Wednesday 29 May 2013

Peter Drucker Challenge 2013

Introduced in 2010, the Drucker Challenge was conceived as an essay contest to raise awareness of the works and ideas of Peter Drucker among young people – the new generation poised to build on a management philosophy that puts the human being at its center.

In 2013 we are expanding the Drucker Challenge with a new option: The Drucker Challenge Video Contest. Our hope is that submissions in this lively format will bring a fresh infusion of energy and inspiration, and new clarity to what can be complex and abstract concepts.

Participants in the Challenge can now choose to submit either an essay or a video – or both, to maximize their chances of winning.
Prizes are awarded to the best 40 entries, including a cash prize of EUR 1,000 to the first-prize winners in the essay respectively video contest. The overall winner in the essay and video contest is awarded a cash price of EUR 4,000.

Both contests are designed to complement and enrich the interdisciplinary exchange of views and ideas at the annual Global Peter Drucker Forum. This year's event in Vienna (14-15 Nov 2013) focuses on the theme of Managing Complexity.

Deadline: July 1, 2013

Learn more about the video competition
Learn more about the essay competition

Monday 27 May 2013

UNESCO: Call for Proposals on Promoting Culture

UNESCO is now accepting proposals for the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD). The IFCD is a multi-donor fund that aims to promote sustainable development and poverty reduction in developing and least-developed countries that are Parties to the 2005 Convention. It does this through support to projects that aim to foster the emergence of a dynamic cultural sector.

Selection Criteria
Applications for funding requests to the IFCD will be evaluated on the basis of criteria established by the Intergovernmental Committee and the Conference of Parties on the use of resources of the IFCD. In particular, how the funding request:

addresses the objectives and priorities of the 2005 Convention and the IFCD;
meets the needs and priorities of the country where the project will be implemented and it is deemed to be feasible and relevant;
contributes to achieving concrete, measurable and realistic results;
has a potential structural impact leading to the emergence of a dynamic cultural sector and on the promotion of South-South and North-South-South cooperation;
ensures that the project’s long-term objectives can be met;
satisfies the principle of financial accountability.
Note

Applicants are to consult their National Commissions for UNESCO for their submission deadline at the national level.

The deadline for the Secretariat of the Convention to receive funding applications from National Commissions or INGOs is 30 June 2013.

More information here

Friday 24 May 2013

Fellowship: Norman Mailer Center

The Center and the Colony offers Fellowships for fiction, nonfiction and poetry writers during the second half of 2013. During a Fellowship period of three weeks, the mentoring faculty will be headed by three highly regarded writers. Greg Curtis will mentor Nonfiction, Meena Alexander, Poetry, and Jeffery Renard Allen the Fiction fellows, each of whom will be in residence.

The Colony’s fellowships are designed to facilitate a balance between a focus on individual work and a forum for discussion among emerging writers. Each year the fellowship program will be held at a location where Norman Mailer researched and began writing one of his books.  One Year, as an example, the fellowship program will be held in Utah whereThe Executioner's Song was researched.  In another year, the fellows will meet in Palm Springs, where Mailer researched The Deer Park.  In a third year the fellowship program will be held in Miami, where Mailer began his book Miami and the Siege of Chicago.

This year, 2013, from July 20 to August 10, Michael Mailer will host the Center's fellowship programs at Norman's home in Brooklyn Heights, New York. This is where Mailer lived for over 40 years and wrote many of his books. Afternoon readings and meetings in the evenings are scheduled in Mailer's living room -- in the very environment that Mailer himself experienced.  J. Michael Lennon, Mailer's offical biographer, will discuss Mailer's 1951 novel, Barbary Shore  (which is set in Brooklyn Heights), and provide the fellows with a walking tour of the area. In addition, attendees to become acquainted with the work of other Fellows and friendships established among writers in-residence often lead to collaborations and connections beyond the Colony.

In addition distinguished writers will from time to time, visit and share their professional experiences with the Fellows. Past years visitors have included Gay Talese, Da Chen, David Margolick, Sonia Sanchez, Don DeLillo, and editors from the New York Review of Books, Playboy and Vanity Fair,

Four applicants each from fiction, nonfiction and poetry, based on merit, will be chosen for this program. Each successful Fellow's award will cover full tuition and housing for the entire three week period of residency. 

More information here



Thursday 23 May 2013

Favourite Five: Tracy Osokolo

Tracy Nneka Osokolo is a literary fellow of the Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She has been awarded a literary residency at the Village Institute in India and granted a Colonel Farleigh S. Dickinson International Scholarship to attend the Farleigh Dickinson University, U.S.A. for an MFA in Creative Writing. At age 19, the Commonwealth sponsored “This is Lagos” a documentary about her life broadcast on British and Nigerian Television. Her short fiction has been published in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, India, the U.S. and the U.K. She was a Resident Writer at the London 2012 Olympics Festival at the Southbank Centre where Her Majesty the Queen is a Patron. Red Pepper and English Tea – ANBUKRAFT Winner for Best New Fiction is her first Novel. 

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I like Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina because of his main character -he explores a woman's life in such an interesting way. It seemed that there was no lie therein and he mirrored what it was like to be a woman yesterday and today.

Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor
I like Nnedi Okorafor's Zahrah the Wind Seeker because it celebrates 'difference' in a succinctly interesting way. I love what she did with Zarah's locks but most importantly her story will encourage children to have dreams and travel with their minds. The book is most perfect for my Children's Creative Writing Workshop in Lekki.

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed is a book that encouraged me to love and explore the life-long journey of loving myself along someone else. Its message is too honest and reading it made me feel that Elizabeth had my best interest at heart when she wrote that book for feminists like me.

Women, Work and the Art of Savoir Faire  by Murielle Guiliano
This book changed my life completely. It encouraged me to grow at a time when I was afraid to be the woman that I wanted to be. If I could meet Murielle in person, I would hug her and tell her "thank you for writing to me on how to be that woman and how to stay that woman."

Don Quixote by Cervantes
This is the most stupidly funny book I've ever read. Its main character entertained me too many times as a
teenager because I couldn't believe anybody alive would hold such silly views about himself, or of his world. Don Quixote reminds me of Julie in Tracy Osokolo's Red Pepper and English Tea--her naïve stupidity in life is so shocking that its hilarious.

