The Abuja Literary Festival is
back!
I attended the Abuja Literary
festival for the first time in 2018. I think it was the first edition of the
event and my first literary festival. In all honesty, I assumed the event was
going to be snooze fest of reading and panel discussions. I specifically picked
aspects of the festival to attend that I knew would most likely be fun; poetry
slams, movie screenings and a panel discussion on marketing films in Nigeria
and to a global audience.
But by God! I was wowed!
The first thing that was a pointer
to the fact that I was going to have a great time was the number of books I saw
on sale. It was positively orgasmic to see that many books in one place…and at
the price they were going for! It wasn’t too long before I was busting out my
card and picking up new ‘buddies’. Oh! I went hungry for a while after that but
it was well worth it.
The panel sessions I attended were
genuinely interesting and the conversations greatly appreciated. I felt
everything! If you had been looking at me, you would have seen me nodding my
head in agreement with feminists, nearly cussing out a white man who said
something along the lines of African writers needing to ‘stick to their own
culture’, getting pissed the hell off when people said things that were just
plain wrong, and even finding a new crush whose voice was just amazing! (I
know! Weirdo!)
I was supposed to attend a
screening of 93 Days, a film by Steve Gukas
showing how Nigerian doctors led by Stella Adadevoh help
curb the spread of the extremely deadly Ebola outbreak in Nigeria. Due to
technical difficulties, the movie time kept getting shifted and because I lived
in the outskirts of town and couldn’t be out too late at night, I didn’t see
the screening. It was a sore point for me and I almost didn’t return to the rest
of the festival.
Then I heard that Dike Chukwumerije,
the renowned spoken word and performance poet and award winning author was
going to have a performance. I was elated. Oh! I had never seen Dike perform,
nor had I heard about his performance but since I hadn’t seen a play in
forever, the thought of being immersed in live performance had me giddy with
excitement.
It was, without doubt, one of the best moments of my entire year! My
goodness! There were a million times I wanted to just jump out of my seat and
hug the essence out of him! The play was that
good! I laughed, cried, danced, reflected and hoped for a better Nigeria. I
think this begs to be said again; it was,
without doubt, one of the best moments of 2018 for me.
So when I heard that the festival
was coming back for a second year, I was just about ready to bust out my dance
moves.
Here is the official poster of the
2019 Abuja Literary Festival.
Can. You. See. Our. Logo. Right.
There?!
Yes!
It is with great pleasure that I
announce our big news; Shades of Us
is supporting the Abuja Literary Festival this year! Can you tell how EXCITED
we are?! (If you are new to my blog, you will see a lot of ‘we’ when I talk
about the blog. If you stick around, you will figure out why.)
Okay…I am going to taper down and
explain this better.
My entire experience made me really
look at the festival as a whole. It is an opportunity to discuss social,
economic and political issues from the literary point of view. This is in line
with my overall goal with Shades of Us.
So I had this A-ha moment where I wondered how I could support this movement,
and what it would entail. I spoke to the convener of the event, Buchi
Onyebule, and we got talking. It was such a pleasure to have him accept my
contribution to the festival.
As can be seen on the poster, the
theme for the festival is ‘Art and
Social Consciousness’ and it would feature panel discussions, book
readings, movie screenings, performances and a host of other events. I am eager
about the movie that would be screening – as expected – and I want to see what
plays would be showcased. This year however, I am not going to cherry pick the
events that I would attend. As much as I can, I am going to be totally immersed
in the entire festival! I would be there from the opening ceremony to the last
hurrah on July 13th.
This is where I ask you to be part
of the event. I can talk about how great it would all be but… it really
wouldn’t do justice to it. You would have to experience it to enjoy it.
As you are well aware, putting up a
festival like this costs a lot of money. Where you can, reach out to Buchi and
ask how you can sponsor an aspect of the festival. You can also volunteer your
time to help ensure the entire process is flawless. And the easiest thing you can do is share the
posters on your social media platforms to help increase visibility and
engagement. I am hoping that if nothing else, you would do that.
While I would not have a stand nor
do I have a physical product to push, I would most definitely be interacting
with as many people as I possibly can. We are keeping the introvert at home for
this one!
I can’t wait to see you at the 2019
Abuja Literary Festival! If you see me, holla at your girl. Let us talk,
interact, share ideas, promote reading and literacy in Africa, and generally
just enjoy ourselves.
I am excited! Are you?!
Ramatu Ada Ochekliye,
Founder and Content Creator,
Shades of Us
No comments:
Post a Comment