Tag Archives: Wole Soyinka

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Top Writers in New African 100 most influential list.

Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

The New African magazine has published its highly regarded 100 Hundred Most Influential Africans 2014 and it has some of what the team who run the publication considers the Africans to watch in 2014. The list is segmented into different categories like politics, media, arts and culture, business and more. A few of the writers that we have been covering on this blog have made the list this year and they and how they have been described in the magazine are;

  1. Wole Soyinka – Nigeria’s national conscience.
  2. Teju Cole – The Teju Cole of Teju Cole.
  3. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o – The literary giant.
  4. Tolu Ogunlesi – Award winning journalist, comedy writer and poet.
  5. Binyavanga Wainaina – The Imagination Catalyst.
  6. Chimamanda Adichie – The happy feminist.
  7. Noviolet Bulawayo – The young author who won’t stop winning awards.
  8. Fatou Diome – The adventurer away from home.
  9. Yvonne Adhiambo Owour – The novelist sprinkled with stardust.

Wole Soyinka and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o are no surprise as they are currently the elder statesmen of the African writing game and failing to see their names on such a list would leave it with serious questions around it.

Then there are the folks who have taken over the game in a huge way. Chimamanda Adichie is the most talked about African writer right now and with good reason; awards, movies from one of her books, referenced by Beyonce Knowles the American singer type person in her music. Also in that caliber is Binyavanga Wainaina who has a memoir and awards and an ability to bring vociferous discussions whenever he brings about a new viewpoint.

Teju Cole is a brilliant writer; one of the best I have read in the last five years and he has many other skills. Also in there is Noviolet Bulawayo who has been winning like crazy in the last few years.

Tolu Ogunlesi and Fatou Diome have not been read by this blogger so that give me homework to find out more about their work.

I am most chuffed about Yvonne Adhiambo Oduor being on this list. The framers of the list described her as “the novelist sprinkled with stardust” as this I believe she is one the best writers to have come out of Kenya probably in a generation. And sadly I have a feeling that it might be a while before we see another of her books.

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The Lagos Arts and Book Festival starts on Monday

The 16th Lagos Arts and Book Festival will be rocking Lagos from the 10th of November in the commercial capital of Nigeria.
This years events will honour Prof. Wole Soyinka @ 80; for the uninformed Prof. Wole Soyinka @ 80 is a celebration of Africa’s first Literature Nobel laureate as he turns eighty this year. There shall be keynote addresses made by Prof Biodun Jeyifo a Harvard don and foremost critic of Soyinka’s work as well as Prof Chidi A. Odinkalu the chairman of the Nigeria Human Rights Commission.
Another exciting event with the Cassava Republic event which will include a panel of authors discussing of a new digital romance imprint – Ankara Romance. Finally, Rotimi Babatunde – Caine’s Prize winner 2012 – and a panel of four discuss contemporary Nigerian writing.
Also on the bill will be Chuma Nwokolo – who Kenyans will remember for his staring role at the Storymoja Festival -, Adewole Ajao, Toni Kan, Kola Tubosun and co as they discuss books on the theme ‘In Search for Freedom’.
For more information about the festival please visit the official page of the festival.

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The Storymoja Festival 2014 is here!

See you there.

It took a while but after many moons of preparation and other such things the Storymoja Festival 2014 is upon us. The National Museum of Kenya is starting today the epicenter of all events literature in Nairobi.

The events will be many and we shall keep you abreast of as much as I can but this is not a task for one man. To get a true fell of the festival you want to follow the official social media channels of events at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You may also follow some of the authors at the events including Jeff Koinange, Prajwal Parajuly, Teju Cole, Ladan Osman , and the rest of the gang who are in this years festival line up. Brilliant one if I say so myself. They include  Wole Soyinka, Teju Cole, Kwame Dawes,, Dizreali, Dr. Kinyanjui Nganga, Biko Zulu, Sitawa Namwalie, Oyunga Pala, Prajwal Parajuly (see: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-188788/authors-corner-i-climbed-mt-everest-dalai-lama-prajwal-parajuly)  and more!

As for the program of events then you want to check out both the Master class program and the official program. There are many events that you can access with the festival payment. However there are a few that are called “premium events” which go a long way to raising money for books for schools. They are;

  • Stories From The Mall – a theatrical tribute to the Westgate Terror Victims. Ksh 1000/.
  • Githaa: Validating Dreams theatre show. Ksh 1000/.
  • Afreeka! A Storymoja Stir-up. Ksh 300/. Free with festival ticket bought before 10t Sept.
  • Festival Launch Gala to benefit Start-a-Library Ksh 6000/ Premium Festival ticket or 7500/ Keys to Fest ticket.
  • Silence is a Woman theatre show. Ksh 1000/.
  • Jaza Matatu na Vitabu music concert. Ksh 1000/ Only 800/ if bought before 10th Sept.

Let’s see you at the national museum of Kenya in Nairobi over the last few days. It’s going to be… wait for it… literary!

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Rwandan President Paul Kagame at Wole Soyinka book launch

Wole Soyinka meets President Paul Kagame.

Wole Soyinka; the guy is turning 80 this year and doing it in style. Last week he gave a few bob to the winner of the literary prize with his name Akin Bello. Then just last night he launched Crucible of the Ages- Essays in Honour of Wole Soyinka at 80 by Ivor Agyeman-Duah and editor Ogochukwu Promise in Accra, Ghana.

The launch of Wole Soyinka’s book is organised by the Lumina Foundation, Centre for Intellectual Renewal and Global Media Alliance. It is part of a series of Global Literary festivities to mark the eightieth birthday of Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature.

The evening was a star studded affair with folks like Ghanaian President John Mahama, former President of Ghana John Kufuor and former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku milling with the rest of the people. The keynote address was given by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda who is clearly a fan.

“Throughout his life, Wole Soyinka’s enduring contribution has been to call attention to the difficult work of liberating the mind. He has been an unapologetic exponent of the universality of African values. He will remain a beacon for African young people,” the president said.
Now that’s how you turn 80!
You can check out more images of the event on President Kagame’s Flickr page here.

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Wole Soyinka confirms Storymoja Hay Festival 2014 attendance

Wole Soyinka

The Storymoja Hay festival wasn’t the best last year as one of its most prominent guests Dr Kofi Awoonor died when terrorists attacked the Westgate Mall and he was one of the victims. The events had to be cancelled as there country reeled from the madness of the period. The literature world was shocked with none other than Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka giving a fitting tribute promising to attend next year’s festival in defiance of the bad guys.

Wole Soyinka is set to put his words to action as he will be one the many guest attending this years fete in September. Sources close to the festival have confirmed that the camera shy literary icon will be one of the biggest if not THE draw at this years events.

This is not the first time that Soyinka has landed on Kenyan soil for creative purposes. He was a special guest of the 2011 Kenya International Film Festival where he wowed Kenyans with wit and charm as he rooted for African stories.

In other Wole Soyinka news, Ten African authors have been shortlisted for the 2014 edition of the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. This is a biennial award for the best literary work produced by an African. They include Othuke Ominiaboha, Akin Bello, Soji Cole, Comfort Adesuwa Ero, Toyin Abiodun, Isaac Attah Ogezi, Moshood Oba, Mayowa Saja, Wumi Raji and Akin Adejumo. The list was made from a total of 163 entries submitted from 17 African countries in the genre of drama, which is the focus of this year’s edition.

The winner who will go home with $20,000 is expected to emerge and presented with his or her prize in Lagos on July 5.