Monday 20 May 2013

Call for Submissions: Kalahari Review

The Kalahari Review is an African-eccentric magazine interested in material exploring Africa and Africans in unique and avant-garde ways. Telling new stories from everyday African life as told by the people that are living it. We are looking for stories that have not often been told but should be – through voices that have not yet been heard - but should.

We hope to push the limits and expose the world to aspects of Africa not often shown - both the positives and the negatives. We are interested in pieces about and from Africans living abroad as well.

Please take the time to enjoy the content on the site and get an understanding for what we publish before submitting.

Because this is a web-based publication there are no word count restrictions and no deadlines - we are always open to submissions.

More information on the Kalahari Review website

RBC's May Book of the Month


This month the Rainbow Book Club will review ‘From an Orphan to a Queen; Esther’ by Titi Horsfall. The book review which holds on 31st of May 2013 at Le Meridien Hotel pool side from 11.30am – 1.30pm. The readings are interactive and fun filled with a book signing session with the author.

Meet Titi Horsfall
Titi Horsfall is a novelist and poet. She works as a PR and Communications specialist in the oil and gas industry, (holding a bachelor’s degree in marketing, a masters degree in banking and finance, and an MBA in oil and gas management from the Robert Gordon University) her first book, Reflections is an approved recommended text in some secondary schools.

The Book
The book is a fictionalized account of the biblical heroine Esther. Author takes the reader on a historic journey of the Jewish people while in captivity and how their fate as a people comes to hinge on the obedience and courage of the young orphan girl, Esther.

The Rainbow Book Club is a leading advocate in promoting the reading culture and development of libraries in Nigeria. Her monthly readings and campaigns have played host to many award winning authors, including Caine Prize winner,  E. C Osondu, Oprah author, Uwem Akpan as well as role models who have read to children such as Gov Chibuike Amaechi, Rev Jesse Jackson, and Prof Oby Ezekweseli amongst others. 

Rainbow Book Club are the project managers of the Port Harcourt Book Festival formerly known as the Garden City Literary Festival and the Implementing Partner for Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014.
Book Club members and the general public are encouraged to buy and read the book, From an Orphan to a Queen; Esther, in preparation for the reading. Books are available for purchase at the RBC office, 20 Igbodo Street, Old G.R.A. Port Harcourt.

For all inquiries Please Call 08023187731 and visit our websites on www.rainbowbookclub.org; www.gardencitylieraryfestival.com; www.portharcourtworldbookcapital.org 

Sunday 19 May 2013

Akinsiku: On Writers' Studio

Writers Studio held in Ibadan on April 6, 2013. One of the participating writers Fiyin Akinsiku tells of her experience. We present her story in parts; this is the first. 

This would be a Edo State is about four hours from Ibadan. We left Benin in a private car driven by an Ibadan man – I knew this from his accent.  Of course, h is absent from the vocabulary – both English and Yoruba - of typical Ibadan people. And the marks on his face were as if he fought with a tiger which mauled him. 

I first saw the invitation to a one-day intensive writing workshop organized by Tosin Kolawole’s Writers’ Studio on Facebook. I thought it was a great idea but I did not know I could make it because of my tight schedule. I was only sure I would be there by the time I registered: four days to D-day.

We passed through the only road that links the South-East with the South-West: the Lagos –Benin express road. We were approaching the Edo-Ondo border when we ran into a small hold up, or so we thought. All through my days as an undergraduate of University Of Benin, I passed through the road, so I was used to the road. There was a day I spent six hours in a hold up on that road. That was in 2006. The state of the road was deplorable at that time and the then Minister of Works, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke shed tears on the state of the road: a matter for another day.

Gradually the hold-up became longer till the long queues of cars ahead disappeared in the distance.  We waited. Then waited. And waited.  The queue moved slowly. Drivers shouted lewd words at one another. Passengers alighted. Whenever the queues moved, passengers ran after their buses. Old men became mango hunters. They threw sticks and stones at the yellow mangoes that dotted the trees. Inside the car, we sweated like Christmas goats. I sat beside a garrulous man and there was no dull moment for me. The only problem was that if my sister were there, she would have nicknamed him water supply, for sparks of saliva struck my face whenever he talked. 

In front, black smoke arose, as though from a chimney.  And we heard people talk with excitement about fire. Fire.  Some people were calling other people to check out the footage on their phones. 

When we finally got to the source of the smoke, the black hulks of a truck, a fuel tanker and a luxury bus were staring back at us. The charred remains of people were on the ground. Charred.  Burnt.  Beyond recognition.  I closed my eyes. Outside some people were engrossed in a discussion and someone said something like eighty bodies...eighty bodies. When I opened my eyes, the other occupants of the car were moaning in the right places. The rest of the journey was uneventful, except that the garrulous man showed that he really had verbal diarrhea.  Later, clouds gathered and threatened; but in the end, gave up their threat of a heavy downpour and walked away.
   

I got to Ibadan when I could see the lines on my palms only with the aid of the bright headlamps of cars that sped along Iwo road. I was fagged out but that did not stop me from noticing that I was surrounded by so many people with tribal marks: either three vertical sitting on three slanting horizontal or just slanting three horizontal or an ultra short vertical beside a short horizontal line on both sides of their faces. It also made me remember the tribal marks in my village: a single vertical line drawn from below the eyelids to the jaw on both sides of the face. Tribal marks always fascinate me; I felt like closing my eyes and running my palms down those marks….

Later that night, during the 11 o clock news, I saw that the Federal Road Safety Corps had begun to divert cars from the Benin end of Lagos – Benin expressway to the Akure-Owo-Ifon axis.

Fiyinfoluwa Akinsiku  studied Medicine  at the University Of Benin;  she was also the Editor-in-Chief of The Great Physician and The Stethoscope. Her short stories have been published in Naijastories, Sentinel Magazine and The Touch magazine. She writes from Benin City and is currently working on her debut novel. 

Saturday 18 May 2013

ANA Calls for Short Stories

The Association of Nigerian Authors is pleased to announce a call for entries for a short story collection sponsored by the Nigerian Institute for Cultural Orientation [NICO]. The anthology will comprise of the best submissions and will be released by August 2013.
Theme: All stories should deal with aspects of Nigerian culture, interpreted widely.
Length: Under 3,000 words.
Submission: All entries are to be sent via email to bmdzukogi@gmail.com with the subject “ANA/NICO [title of submission]”
Format: Entries should be sent as a single MS Word-readable document in 12 pt, Times New Roman Font, double spaced with pagination. All entries must be accompanied by a separate attachment providing a 200-word bio and full contact details.
Deadline: May 30, 2013

Please note
1. For entries to be eligible, they must not have been published in print in Nigeria prior to submission. The Association reserves the right to remove a story from the collection on discovery of prior print publication.
2. Online publication in magazines, blogs, and journals etc are not affected by 1. above.

