ANA inducts 25 into College of Fellows
Children’s book fest holds Oct 29
Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) has conferred fellowship on 25 select Nigerian writers.
Meanwhile, the fourth Akada Children’s Book Festival (ACBF), to showcase books by African authors, will hold tomorrow at the UpBeat Centre, Lekki, Lagos.
The induction, which took place at the Chinua Achebe International Conference Centre, Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Village, Mpape, Abuja, was part of activities lined up for this year’s ANA Convention.
With the theme, ‘Literature and National Consciousness: The Story as a Catalyst’, this year’s edition is the 41st convention of the writers body since it was founded by the late Chinua Achebe in 1981.
In his paper entitled ‘Definition and Concept’, the induction lecturer, Prof. Olu Obafemi, described a fellowship as a multi-purpose concept.
ANA President, Camillus Ukah, in his opening remarks at the induction, described ANA Fellows as “a collection of stars”.
A fellow of the writers’ body, Prof. Ernest Emenyonu, made case for literature in Nigerian indigenous languages.
Among the 25 inductees are 16 professors. They include Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, Razinat Mohammed, Moses Tsenongu, Anaezi Okoro, Vicky Sylvester, Dul Johnson, Nduka Otiono, Ademola Da Sylva, Olabanji Fashina, Amanze Akpuda, Mark Nwagwu, Francis Egbokhare, Tess Onwueme, Yusuf Adamu, Udenta O. Udenta and Chidi Osuagwu,
Others are Dr. Tony Marhino, Dr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, Dr. Haruna Penni, Dr. John Asein, Dr. Zainab Ahmed, Emmanuel Paul-Opigo, Lindsay Barret, Miasonima Minima and Abubakar Haigandi.
ADDRESSING journalists, yeterday, the convener of ACBF, Olubunmi Talabi, said the event would feature author-led book reading, book chats, professional workshops for children’s book writers, illustrators and publishers, fun mini workshops and other activities, including music, drama as well as insightful sessions for parents and teachers.
Talabi emphasised the need to celebrate love for books and promote literacy in children.
She said the first edition in 2019 attracted over 1,400 attendees, but due to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), the second and third editions held virtually across Nigeria and from over 23 countries.
For the first time since 2019, she added, ACBF would hold a physical event, noting that this year’s festival would include many activities and introduce some new and super fun initiatives to make it the best ever.
According to her, writing and illustration competitions would be part of activities in this year’s edition, which will reward three winners out of 139 entries with N100,000 cash price each.
