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| Anuli Ojogwu |
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| Eghosa Imasuen |
As preparations for the annual event, 15th
Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF) is going on, news reaching Daily Newswatch
has it that a Nigerian novelist, Eghosa Imasuen and a publicist Anwuli Ojogwu will
moderate a session that’s focused on “Wired Literature.”
LABAF, which is organised by the Committee
for Relevant Art (CORA), is a grand cultural picnic with heavy book content. It
is scheduled to run from November 15 to 17, 2013, at the Freedom Park, Broad
Street in Lagos.
The session will be prefaced by Kayode Komolafe, Deputy Managing
Director of ThisDay. The conversation, according to its organisers, “is
interrogating the theory that the emergence of computerized reading and the
overbearing presence of the internet have eroded the capacity of humankind to
concentrate. This is what Nicolas Carr argues in his book: Shallows: What the
internet is doing to our brains. A similar thinking is canvassed in You are not
a gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier. But does everyone agree? Is the internet
revolution not entirely a progressive one?
“Imasuen and Ojogwu will relate the concerns of Messrs Carr and Lanier
with the Nigerian reading culture. They
are to ask their audience: What is the significance of the emergence of e-books
and e-reading devices to the actual act of reading? Imasuen is a trained
medical doctor who has published two novels: To St Patrick and Fine Boys, the
latter being the first book by any mainstream Nigerian publisher to be
available in Kindle. The books are published by Farafina, of which Imasuen is
now the Chief Operating Officer.
“Ojogwu is a member of the global shapers community of the World
Economic Forum. She has been a writer, book and magazine editor at Farafina, TV
reporter at Plateau Radio and TV Station, and communication coordinator at FATE
Foundation. She currently works as senior consultant, Projects &
Development Communications at Thistle Praxis Consulting Limited.”
Similarly, former Minister of the Federal
Capital Territory, Nasir el-Rufai and one of Nigeria’s best comedians, Julius
Agwu will be headlining the 15th Lagos Book and Art Festival
(LABAF).
According to a release made available to
Daily Newswatch, Agwu, who has just published his biography, Jokes Apart – How
Did I Get Here?, will open the Green Festival (children) segment of the three
day Festival with a mentoring talk and performance skits to a throng of 8-15
year olds. The Book In My Life is the working title of the Comedian’s
engagement with the kids.
El Rufai, author of the much-debated book
The Accidental Public Servant, a searing insight into governance in Nigeria,
will interact in a conversation with some participants.
With the theme: Nigeria’s Centenary, The
Lagos Narrative, the event
will feature 10 panel conversations around 20 fictional and non fictional books
on politics, art, romance, the economy, business, religion in the course of the
three days.
Other highlights that will spice up the
event among others include book displays, a visual art exhibition, a jazz
concert, live poetry and spoken word sessions, an art party, a film documentary
for adults and lots of workshops, readings and excursions for children
Also, a five man panel is to interrogate
the 100-year history of Nigeria as a geographical expression through five books
at the 15th Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF).
The books to be discussed include at the
event, are: Obafemi Awolowo’s Path To Nigerian Freedom, Chinua Achebe’s A Man
Of The People, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s Reforming The Unreformable; Nasir
el-Rufai’s The Accidental Public Servant; and Alabi Isiama’s The Tragedy of
Victory: On-The-Spot Account of The Nigeria-Biafra War In The Atlantic Theatre.
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