More information here

Thursday 16 May 2013

Favourite Five: Yewande Omotoso


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 and was published in South Africa by Modjaji Books. She is currently working on her second novel. Yewande lives in Johannesburg.

Her list comes with a disclaimer at the end; she had this to say about her choice. I hate answering the ‘favourite books’ question, partly because I’m a fickle indecisive coward and hate being pegged down to partake in something as dauntingly certain as ‘my five favourite anything’. But also because it seems so cruel, I’ve been reading for almost three decades how could someone ask me to pick five? And besides what was ‘favourite’ when I was ten might not be relevant now, do I kick it off the list? And how about that book I read that day that I absolutely loved whose name and author now escape me? How about the book whose name I can remember as well as author and I know it’s a favourite but I can’t remember why? Or I read back and I’m abhorred that I ever even liked it. Can you see the mess this is? Anyway, here’s a list: 

Every Light in the House Burnin’ by Andrea Levy

So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba

Beka Lamb by Zee Edgell
Yoruba Girl Dancing by Simi Bedford


Focus by Arthur Miller

Disclaimer: These may not be my actual favourites. They are more like the ones that have stayed with me, that have endured. Maybe my real favourites, I have forgotten – which is at least a little feasible if you think about it. Lastly, since the question has been coming up, I now make a point of rotating my top five every few months, because in reality I have loved and adored and been deeply touched by many many books, I’m a bit of a literary courtesan in that way.

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Essay Competition: GOI Peace/UNESCO

So you think you can write? You are under 25? Here is your chance!

Entries are now invited for the 2013 International Essay Contest for young people. The Contest is organized by The Goi Peace Foundation and UNESCO. 

The Competition
This annual essay contest is organized in an effort to harness the energy, imagination and initiative of the world’s youth in promoting a culture of peace and sustainable development. It also aims to inspire society to learn from the young minds and to think about how each of us can make a difference in the world.

The theme for this year's contest is: The Power of Culture to Create a Better Future

Entry Guidelines
  • Essays may be submitted by anyone up to 25 years old (as of June 30, 2013) in one of the following age categories: a) Children (ages up to 14) b) Youth (ages 15 – 25)
  • Essays must be 700 words or less in English, French, Spanish or German; or 1600 characters or less in Japanese, typed or printed.
  • Essays must have a cover page indicating (1) category (Children or Youth) (2) essay title (3) your name (4) address (5) phone number (6) e-mail (7) nationality (8) age as of June 30, 2013 (9) gender (10) school name (if applicable) (11) word count.
  • Teachers and youth directors may submit a collection of essays from their class or group. Please enclose a list of participants’ names and the name and contact information of the submitting teacher or director.
  • Entries may be submitted by postal mail or online.
  • Deadline: June 30, 2013

Prizes
1st Prize: Certificate and prize of 100,000 Yen (approx. US$1,140 as of January 2013) … 1 entrant
2nd Prize: Certificate and prize of 50,000 Yen (approx. US$570 as of January 2013) … 2 entrants
3rd Prize: Certificate and gift … 5 entrants
Honorable Mention: Certificate and gift
… 25 entrants

More information here 

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Book Excerpt: Yewande Omotoso's Bomboy

The walk from the Western Medical Fund office to Leke’s home was thirty minutes but it took him fifty on a Friday because he made a stop.

Leke watched the pavement as he walked, and his long legs swung a slow easy gait. He felt like whistling but he’d never picked it up as a child, and now was too embarrassed to try. When he was around others whistling he studied them, hoping to catch on to the secret but when he was alone again and tried it, little but a flush of air released from his lips.  

As he’d entered manhood Leke made fewer trips to the barber shop Marcus used in Claremont. Marcus realised he couldn’t force him and didn’t want a fight. Fights with Leke were wordless, just his steely defiance and head set to the side looking down.

So the curly afro was left to grow, twisting bronze coloured strands standing out from his head like crooked wires. His hair was the colour of his eyes and his skin and the effect evident and striking enough that, for a short period when he first arrived in high school, he was awarded the nickname Brownie.

At the technikon Leke’s silence and the manner with which he moved his tall slender body across the student piazza, greeting no one, were mistaken for arrogance.

By the time Leke’d graduated from tech he knew all about programming, he’d learnt the quiet language of computers and was satisfied to do that for a living. He had also, by then, learnt to speak loud enough to be heard, he’d transformed like an amphibian into an uncomfortable adulthood, maturity thrust on him the need to disguise his dreams and dreaming world and “make it”. Nights still swallowed him whole into far off voyages, his sleep populated with intense friendships, kissing and other intimacies his daylight life was barren of.

Over the past decade the suburbs adjacent to trendy Observatory, Salt River and Woodstock, had gone through a process of re-development. Families that had lived there for generations were bought out by large developers and the wealthy. Main Road, running from Mowbray into the city centre, was now a long commercial strip with low-rise apartment blocks, offices, fashion stores, galleries and restaurants. Organic food markets in old warehouses and light industrial buildings spread out from the main road towards Queen Victoria Street and the railway line. This creep of gaiety ended abruptly at a set of traffic lights beyond which began a sliver settlement – an off-cut, somehow missed by the gentrification project. Single-storey houses arranged amidst a series of cul-de-sacs and one-way streets – Wandenleigh was Leke’s neighbourhood.

Leke stopped at Elias’s shop sitting on the corner of Nelson and Oxford. It was an eighteen-metre-square store called The Corner Shop. The rumour was that the shop was as old as Elias, that he’d been born there and any day now the old man would die there leaving on the shelves, amongst the odd wares he sold, a half-empty stippled bottle of calamine lotion, an ornate bird cage with the wire door missing and a multi-coloured selection of unpackaged toothbrushes. At the entrance of the store was a basket full of un-matched socks. Keen customers who had been drawn in by the “five rand a sock” poster complained, but Elias said socks didn’t need to match if you were going to wear them with boots.

