

The session ended with comments from the panelists. Dr Mrs Agabi said "Let women write anything they want to write, we've come a long way; we have a lot more to do, and we will do it. Let the women talk, write about themselves, make sure you listen."

After the engaging session, there was a Meet-the-Author session, where Igoni Barrett had a conversation with Doreen Baingana, author of Tropical Fish before the space was opened to the audience. 

The second day at the GCLF ended with a remarkable performance about Female Genital Mutilation from the Arts Village, University of Port-Harcourt. The all-female cast made use of songs, incantations, nuances from local cultures,  and dance. The performance and the day ended with an ovation for the performers.