Quramo Festival of words… Creating platform for new talents

The Nigerian literary space will from October 4 to 8 come aglow as Quramo Festival of Words (QFest) takes centre stage, entertaining, educating and holding discussions around books, art and culture and the entertainment industry.

Holding in Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, the five-day celebration will feature 10 creative workshops, eight panel discussions, four book/author chats, a word slam contest, film screening, stage play, Chrysalis conversations with Kemi Ogunleye, a QConversation and the unveiling of the Quramo Writers’ Prize (QWP) 2023 winner.

The yearly literary and arts festival, now in its seventh edition, is a fusion of various creative and intellectual expressions that attract emerging and established creatives and literary enthusiasts. Its main focus is to reiterate the power of words, which is the foremost medium of expression, and also, to discover creative ways to harness that power.

With theme, “Connecting The Dots,” Mrs Gbemi Shasore, co-founder of Quramo Publishing and Quramo Festival of Words (QFest), said the theme is a product of contemporary reality that it is easier to connect with the rest of the world from anywhere in Nigeria or Africa than it is to other Nigerian or African cities.

According to her, it is now time to initiate and strengthen communication, travel and distribution networks within Nigeria and the African continent, so that our products and content can sell and succeed on its own merit, adding that this will bring opportunities for creatives and stakeholders in the film industry, literature, theatre, and publishing among other players in the creative and media spaces to interact, identify and explore likely collaborations across borders.

Shasore noted that the ability to build bridges where there are none remains the goal.

She said: “The recent departure of key players in the Nigerian creative industries to other climes provides a major opportunity for cross-continental collaborations and high-level export of cultural values and literature. At Quramo, we remain committed to our vision to equip creatives for the expansion of the creative industries while fostering visibility for literary works that mirror real Nigerian and African experiences. QFEST is a yearly celebration of these unique stories, conversations and cultural perspectives.”

The co-founder of Quramo Publishing revealed that the Quramo Writers’ Prize (QWP) was launched in April 2017 to encourage new breed of African writers, adding that African award celebrates people who are working every day to develop their craft and record our continent’s original stories.

She disclosed that QWP aims to encourage and stimulate a new community of talented writers, providing opportunities for unexposed talents to achieve publishing recognition and encouragement, stressing that winners have so far emerged: Samuel Monye (2017), Michael Emmanuel (2018), Vivian Ibe (2019), Alex Kadiri (2020), Akintomiwa Akinnimi (2021) and Ibrahim Babtunde (2022). She noted that QWP also published Jesutofunmi Fekoya (2018 Longlist), Joan Thatiah (2019 Runner-up) and Aliyu Baba-Ari (2020 Runner-up).

Shasore revealed that the festival, which includes the Kuramo Conferences, the Quramo Writers’ Prize, the Junior/Mango Writers’ Prize (for Children and Young Adults) and the Young Reader’s Literary Morning was birthed out of the need to combine it with the Quramo Publishing series.