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The 12th Lagos Book
and Art Festival, with the theme, ‘Literacy and the Notion of Freedom’,
will berth between November 11 and 14 at the exhibition hall of the
National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. Organised by the Committee for
Relevant Art (CORA), this year’s edition is also dedicated to the
celebration of author Chinua Achebe at 80. The 2010 LABAF is marked
with a number of events which underscore its theme.

The festival opens
on November 11 with a Business Forum for publishers to discuss some of
the challenges they face in the publishing industry. Also intended to
be a networking session to allow publishers to interact with one
another, the forum will take place at the Eko Hotel and Suites,
Victoria Island, Lagos.

The main events and
attractions are scheduled to hold at the National Theatre; and some of
these include; festival colloquiums with a varying number of themes,
readings, reviews and discussions centred on books. Among the featured
books are: ‘You Must Set Forth At Dawn’ by Wole Soyinka, ‘Just Before
Dawn’ by Kole Omotosho, ‘In-Dependence’ by Sarah Ladipo Manyika, ‘In My
Father’s Countr’y’ by Adewale Maja-Pearce and many others.

For children

One of the features
of the festival is the focus on children and children’s literature. The
Kiddies’ segment includes a performance of ‘My Malaria Story’ in words,
pictures and dance at the National theatre on November 12. This event
will be supported by CATE in collaboration with AMMREN and Café
Scientifique Nigeria.

Another event
discussing children’s literature is ‘Talking Books With CATE’ which
will hold on the November 13. Also programmed are: ‘You, Too, can
write!’ is a roundtable discussion on ‘The Land of Kalamandahoo’, a
book for six to ten-year-olds by Ruby Igwe; and ‘The Missing Clock’- a
book for nine to thirteen-year-olds, by Mai Nasara (Adeleke Adeyemi). A
workshop for kids (five years and under), titled ‘Green Creativity
Workshops’ taking place on November 13 – will also be of interest to
children and their parents. There will be a presentation of works from
the workshop on November 14.

Lagos 2060

The festival will
be a forum for looking at the role of books in economic empowerment and
the financial dynamics of book publishing from the author’s
perspective. This will be the topic of consideration by a panel of on
November 13. Relevant books include: ‘The Outlier,’ by Malcolm
Gladwell; ‘Minding Your Business’ By Leke Alder; ‘17 Secrets of High
Flying Students’, by Fela Durotoye. A musical interlude on the day will
be followed by a discussion segment tagged ‘Writers Angst’, where four
young authors discuss the pains and joys of writing. Another set of
discussants will consider the topic, ‘What will be the fate of Lagos
100 years after independence?’ They will also look at the future of the
mega-city and its continued role in inspiring, infuriating and
enchanting writers across generations, taking a cue from the Lagos:
2060 Project by DADA books. Rounding off festival activities on
November 13 will be a festival birthday organised in honour of the
likes of Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, Patrick Doyle and Dele Momodu – all of whom
turned 50 this year. The party also commemorates the milestones of the
following: Odia Ofeimun, Eddie Aderinokun, Segun Olusola, Fred
Agbeyegbe, Mabel Segun and Chinua Achebe.

The festival
culminates in a panel discussion on the presence or absence of folklore
influences in the literature and film of our time. Books to be looked
at, include: ‘The Adventures of a Sugarcane Man’ (Femi Osofisan’s
adaptation of Fagunwa’s Ireke Onibudo); ‘Praying Mantis’ by Andre
Brink; ‘The Hidden Star’ by Sello K Duiker and Ahmadou Koroumah’s
‘Allah Is Not Obliged’. The festival play is ‘Killing Swamp’ by Onukaba
Adinoyi Ojo, which will commemorate 15 Years of the death of Ken
Saro-Wiwa.

Some of the other
books to be showcased during the festival colloquium are Ike Okonta’s
‘When Citizens Revolt’, Wale Okediran’s ‘Tenants of the House’, Eghosa
Imasuen’s ‘To Saint Patrick’ and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Half of a
Yellow Sun’.

CORA has removed Peter Enahoro’s autobiography, ‘Then Spoke The
Thunder’, from the festival list because it is not available in
Nigeria. “We need to get every book selected for the festival into the
hands of would-be-discussants so we can have a robust debate around
them,” said Jahman Anikulapo, CORA’s chair of Programmes.