In the corner of the shop was a thin mattress where, during the day, Elias arranged his goods of scarves, shoes and old collectable tins. At night he slept on the mattress with Whitie, the four-legged woman in his life. The Great Dane was eighty-four centimetres tall at the withers and just under one-ninety on her hind legs. Her shiny jet black coat ironically explained the choice of her name.

People wondered how Elias survived but, while most of his stock never seemed to move, he sold a great number of heavy duty black bags to a loyal group of customers; to those who cared to garden he sold flower seeds.

‘Elias!’ Leke stuck his head through the entrance of the store.

‘Come, come,’ Elias replied from somewhere at the back of the room.

‘I’m in a hurry today,’ Leke said into the shadows, shifting his weight from one leg to the other and peering in.

‘Come in, Leke.’

‘No. Can’t stay, Elias,’ he shifted his weight again.

‘Whitie’s in the back, Leke. You can come in.’

Leke stayed where he was. Elias came out from the store-room and fiddled with the back door knob. Leke understood this gesture was for his benefit. The week before the back door had been unlocked and the Great Dane had pushed through and frightened Leke. Today the door was locked – Leke stepped into the shop. The cement screed floor was covered with a weary zebra rug that looked as if it had crawled into the middle of the space and died there. The ceiling was blackened from an old fire and a blue portable stove stood near the mattress. Everyone knew Elias used it to cook, but he insisted it was for sale. An orange sign with white lettering in the shop window had once claimed that everything inside had a price –  including the shop owner. One day a woman from another neighbourhood who came into his shop insisted she wanted to buy Whitie. After that Elias took the sign down.

‘Hey, Elias.’

‘Hey, Leke. Why the rush?’

‘Paying rent.’

‘Ah. Okay. I won’t keep you. What today?’

‘Four O’Clocks. Five packs please.’

‘Four O’Clocks. Four O’clocks. Always the same thing, how come? Look I’ve got Snapdragons, Sweet Pea, some Daisies,’ Elias pointed to pictures of various flowers pasted onto kebab sticks he’d planted in small flower pots and arranged on the counter.

‘No, just the Four O’Clocks.’

Elias shrugged and took five packs of the perennial seed out of the drawer behind the counter.

‘Well, I guess some people like Roses, you’re a Four O’clockskinda guy,’ he chuckled at his own joke.

Leke took out a brown envelope from his backpack, in it was the exact amount of money for the seeds. He placed the envelope on the counter and stared at it while he waited. The old man gave him the five packs and tucked one pack of Snapdragons into Leke’s top pocket. He began to protest.

‘I insist. No charge. Just want you to spread out a bit,’ Elias was enjoying the young man’s nervousness. He rubbed his thickened fingers over grey speckled jowls, wheezing from a lifetime of smoking. His hoarse laughter exposed yellowed teeth and a purple tongue.

‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome. Let me know when they come out, hey?’ Elias shouted as Leke left his shop and walked up Oxford bridge.





When he got to his front gate he paused to catch his breath. Walking up the driveway he pulled out another brown envelope, identical to the one he’d given to Elias. It too had an exact amount of money in it. He walked up to the front door and knocked.

‘Who is it?’

It was a Victorian-style house. The grey roof shingles reminded Leke of the scales of a fish, he imagined the tiles writhing. The pipes carrying the rain water from the roof down to the gutters were made of copper. At the back of the house a room had been added and to the side was the garage where Leke lived. He’d never been inside the house but he believed Widow Marais lived in the doorway. He imagined that on the other side of the door he knocked on every month to hand in the rent, she had her whole life set up. He made up a story that her husband had died of a violent disease and had, in his last minutes of life, run crazy through most of the house. The only part he never ran through was the doorway, so she moved her life into this threshold and was now waiting for her own death.

He’d named her the Rhododendron because, although she looked frail on all encounters with her, she’d talked hard.





Leke had first seen the Rhododendron plant at a flower show Jane had taken him to at the National Botanical gardens.

Jane had studied Botany. Leke didn’t know what happened but he realised she never worked as a Botanist, he grew up knowing his mom was a part-time Science teacher at a boys school in Rondebosch.

Her love for plants never changed though and Leke spent most of his childhood in her large garden, first rocking in a crib as she worked the soil and then planting with her. The flower show was a special occasion and Jane wore a hat and her favourite dress which was purple and pink chiffon. Leke liked putting his cheek to the fabric whenever she hugged him.

They’d walked between the flower beds, holding hands and Jane had explained each display, the name of the flower, the family it came from and under what conditions it thrived.

‘This is the RhododendrumponticumLeke,’ she’d pointed at a collection of flowers and Leke forgot the ice-cream she’d bought him and listened. The flower reminded him of Jane’s dress, purple and wavy in the light wind.

‘It has poison though, don’t be fooled by its appearance,’ and she’d clasped the back of his neck with her thumb and forefinger, sucking her tongue as Leke giggled from her touch.

‘Rent,’ Leke shouted at the one-hundred-year-old hardwood door.

‘Put it through,’ the Rhododendron screeched.

She was going blind and never left her house. Once a week her niece, Esmeralda, came by, not on a visit of care, Leke thought, but rather to see if her aunt had made it through another week. He heard the widow slap her cane against the flap in the door where the postman shoved the mail. He pushed the envelope through, but didn’t hear it hit the floor.

‘Bye,’ Leke said.

Widow Marais growled.

There was a thick hedge along the side of the house that divided the Marais compound into two unequal halves. Widow Marais’s half was wild with overgrown bush. Leke crossed into his half, cutting through the hedge, careful not to scratch his ankles on the plant’s thorns. If he hadn’t needed to pay rent he’d just have used his own private entrance. That was one of the things that had attracted him to the place. The advert had said:

Small converted garage room. Separate entrance. R800 per month. Toilet. Shower. Sink. Available now. Phone Jeanine Marais 021 448 8811.

Leke had called.

‘Yes?’

‘Uhm… I’m calling about-’

‘Yes?’

‘The garage room?’

‘Still available. How old?’

‘I…you mean-’

‘Age. Your age?’

‘Twenty-five,’ he’d lied.

‘Children? Pets?’

‘No. No.’

‘Job?’

‘Yes, I-.’

‘Where?’

Leke gave her his manager’s phone number. He’d been working there for almost a year and felt he could now afford to rent a place of his own. The next day Leke called Jeanine Marais back as she’d asked him to.

‘Fine,’ she said. ‘How soon?’

‘One question.’

