BY Mayowa Tijani
The Lagos book and arts festival (LABAF) has concluded plans to honour late writer, environmental and human rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, for his contribution to literature – 20 years in death.
The 17th edition of the festival, themed ‘Texts of Self-determination (inspired by the 20th anniversary of the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a matyr for Nigerian Democracy)’, is to run through November 13 and 15, 2015, at Freedom park, Lagos.
The first day of the festival is dedicated and named after Saro-Wiwa, who gave his life for the rights of the people in Ogoniland.
The Ken Saro-Wiwa day will feature an opening of festival exhibition at the Kongi Harvest gallery with a focus on the theme, “They have asked us to Smile’ and featuring Jelili Atiku, Aderemi Adegbite, Efe Azino, Jumoke Verissimo, Diseye Tantua, Bob-Nosa Uwagboe and Nkechi Nwosu-Igbo.
The day would also feature a panel discussion focusing on “Ken Saro-Wiwa and nation building”.
This would include reviews around Saro-Wiwa’s major non-fiction narratives, letters and other literary works, focusing on the theme of self-determination and nation-building.
A mentorship session would also be making the day, as the attendees would be mentored by Ben Murray Bruce, founder of Silverbird Group and senator of the federal republic.
The festival will also feature film screenings, music workshops, authors’ convention and a poetry slam, while wrapping up with 100,000 Poets and Musicians for Change.
This is a universal movement that offers poets, musicians and other artists the platform to express themselves freely against the prevalent socio-political and economic ills that pervade the world in particular and fight against every other thing that inconveniences humanity on the whole.
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