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Tag: Abuja writers forum

  • Sylva, former Bayelsa Gov, for Abuja Writers’ forum

    The Abuja Writers’ Forum has introduced a new segment to its monthly Guest Writers’ session. The October session which holds next week Saturday, October 27, is to be headlined by Chief Timipre Sylva.

    He is to make a debut on the new segment called Take Five, a segment where high profile personalities talk of five books that have impacted their lives. The former governor is a book enthusiast.  He studied English Language / Linguistics at the University of Port Harcourt.

    He was the Executive Secretary of the National Minority Business Council, Port Harcourt, before he dabbled to politics.

    The two writers for the session are: Jide Badmus and Winnie Edmund Kanu. The event which is open to the public holds at the Aso Hall of Nanet Suites from 4pm to 7pm. It will feature readings, Questions and Answer Session, live music and a raffle-draw for books.

    Badmus lives and writes from Lagos. In 2017 he was on the EGC Top 50 Contemporary Poets who rocked Nigeria. An electrical engineer by profession, he regards himself as a literary promoter and poet who is inspired by nature and beauty. He is the author of two poetry collections There is a storm in my head (2017) and Scripture (2018).

    Some of his literary works have appeared in national dailies, blogs and online journals such as Dugwe, Kalahari Review, Dwarts Online (among others).

    Kanu is the author of Untainted (2018), a romance novella.  She is a Certified Document Control Specialist and has a professional Certificate in Quality Management and Internal Audit. She graduated from Lagos State University with a B.A in English Language and a Diploma in Law from Delta State University, Abraka.

    She believes that arts is one of the most powerful medium available for re-orientating the masses and achieving the needed change in the society.

    Ms Kanu is the Programmes Coordinator and Administrative Head on (Human City Media Advocacy Initiative)- a Project sponsored by International Organizations in Rivers States.

  • AWF revives abuja literary festival

    The Abuja Writers Forum (AWF) is happy to announce the return of the Abuja Literary Festival which will run from June 28 to 30, 2018 in Abuja.

    The Festival is being re-launched to mark the tenth anniversary of the Abuja Writers Forum which began its literary activities in June 2008.

    It will feature bookrama sessions with authors from within and outside Abuja, panel discussions, film screenings, drama performances, an international art and photo exhibition, poetry performances, a five-day drama workshop, a book exhibition and a script-pitch.

    The workshop is designed for potential dramatists between the ages of 18-35, focusing on developing scripts relevant to societal development and will be facilitated by two experienced dramatists.

    There would also be a one day digital media training for the workshop participants as part of the Festival. The objective is for the participants to recognise that story-telling has now become multiplatform and they should start appreciating relevant digital tools for writing, editing, formatting and production. This is significant because digital literacy has become important across board, and creative writers need to become aware of the enormous potential the platform offers for production and distribution.

    The Abuja Literary Festival made its debut in 2008 and enjoyed the support of a few stakeholders including the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NNLG) company. More details of the Abuja Literary Festival will be announced in the coming weeks.

     

  • Abuja Writers’ Forum hosts Nwoye, others

    Abuja Writers’ Forum hosts Nwoye, others

    Abuja Writers’ Forum(AWF) will host the trio of May Ifeoma Nwoye, Seth Ogahi and Ladi Opaluwa on Saturday, for this month’s session, at the Aso Hall, Nanet Suites, Ekiti House,  Abuja.

    Nwoye, a professor of Business Administration and former university bursar, is a prolific writer of fiction. She made her debut with Endless Search in 1993, and by 2014 she had written an impressive collection of novels and short stories which includes:   Tides of Life (1995), Mirage in Breaking the Silence: (Anthology of Female writers in Nigeria) 1996, Edible pet 1995: Short story International, New York,  Blind Expectations (a collection of stories) 1997;  Death By Installments (1999); A Child Of Destiny (2000); Fetters And Choices (2003); Ancient Tales From Africa: The Broken Promise (2009); Oil Cemetery  (2014);  Broken Melodies (international version of Fetters and Choices) (2014).

    Her writings address social and economic injustices in the Nigerian context. She was short-listed in 2004 for the NLNG prize for Literature, and was winner of the 2014 Nigerian Author’s Chevron Prize for Environment.

    Nwoye is one of the most ardent and eloquent voices for social and economic justice. The award-winning Oil Cemetery x-rays the sufferings and deprivation in Niger-Delta and calls for non-violent conflict resolution.

    Opaluwa is a creative writer with background in journalism. Her fiction appeared recently in Electric Literature and Litro magazine, and she has a story forthcoming in Overland Journal.

    She was shortlisted for the Morland Writing Scholarship (fiction) in 2015, and is a 2017 MacDowell Fellow. She is based in Abuja where she is currently working on her debut novel.