It had been the reason he’d responded to her advert and if she’d thought it odd, she hadn’t cared enough to argue. The next day Leke moved into Widow Marais’s “garage room”, bringing all his possessions with him: his atlas collection, his small wardrobe of clothing, his mattress, his dark blue backpack, and Red, Leke’s dearest friend – an old rusting Volvo 200 series station wagon.

Read more on the Bakwa Magazine website

Monday 13 May 2013

A Library is Set Ablaze--Requiem for Achebe


Mrs Kalango delivered this tribute at a tribute evening organised by the Rainbow Book Club at the British Council office, Port Harcourt, in honour of Professor Chinua Achebe on Friday 26th April.

I believe it was Amadou Hampete Ba, the Malien writer, who said En Afrique, chaque vieillard qui mort, c’est une bibliotheque qui brule. I would translate this to mean ‘Every African elder that passes on is a library set ablaze’.

While the Rainbow Book Club members and friends were gathered at Le Meridien, Ogeyi Place, Port Harcourt, on 20th March 2013 to mark World Poetry Day by turning the light on a genre of literature that does not always get the attention it deserves, unknown to us, in faraway Boston Massachusetts, the light was dimming for our honourary member, the revered author, Professor Chinua Achebe.  Achebe passed away on the 21st of March 2013.

Chinua Achebe signified different things to different people. To the Rainbow Book Club, he was an invaluable ‘member’; his keynote address at our 2011 Garden City Literary Festival was his last public address in Nigeria. He is also the first author to have more than one book chosen as the Rainbow Book Club Book-of-the-Month within a space of four months.  

If I may get a bit personal, I would describe Chinua Achebe as my favourite storyteller. He has also encouraged my humble foray into poetry writing. In the late 90s, I sent in some poems to be considered for publication in Okike – An African Journal of New Writing which Prof Achebe had founded to encourage aspiring writers.  I felt validated when my poem, La Lumiere, was accepted and published in the March 1997 edition.

Like countless others, I was first introduced to Chinua Achebe as a student. It was while I was at the Federal Government Girls College Abuloma, Port Harcourt, in the 80s that I read Things Fall Apart. This powerful novel remains one of the few books I read over and over again. This book drew me to the other works of this great wordsmith whom God endowed with a rare ability to communicate serious issues in a simple but profound way.

I never imagined I would have the privilege of meeting Prof Achebe in person, but life has a way of springing surprises on us every now and then. The opportunity to presented itself in 1999 when my husband and I had just completed our post-graduate studies at the University of Lancaster and were working in London. One day, I got wind of the fact that Achebe was going to be a guest at the London Festival of Literature. I also learnt that on the same evening Wole Soyinka and Derek Walcott would be featured. Not even the caustic winter winds of that cold January evening could keep me away from the venue – a hall somewhere in East London.  I left my office in South Kensington immediately I closed so I could get a good seat at the programme. Soyinka delivered a lecture, Walcott recited his poetry and Achebe was interviewed by Alastair Niven – then Director of Literature at the British Council, London. It was on that fateful day I would meet my favourite storyteller in person. The copy of Things Fall Apart which Achebe autographed for me on that occasion remains a ‘collector’s’ item in my library. I even got to take a photograph with him!

The Rainbow Book Club’s story would be incomplete without mentioning Professor Achebe, for several reasons. For instance, when, in 2005 we were set to launch our ‘Get Nigeria Reading again!’ campaign, I sent word to Prof. Achebe through his childhood friend and Rainbow Book Club (RBC) patron, the late Senator Francis Ellah.  Although I got encouraging feedback from the Prof, he was unable to come to Port Harcourt for our programme, mainly because of ill health. He would later pen these priceless words of endorsement to us from New York : ‘The Rainbow Book Club stands to contribute immensely to Nigeria’s intellectual development and burgeoning democracy.' 

In 2008, when the world celebrated the 50th  anniversary of the publication of Things Fall Apart, reputed to be Africa’s most popular novel,  we tried once again to get Professor Achebe to be guest author at our ‘Get Nigeria Reading again!’ campaign but that was not to be. We however got the Prof’s blessing to feature him as our writer in focus, even if he would not be physically present. That year was special to our work as we kicked off our practice of getting role models to read to children by having the highly esteemed former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, read to over 100 children at the UN House in Abuja, from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

Three years down the line, as we prepared for the Garden City Literary Festival 2011 with the theme Literature and Politics, we thought Achebe was the ideal person to deliver the keynote address so once again we went knocking at his door. One would think that by this time he would be fed up of our insistent calling on him and even be irritated at our persistence, but not Prof Achebe. Unable to make it to Port Harcourt, he sent his son Dr. Chidi Achebe all the way from the US, to deliver his keynote address. He even went further by sending a personal video greeting to the festival, which was played just before Dr. Achebe delivered the address. That year, our drama in focus was a stage adaptation of his book A Man of the People.  

When Prof Achebe released his latest and what has turned out to be his last work, the Rainbow Book Club followed with keen interest the debate it stirred up. There Was a Country was our natural choice for book- of- the- month for January 2013. Our January reading was one of the liveliest we have ever had.  There Was a Country remains a bestseller in Nigeria. How do we know when a book is a bestseller in Nigeria? Simple - when pirated copies are being sold by hawkers in the streets!

Referring to the proverb I quoted at the beginning, we can say that with Achebe’s demise a library has been set ablaze, but we must not let it burn to ashes. What we must do is aspire to catch the fire that burned in Achebe’s heart that caused him to relentlessly and continually speak out on issues that affected our country and our common humanity.

On our part for instance, the Rainbow Book Club continues to call for the establishment of library centres in at least every Local Government Area in Nigeria, in order to help restore the Nigeria that produced the likes of Chinua Achebe.  We can all light our candles from the embers of the flames coming from the burning library of this great man’s demise and shine from our various communities by standing up for the things Achebe fought for – dignity for the ‘black’ man, justice, good governance, exemplary leadership, etc.

Finally we can still benefit from the library that Achebe represents through the many legacies that he has left behind. These include the Heinemann African Writer’s series of which he was pioneer editor, the Association of Nigerian Authors which he founded,  Okike, the aforementioned journal  which he established, the Achebe Colloquium for Africa, set up to strengthen peace and democracy in Africa and above all, the library of books he has bequeathed to the world.

