Lagos Book and Art Festival, yearly literary activities will kick off on 5th November. The festival, which will be hosting different seminars, is targeted at developing the minds of Nigerian youths for purpose of national development. Opening event is Cora Book Trek to feature readings and conversations around newest books on the Nigerian shelf at The Garden, British Council, Ikoyi. Participants will have opportunity to interact with writers, culture icons, celebrities and members of the literary circuits.
This is will be followed by Reader’s Forum with the theme Leaders as Readers on 7th at Kongi’s Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos Island with Columnist Reuben Abati as moderator. Poet and Essayist, Mr Odia Ofeimun and playwright and journalist, Mr Ben Tomoloju will be moderating a colloquium with the theme Imagining The New Country at Kongi’s Harvest’s Art, Freedom Park on 9th.
On the 10th at Freedom Park will be two seminars starting with the theme Processes of Nation Building-2 which will feature reading and discussions around Helen Zile’s Without A Fight and Obafemi Awolowo’s Path To Nigerian Freedom to be moderated by Professor and Head of Directing, Southern Illinois University USA, Segun Ojewuyi on the10th. To be followed with the theme Intergenerational Dialogue presenting two phases titled What was the Plan? of persons born 30-10 years before independence featuring Prof Akin Mabogunje, A Measure of Grace and Titus Okereke’ Our Father’s Land. What we Plan will include persons born 15-20 years after independence and it will feature Chude Jideonwo’s Are We The Turning Point Generation, Eghosa Imasuen’s To St Patrick and Abubakar Adam’s Seasons of Crimsons Blossoms.
The festival will round off with a special session Keys to the Knowledge Economy…Building the Capable State-3 on November 11th at Freedom Park, Lagos. This session will be moderated by Poets and Literary activist Aduke Gomez while the Special Guest of honour Mr Kingsley Moghalu will be talking on two sub themes such as Build, Innovate and Grow (Big): My Vision For (Nigeria) and Emerging Africa, How the Global Economy’s ‘Last Frontier’ Can Prosper and Matter.