    She will read from one of her short stories and give a talk on her recent writing residency experience at MacDowell.

    But, Ogahi plays rhythm guitar and percussion. A graduate of English Literature from Benue State University, he started his music career fully  in 2008   and by 2009 was the writer and performer of the theme song for the year’s National Youth Summit that gathered over 120000 people at Eagle Square, Abuja Nigeria ; the largest of the yearly event till date.

    In 2010 at Arise Nigeria Music and Talent Competition Season 2 where he won first prize, judges like TeeMac Iseli and Kelly Adams boldly projected that Seth has the potential to become one of the greatest musician of his time. Mrs Olando Owo, another judge made a startling remark that Seth reminds her of legends such as Bob Marley and John Lennon with deep lyrics and hypnotic performance. And he truly left the audience at the theater of Lagos Television, Agidingbi with rich lyrics and lively performance that would always remain with them.

  • Abuja Writers’ Forum hosts trio

    Abuja Writers’ Forum hosts trio

    Continuing the tradition, the regular Guest Writer Session of the Abuja Writers’ Forum (AWF) will on Saturday, March 29, beam its spotlight on three artistes.

    This was disclosed by Abdullahi Abubakar, AWF’s Public Relations Officer, in a statement.

    Of the trio, two of them, Iresiri Samson and Olayinka Oyegbile are writers, while third is Zainab Sule, a musician.

    Iresiri, a reporter, editor and social media manager with the Abuja-based Daily Trust (Media Trust Ltd)  holds a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communication from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and two certificates in Film Making and Television Production from the National Film Institute and the Nigerian Television College respectively.

    A web content manager, across several CMS platforms, and public speaker, especially on creative writing, Iresiri writes and executes social media campaign plans for all budgets and manage social media profiles for individuals and corporate organisation.

    He published his debut poetry collection, ‘What Can Words Do?’ in 2013. And one of the poems from the collection, ‘Where is The Breathe of Fresh Air’, won the Orange Crush 1st Prize for Poetry 2012. Iresiri also founded the Words Rhymes & Rhythm Group, an initiative which started from a single blog and Facebook page but now has a combined fan base of over 15,000 across several social media networks.

    Oyegbile, the author of Home Away From Home: History of Ogbomosho Peope In Jos’ is also the deputy editor of The Nation on Sunday. He was born and raised in Jos, Plateau State. Although his parents are from Ogbomoso in Oyo State, he never left the north until he was almost a teenager. Until his secondary school days, his hometown was just a name because he felt at home in Jos and other parts of the north where he had lived and travelled widely.

    After his secondary education in Kwara State, he worked in Jos for about four years before he proceeded to Bayero University, Kano (BUK) where he graduated with a degree (Second Class Upper) in Mass Communication. He also holds a Postgraduate degree from the University of Jos. It was while working in Jos that he honed his craft as a writer and journalist by freelancing for The Nigeria Standard Newspapers and writing play scripts for both radio and television stations. His stories have been published both at home and abroad.

    The love of journalism took him away from Jos to join The Guardian newspapers in Lagos. He has since worked with The Punch, Daily Independent, TELL magazine, NEXT Newspapers where he was Associate Editor from where he joined The Nation.

    Although ‘Home Away From Home: History of Ogbomosho Peope In Jos’ is his first published book, he has written a couple of short stories and travelogues. He is one of Nigeria’s most travelled journalists and has won several international awards. Among these are World Health Organisation (WHO), Public Health Reporting Fellowship, American Cancer Society Fellowship, the prestigious Knight Fellowship and a host of others. He is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and has been the lead Country Reporter for the Washington DC based Global Integrity yearly publication titled CORRUPTION NOTEBOOK.

    In a recent interview he said, “Journalism has snatched me from writing fiction. My dream was to be a writer and that I have achieved with my journalism and I have been rewarded with numerous awards that have taken me to almost all corners of the globe. My book, Home Away From Home, is my offering to making Nigeria a great nation as some of the ones I have visited.”

    The third Guest, Sule, is a professional web designer and also a singer and songwriter who does rock music. Her music has been described as being a “mixture of Tracy Chapman and Avril Lavigne, mixed with a touch of soul.”

    Zainab also holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Jos, and 3 CIW (Certified Internet Webmaster) Certifications in Web Design. When she’s not writing songs, or on some musical tour somewhere, you’ll find Zainab working as a consultant to some major companies under her company name and alter ego, Pishon Designs.

    Just three years into her blossoming career as a professional musician, Zainab already has two full length albums, some amazing singles, countless reviews and many performances in Nigeria and beyond. Her albums are available on iTunes and other online stores, and she also has a book of Poetry available on Amazon Kindle. She’s currently working on her live acoustic sessions and more music videos to promote her sound.