Night has come for our beloved storyteller, teacher, intellectual and fighter. A library has been set ablaze. Against the dark skies, let the light of this library glow till it is Morning Yet on Creation Day.

Koko Kalango
Founder, Rainbow Book Club 

Sunday 12 May 2013

Yewande Omotoso: On Writing Bom Boy

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 and was published in South Africa by Modjaji Books. She is currently working on her second novel. Yewande lives in Johannesburg. In this piece, she writes about her experience working on her first novel Bom Boy.

I made the conscious decision, in the year 2008, to apply for a Masters in Creative Writing. I’d heard a lot about the MA programme at the University of Cape Town. When I applied, I’d been writing something, mostly aimless and rambling. What I would later learn is that I tend to do a lot of aimless rambling writing. One of the things I hope I learnt at UCT is to have the courage--or madness--to do two things.

First, to keep bumping around in the proverbial literary darkness and when I stumble on something solid and true to recognise it and pick it up. Second, to admit that I’ve rambled and rambled and gone around in circles, admit that “there’s nothing here”, put away the pen or the laptop, stash the already written pages somewhere and move on. 

Those initial ramblings, over the course of my masters degree, would get edited, massaged, re-written and re-written and would, sometime at the far end, turn into Bom Boy

So Bom Boy got mined from these rambling thoughts. About social isolation, being on the outside, about wanting people (friends) but not knowing how to get them. About being foreign. My character morphed. I started out thinking I’d write about someone so sick he kills people and feels nothing about it. It didn’t work and eventually Leke developed into a strange, even scary, person, but not a killer. In the early days of the manuscript, he captures someone who becomes a big part of the story – that didn’t make it. In the early early days both Oscar and Leke were the same character. Until one day, only with the astute feedback from a classmate, I realised the person I was writing as one character was actually a father and a son. I split the atom.

My experience of writing was very humbling. I had to learn--I don’t think you ever stop--how to hear what is working in the story and what is not. And, while I had ideas about what kind of story I wanted to tell, I had to accept when I was wrong and be willing to change.

I wrote the first ending of the book and my supervisor told me everything didn’t have to tie together so neatly. I agreed with her so I wrote an ending that both she and I liked, that ending made it to the published version of the book. But now several people who read Bomboy tell me that the ending is too abrupt, what happened to Leke afterwards, what happened?  

In writing Bom Boy I learnt to be headstrong, to keep putting words on a page even when they were not good or just plain bad. I learnt to keep moving along. You’ll edit later. I learnt to not pay too much attention to the voice that reminds me how useless I am at writing stories, how no one cares and no one’s going to bother. For Bomboy I was working fulltime as an architect so I would write in the very early hours of the morning, each day before work. When I was desperate I would write during my lunch-breaks. As always I read copiously. Being in the masters programme--there were about ten or fifteen of us:  English language graduates, professional script writers, writers, journalists, jewellery artists and so on--made for an exciting time and I have fond memories of my experience. I also made some new friends. 

My supervisor was invaluable to me while I was writing Bomboy but so too was Kira, another masters student in my class. Kira and I struck up a partnership, agreeing to read and comment on each other’s work weekly. Another pair of eyes is something that makes a difference for me in my writing process. It’s icky and difficult because I only want to hear the good stuff. But you have to be willing to hear the bad stuff in order to at least make an attempt at turning it into good. Receiving honest feedback is not my strong point (I’m not the most gracious) but it is an anchor.

After almost two years, in October of the year 2010, I finished the manuscript and handed it in to the university. I also submitted it to a potential publisher before UCT even had a chance to mark it. I was impatient. I know a lot of writers who hold back their work, polishing it, making it better and better. I admire this and I also do it. However in addition to being a perfectionist I have a perfectionist-overflow valve that goes “look, it’s not perfect--it probably would never be--but you’ve worked and worked and worked on it. It’s okay for some things to end. When you start your next project you will build on this and get better.”

So I completed Bom Boy. I had told a story. I didn’t think it was perfect, but it was as close as I could get to perfection at the time. And part of the job, it seems, is to keep jumping for that.

Saturday 11 May 2013

Call for Entries: ANA Literary Prize


The Association of Nigerian Authors [ANA] hereby calls for entries for its 2013 Annual Literary Prizes. Nigerian writers, home and abroad, desirous of entering their works for the Annual Literary Prizes, may now do so. Works entered should have been published between March 2012 and May 2013.

Requirements

  • Six copies (6) of the book or manuscript to be entered, specifying the Prize being entered for, alongside a covering letter and the photocopy of a receipt evidencing payment of annual dues to a State Chapter in the year of entry (2013) should be sent to:
The General Secretary,
Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA),
C/o Suite 63,
National Theatre Complex,
Iganmu
Lagos.


  • The covering letter should contain accurate contact details of the writer or/and publisher of the work, including email and surface mail addresses and telephone numbers. The Association will not take responsibility for entries sent by post nor will it claim registered parcels in cases where it has to pay for such parcels.
  • Multiple entries, where applicable, are allowed but a work must not have been entered for the same prize prior to the present entry and it must have been published between March 2012 and May2013
  • All entries must be accompanied with the photocopy of an official RECEIPT from a State Chapter of ANA evidencing payment of dues for the year of entry—2012.

The Prizes
ANA/Chevron Prose Prize on Environmental Issues (Prose) $2,000.00 (published works only).
ANA/Esiaba Irobi Prize for Playwrighting. N50, 000.00 (published & unpublished works).
ANA/Lantern Books Prize for Children’s Fiction N 100, 000.00 (unpublished works only, ages 8 – 15). Winning entry to be published by Lantern Books.
ANA Prize for Poetry (published & unpublished) – N 100, 000.
ANA Prize for Prose Fiction (published & unpublished) – N 100, 000.
ANA Prize for Drama (published & unpublished) – N 100, 000.
ANA Prize for Literary Journalism – N 100, 000 (Deadline: September 30, 2012).
ANA/NECO Teen Author Prize (prose) N 100, 000.00 (published & unpublished works).
ANA/Mazariyya Teen Author Prize (poetry) N 50, 000.00 (published & unpublished works).

