Awka, the capital city of Anambra State, will come alive on Saturday 16th March as top public figures, writers, intellectuals, literary activists, book lovers, and others gather for the 2025 edition of the Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture, hosted by young writers in the state.
Izunna Okafor, the State
Coordinator of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (Anambra State Chapter),
disclosed this on Wednesday in Awka while providing an update on the association's
preparedness for the event.
According to him, the Chinua
Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture, initiated in 2016 and currently
in its ninth edition, is an annual literary event organized by the association
in honor and memory of the Nigerian literary icon, the late Prof. Chinua
Achebe, celebrating his life, works, and legacy. He added that this year's
event will, as usual, take place on Achebe's birthday, November 16, 2024, at
the Anambra State Central E-Library (also known as the Prof. Kenneth Dike State
Central E-Library) in Awka, starting at 9 AM prompt, with many dignitaries and
participants in attendance.
Revealing this year's theme as
"Remembering Achebe... In a Time Like This," Okafor further disclosed
that the 2024 Achebe Memorial Lecture will be delivered by the former Governor
of Anambra State and 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter
Obi, while the current Governor of the State, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo,
will be the Special Guest of Honour.
He added that this year's event
would be chaired by author and former United Nations official, Mr. Oseloka
Obaze, who also served as a former Secretary to the State Government in
Anambra. Okafor further noted that award-winning writer and Traditional Ruler
of Obosi, H.R.H. Igwe Chidubem Iweka; the Traditional Ruler of Achebe's
hometown, Ogidi, H.R.H. Igwe Pharm. Alex Uzo Onyido; and the Traditional Ruler
of Umueri, Igwe Sir Ben Emeka, an ardent promoter of education, will grace the
occasion as the Royal Fathers of the Day, alongside many other dignitaries
expected at the event.
“The event will feature the
2024 Achebe Lecture, drama, spoken word poetry, the announcement of winners of
the 2024 Chinua Achebe Essay Writing Competition (for secondary schools), special
readings, award presentations, and other literary activities planned for the
day,” Okafor said.
He also mentioned that the
occasion will feature the unveiling and presentation of the ninth Chinua Achebe
Poetry/Essay Anthology, titled "Echoes from the Anthills," the
association’s latest international anthology of poems and essays, published in
honor and memory of Achebe ahead of the event.
The annual international
anthology, he explained, is one of the writers' ways of immortalizing Achebe,
featuring poems, essays, and reviews submitted by writers from different
countries around the world.
Reports indicate that the
Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture has attracted many notable
intellectuals and literary enthusiasts to Anambra State and remains one of the
most prominent and sustained literary festivals in Africa, having been
consistently held for the past nine years.
Okafor, an award-winning author
and journalist, further revealed that this year's edition of the open-to-all
event, which will also mark Achebe’s 94th posthumous birthday and the eleventh
anniversary of his passing, will be graced by numerous literary icons from
within and outside the country, all converging in Awka to honor the legendary
author.
Born on November 16, 1930,
Prof. Chinua Achebe, a native of Ogidi in Anambra State, was a foremost
Nigerian writer, critic, and author of Things Fall Apart. He passed away on
March 21, 2013, at the age of 82. Since 2016, the Chinua Achebe Literary
Festival has been held annually on Achebe's birthday.
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