    The Guest Writer Session, which started in June 2008, holds at the prestigious Nanet Suites located at the Central Business District in Abuja, and runs from 4-7pm on the last Saturday of every month. It also features side attractions of poetry performance, mini art exhibition, a raffle-draw for books, and a stirring dose of live music.

  • Thrilling moments at Abuja writers’ forum

    Thrilling moments at Abuja writers’ forum

    With each impending episode of the Abuja Writers’ Forum (AWF) Guest Writer Series comes a lot of expectations, especially for the literary enthusiasts who have followed the progress of the event, now in its 6th year.

    This is due to a reputation of consistency, innovation and exciting delivery of the best of creative writing, backed with other frills. The January edition was not an exception, more so as it seemed to be a sign of what Nigeria’s literary community should expect in 2014.

    The event which held on January 25th at Nanet Suites, Abuja, featured three guests; Michaela Moye and Sammy Sage Hassan (poets) and a fashion designer, Grace Ojo. And they did provide a thrilling kickstart.

    Michaela was the first of the three guests to serve the audience a piece of her artistic ingenuity. She read from Relieved, her debut collection of poems and short stories. A writer and editor, Moye has worked with various publications including NEXT and Leadership Newspaper. A graduate of Law at the University of Abuja, Moye her early journalistic work involved writing and editing entertainment stories for the Leadership Newspaper, in the course of which she interviewed Hollywood actors, Danny Glower and Forest Whitaker.

    Fashion designer, Grace Ibironke Ojo took her turn soon after Moye. But she did not read from lines written on paper, she read through a line-up of pretty and smart models that did a catwalk to showcase her marvelous designs. Roars of applause welcomed piece after piece of her Nigerian fashion creations. She showcased 12 dresses which proved right, her description of her style of dresses as simple, stylish and sophisticated, which she delivers through her label, Grazee Stitches. Ojo has a degree in Political Science and a Masters in Public Policy and Administration. She is an advertising executive at the Leadership Newspapers.

    Sammy Sage was the last act of the night but in no way the least. He drew his presentation from his latest publication, Dream Maker.  Indeed he made dreams for the audience as many would dream of his thrilling rendition nights after the event. Being Nigeria’s premiere and foremost spoken word poet, he proved his abilities with his lyrical delivery that left the audience clapping and screaming with excitement. Sage has performed before audiences across Nigeria and in South Africa. He has released three poetry albums and three poetry videos, appearing in events like the hip hop world award show, ThisDay Music Festival and Arts Alive’s speak the mind in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    He has also done brand poems, which are poetry created for companies and products, for Unilever, Coca Cola, MTN, Celtel, Nigerian Breweries Limited and Diageo etc.

    After their individual presentations, the guests returned for the interactive session, during which they fielded questions from the audience. Responding to the question of why she chose to have a combination of poems and short stories in one collection, Michaela Moye said she had started her writing with poetry but was not confident of her quality so when she started writing short stories and eventually got to publishing a collection, she thought it wise to include her poems in the collection so that the stories would push the poems.

    Also responding to a question of what informed her choice of the theme of rape and violence against women, which has appeared in a handful of poems, Moye said she was inspired to lend her voice against bullying, rape and sexual violence because the crimes are widespread in the society but enough attention is not being paid to the fight against them. It is her own way of fighting the vices, she said.

    Sage revealed that he has a collection of poems that will be produced on a CD later this year, in answer to an overwhelmed member of the audience who was curious to know if he had plans of bringing out his work in other media that will enhance its promotion to the global audience.

    On her part, Grace Ojo who was praised for her creative use of local Nigerian fabrics, was drawn to describe the qualities of her brand that sets her apart from the local tailors, in answer to which she said Grazee Stiches is far more professional in the composition of its fabrics. She said her creativity is distinct and her delivery unique, which gives her a fair edge over the local tailors. Her designs, she said, are inspired through abstract imaginations since most of the common designs are merely copied and recycled and also emphasized that her clothes are not expensive, when one considers the quality and durability that they offer.

    The interactive session done with, the event progressed to the raffle draw segment. Each member of the audience had been issued a ticket with a unique number on it at the point of registration. The guests picked the draws and winners were presented books and VCDs of Chundum’s Series, a TVculinary programme produced by Edith Yassin.

    The Guest Writer Session comes up on the last Saturday of every month. The forum also holds a critique session every Sunday at 4pm, at the International Institute for Journalism (IIJ), Jimmy Carter Street, Asokoro, Abuja, which is also open to the public.

     

    *Iyorngurum is a writer, poet, editor and the secretary of the Abuja Writers’ Forum (AWF). He writes from Abuja.