SPECIFIC GUIDELINES for Teen Authors Prize
1. Entrants must be students in any secondary school in Nigeria.
2. Entries must be a collection or a single story of between 35 – 40 pages for prose or poetry.
3. Illustration (optional).
4. Accompanying documents are:
(i) Signed letter of identification from school principal on school letterhead.
(ii) Two passport photographs, name, and copy of birth certificate of the entrant.
(iii) Entrant's school admission letter (photocopy).
(iv) Current cumulative record of entrant’s academic performance (junior or secondary school).
(v) Letter of consent from parents.
(vi) Entrant’s [or their guardian’s] email, and surface mail address and phone number.
5. Unpublished entries (in four copies) should be properly bound.

Deadline for the receipt of ALL entries, asides the Prize for Literary Journalism, for the 2012 ANA Literary Prizes is May 30, 2013. A shortlist will be announced in early October, 2013.

Winners of the prizes will be announced by the judges at the Awards Dinner during the 32nd International Annual Convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors in October, 2013.

More information can be found here

Friday 10 May 2013

Invitation: PHWBC Press Conference in Lagos


The Rainbow Book Club invites everyone to a press conference, TODAY, Friday May 10th by 3.30pm at the Multipurpose hall of the University of Lagos, Hall C. 

The Lagos press conference is building on the one that held in Port Harcourt on Tuesday April 23 marking the countdown to Port  Harcourt being the UNESCO World Book Capital in 2014.

Participants in the press conference would include Rivers State government officials, members of the Port Harcourt World Book Capital Implementing Team and representatives of the Nigeria Publishers Association, the Nigeria Booksellers Association , the Nigeria Library Association and other stakeholders.

This would be an avenue fore everyone to know more about the year-round plans in celebration of Port Harcourt as the World Book Capital City, 2014.  

The countdown has officially started!

RBC Pays Tribute to Chinua Achebe

The Rainbow Book Club in partnership with the British Council Port Harcourt, organised a tribute evening in honour of the late  Prof. Chinua Achebe on the 26th of April 2013 at the Council Office. Read the report below.

The evening began with opening remark s by Ms. Ijeoma Agruba,  the Centre Manager of the Council Office in Port Harcourt; this was followed by  a reading of Achebe’s biography by Mrs. Judy Nwanodi, a trustee of the Rainbow Book.  Gabriel Okara, celebrated poet and author, set the tone for the tributes with his moving tribute on Achebe whom he said was not dead but lived on in his work.

“Why We Love Things Fall Apart"--an open discussion on why the classic is held in such high regard was coordinated by PEN. Here people shared their favourite characters, scenes and proverbs in a book widely believed to have changed the way African literature was viewed by the rest of the world.

The beauty and simplicity of the language in Things Fall Apart with its proverbs and vivid imagery; the characters like Okonkwo--who rises above adversity against all odds; the book’s unique title; and the book's ability to yield itself to different age groups of readers, were all part of the reasons why TFA has endeared its self to generations .

The tributes continued with people sharing with the audience, different  Chinua Achebe books and poems they love. The founder of Rainbow Book Club, Mrs. Koko kalango  also delivered a moving tribute on Achebe who was an Honourary member of the club. Mrs Kalango told the audience how Achebe had supported the club's events including what was to be his last outing in Nigeria, when he delivered the keynote address at the 2011 Garden City Literary Festival. 

A one-minute silence was observed in honour of Late. Prof. Chinualumogu Achebe and this was followed by the signing of a condolence register, after which group photographs were taken.

--This report was sent in by Ucheoma Nwabunike

Thursday 9 May 2013

Favourite Five: Oyindamola Affinnih


Oyindamola Halima Affinnih was born in the 80's. She holds a degree in mass communication. She published her first short stories with HINTS t&b series and has written for a couple of newspapers. She also writes scripts for television and scripts contents for TV programmes. She presently works with a Public Relations firm in Abuja and is working on two more books.


The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Adichie
 It’s a collection of short stories that I really enjoyed reading. I liked the fact that you expect more and when you turn the page, you discover the story has ended. I had to get used to that, but in all, it was well put together. I love all Adichie’s books but there’s something about this one. 

Imagine This by Sade Adeniran
Sade Adeniran’s book is set in Idogun. Well-written. Sad too but the flow was awesome. This is the kind of book you don’t want to stop reading. For a début, I thought it was very good. The reviews drew me to it. After reading, I thought, it wasn’t even properly hyped. 

The Concubine by Elechi Amadi
I still can’t get over this beautiful book. Years after literature classes yet I still enjoy the book. I can’t get the picture out of my head. The beautiful scenes, the colourful characters. I remember the lizard that was supposed to be used for the sacrifice. I remember imagining what the sea-king looked like. I remember Ahurole, Emenike, Ekwueme and of course Ihuoma. Brilliant work.

I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Nwaubani
What’s not to love in this fact-paced, humorous book, really? Being a recipient of many of those fraudulent emails, Adaobi’s book really appealed to me. It was a fun read. Her power of description--especially of Cash Daddy’s dress sense-- awed me. Shiny, animal skin shoes. Hard not to enjoy.

Nine Lives by Elnukoya
It’s sometimes hard reading a novel twice. I have read this book more than once. More than twice actually. Bulky but worth every minute of my time. Nicely written and apt. It started and took me on an interesting ride. There was his background, the aiyelala sacrifice, the school cult. Then Elnukoya manages to sneak  some romance in between too. There was a particular line about buying clothes in the market. The buyer and seller nodding heads after the transaction, not knowing who cheated who or something like that. Great book.

Tuesday 7 May 2013

Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2013


Wasafiri is an international literary magazine that provides consistent coverage to Britain's diverse cultural heritage and publishes a range of diasporic and migrant writing worldwide. Wasafiri launched an annual New Writing Prize as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations in 2009. 

The Competition
The competition is open to anyone worldwide who has not published a complete book. We are looking for creative submissions in one of three categories: Poetry, Fiction or Life Writing. Simply fill in the entry form and send it to us with your entry and fee of UK Sterling £6.00 if entering one category, £10.00 for two and £15.00 for three categories. The closing date is 5pm GMT on 26 July 2013. Entrants who are visually impaired or who are prevented from typing through disability can enter work on audio CD.

Prizes:  £300 will be awarded to the winner of each category and their work will be published in Wasafiri.

