The 12th Lagos Book and Art Festival

                                      

The 12th Lagos Book and Art Festival, with the theme, ‘Literacy and the Notion of Freedom’, will hold between November 11 and 14 at the exhibition hall of the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. Organised by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), this year’s edition is also dedicated to the celebration of author Chinua Achebe at 80. The 2010 LABAF is marked with a number of events which underscore its theme.

The festival opens on November 11 with a Business Forum for publishers to discuss some of the challenges they face in the publishing industry. Also intended to be a networking session to allow publishers to interact with one another, the forum will take place at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The main events and attractions are scheduled to hold at the National Theatre; and some of these include; festival colloquiums with a varying number of themes, readings, reviews and discussions centred on books. Among the featured books are: ‘You Must Set Forth At Dawn’ by Wole Soyinka, ‘Just Before Dawn’ by Kole Omotosho, ‘In-Dependence’ by Sarah Ladipo Manyika, ‘In My Father’s Countr’y’ by Adewale Maja-Pearce and many others.

One of the features of the festival is the focus on children and children’s literature. The Kiddies’ segment includes a performance of ‘My Malaria Story’ in words, pictures and dance at the National theatre on November 12. This event will be supported by CATE in collaboration with AMMREN and Café Scientifique Nigeria.

Another event discussing children’s literature is ‘Talking Books With CATE’ which will hold on the November 13. Also programmed are: ‘You, Too, can write!’ is a roundtable discussion on ‘The Land of Kalamandahoo’, a book for six to ten-year-olds by Ruby Igwe; and ‘The Missing Clock’- a book for nine to thirteen-year-olds, by Mai Nasara (Adeleke Adeyemi). A workshop for kids (five years and under), titled ‘Green Creativity Workshops’ taking place on November 13 – will also be of interest to children and their parents. There will be a presentation of works from the workshop on November 14.

Lagos 2060

The festival will be a forum for looking at the role of books in economic empowerment and the financial dynamics of book publishing from the author’s perspective. This will be the topic of consideration by a panel of on November 13. Relevant books include: ‘The Outlier,’ by Malcolm Gladwell; ‘Minding Your Business’ By Leke Alder; ‘17 Secrets of High Flying Students’, by Fela Durotoye. A musical interlude on the day will be followed by a discussion segment tagged ‘Writers Angst’, where four young authors discuss the pains and joys of writing. Another set of discussants will consider the topic, ‘What will be the fate of Lagos 100 years after independence?’ They will also look at the future of the mega-city and its continued role in inspiring, infuriating and enchanting writers across generations, taking a cue from the Lagos: 2060 Project by DADA books.

Rounding off festival activities on November 13 will be a festival birthday organised in honour of the likes of Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, Patrick Doyle and Dele Momodu – all of whom turned 50 this year. The party also commemorates the milestones of the following: Odia Ofeimun, Eddie Aderinokun, Segun Olusola, Fred Agbeyegbe, Mabel Segun and Chinua Achebe.

The festival culminates in a panel discussion on the presence or absence of folklore influences in the literature and film of our time. Books to be looked at, include: ‘The Adventures of a Sugarcane Man’ (Femi Osofisan’s adaptation of Fagunwa’s Ireke Onibudo); ‘Praying Mantis’ by Andre Brink; ‘The Hidden Star’ by Sello K Duiker and Ahmadou Koroumah’s ‘Allah Is Not Obliged’. The festival play is ‘Killing Swamp’ by Onukaba Adinoyi Ojo, which will commemorate 15 Years of the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Some of the other books to be showcased during the festival colloquium are Ike Okonta’s ‘When Citizens Revolt’, Wale Okediran’s ‘Tenants of the House’, Eghosa Imasuen’s ‘To Saint Patrick’ and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’.

CORA has removed Peter Enahoro’s autobiography, ‘Then Spoke The Thunder’, from the festival list because it is not available in Nigeria. “We need to get every book selected for the festival into the hands of would-be-discussants so we can have a robust debate around them,” said Jahman Anikulapo, CORA’s chair of Programmes.

Source:234next.com