Judges:
  • Susheila Nasta MBE (Chair) Editor of Wasafiri and Professor of Modern Literature at the Open University
  • Anthony Joseph Poet, novelist, academic and musician, author of three collections of poetry and a novel, The African Origins of UFOs
  • Tabish Khair Award-winning novelist, poet and critic, shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2010
  • Beverley Naidoo Writer for children and adults and winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Josette Frank Award
For more information, contact Wasafiri:  wasafiri@open.ac.uk



Monday 6 May 2013

Call for Submissions: Saraba Mag

Known for its high quality and rich content. Saraba Magazine has carved a niche for itself when it comes to writing in Africa. It has opened doors to many, created opportunities, to be read by the world. Here is your chance. Saraba Mag calls for entries for its next issue themed "Art".



John Keats, the eighteenth century English poet, after viewing the Parthenon, marble sculptures from Ancient Greece, proceeded to write ‘On Seeing the Elgin Marbles’; and also wrote ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ inspired by Classical Greek art.

There has to be something said of Art’s influence on Literature and vice versa.

In this issue, we explore the marriage, the intermingling of Art and Literature, exploring how these two expressions of creativity diverge and converge as they try to delve into humanity and reveal the myriad experiences present in the world.

For Saraba 14, we hope the works of writers reveal the influence of Art in their work, and in their lives.

 Please (only) submit your work at www.saraba.submittable.com/submit

Deadline: May 17, 2013



Sunday 5 May 2013

In Conversation: A.Igoni Barrett

Award winning writer Igoni Barrett is no stranger to the Garden City Literary Festival. In 2009, his collection of short stories From the Caves of the Rotten Teeth was chosen as book of the year at the GCLF. As a writer of the city, he is also a regular face at the festival. His latest book,  Love Is Power Or Something Like That will be released in May in the US, July in the UK, and August in Nigeria. 

He recently spoke in an interview with Literatinaija. Below is an excerpt. 

Bernard Ogedengbe: First, tell us about your background and childhood memories?
Igoni Barrett: I was born in Port Harcourt and spent most of my growing years there. I had a background not unlike that of many city-based Nigerians. My favourite pastime in those days was reading books. One childhood memory I still wonder about was a recurring wish to fly.

Bernard Ogedengbe: Your father — Lindsay Barrett — is an essayist, novelist and poet. Did this influence your decision in becoming a writer or was it something you always wanted to do?
Igoni Barrett: My father’s profession probably influenced me. I can’t tell you how though. Writing was not something I always wanted to do.

Bernard Ogedengbe: What books have had the most impact on you?
Igoni Barrett: There are too many to list. And the list is always evolving. But I have an essay published online that names several books that are important to me. It’s entitled “On Becoming a Writer: I Want to Be a Book.”

Bernard Ogedengbe: Most people dream of writing a book. It’s not surprising that fame, credibility, celebrity status and fortune are associated with authorship. How did the writing journey start for you?
Igoni Barrett: There are many easier ways of becoming a celebrity than writing books. And I’ll be surprised if I ever make a fortune off writing. I suspect my need to write started with my love of reading. But I made the decision to become a writer after I realised that I would never be fulfilled doing anything else.

Bernard Ogedengbe: Your kind of music?
Igoni Barrett: My taste in music ranges wide. Tupac, Fela, Mozart, to name a few.

Bernard Ogedengbe: Any advice for young aspiring authors?
Igoni Barrett: Write first to please yourself. And try not to be too easily pleased.

Saturday 4 May 2013

Parresia Foundation Launches



This event has been postponed by the organisers. More information will be shared when available

This is to invite you to the launch of the Parrésia Foundation for Arts and Literature which will hold at Freedom Park, Onikan, Lagos Island, on the 11th of May, 2013 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The Parrésia Foundation for Arts and Literature is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria to actively participate in arts and literary development in the country while adding to the value of indigenous arts and literature in the global marketplace of ideas. Our core aim is to see the recognition of arts and literature, in terms of government policy, administrative practice and corporate social responsibility, as an active component of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

In order to achieve this, the Foundation, founded by Mrs. Azafi Omoluabi and Barr. Richard Ali who own Parrésia Publishers Ltd which is Nigeria’s most innovative publishing company, have set up a fourteen-person Board of Advisers headed by Otunba Ayodeji Osibogun, Chairman of WTS Nigeria. Other members are the leading academic Prof. Hope Eghagha, Honourable Commissioner for Higher Education Delta State, international awards winning author Helon Habila and Dr. Aito Ofure of the Lagos State University. An independent administration, headed by an Executive Secretary to be appointed, who will report to this Board quarterly.

The Foundation will source funds from donors and from its endowment to undertake six major programmes.
1. Parrésia Residency Programme
Four Parrésia Residency programs, three for Literature and one for Visual Arts, will be hosted by four universities in Nigeria for a period of no longer than twelve weeks each. 
2. Annual Parrésia Lecture
A distinguished international personality and thinker would be required to present a structured paper on a topic of great moment as regards Nigerian arts and literature specifically and the social sciences generally. 
3. National Reading Campaigns
These campaigns will be targeted at government secondary schools, both at the Federal and State levels. 
4. Book Festival and Publisher’s Parley
This will be a yearly event to be hosted with all stakeholders in the book industry, to both raise the profile of books in the public consciousness and to afford a platform for publishers from across West Africa and Africa to parley on the way forward.
5. Advocacy and Workshops
These will be designed and targeted at government ministries and departments related to the books in Nigeria; principally, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of the Interior, Customs, universal Basic Education Boards and similar parastatals/MDA’s. 
6. Nigeria Translations Committee
This Committee will be set up to carry out the following objectives—
i. Scout for, prepare for publication and publish creation myths and national epics of indigenous Nigerian ethnicities in both indigenous language [in the appropriate script] and in English. 
ii. Make the national epics of other countries available in cheap English editions for the local Nigerian audience.
iii. Create an inter-textual basis for the unity of various Nigerian ethnicities.

Parrésia Publishers Ltd, as a part of its corporate social responsibility, will endow the Foundation with 5% of its profits every year and will encourage like-minded corporate organizations to pledge to the Foundation with a mind to it becoming a grant-giving institution within five years. 

The general public is cordially invited to this event and copies of the invitation cards can be viewed and downloaded here

RSVP via email to azafi@parresia.com.ng and via telephone to +234 806 239 2145 and +234 806 239 2145.

Azafi Omoluabi 
Managing Editor
Parrésia Publishers Ltd
No. 9 Oluwole Close, Okota, Lagos.

Richard Ali
Chief Operating Officer
Parrésia Publishers Ltd
No. 9 Oluwole Close, Okota, Lagos.
+234 806 239 2145