The inaugural Ímbubé African Book Festival and Awards will take place in Lagos this week.

The day-long event takes place on Saturday, October 28 2017, at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, Nigeria. The theme is ‘Literature as a Pillar for Africa’s Creative Economy’.

Ímbubé, named after an isiZulu word for Lion, was inspired by this quote from Chinua Achebe:

‘Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter … once I realised that, I had to be a writer. It’s not one man’s job. But it is something we have to do, so that the story of the hunt will also reflect the agony, the travail – the bravery, even, of the lions.’

Panelists at this year’s festival include Toni Kan, author of The Carnivorous City; Silas Okwoche, co-founder of Nerve Mobile; Okechukwu Ofili, author and CEO of Okada Books; Naomi Lucas, Ini Akpan, editor, SW Advantage Resources; Edirin Edewor, bestselling Amazon author; Hope Eghagha, Steve Harris, author and life coach; Enajite Efemuaye and Debola Williams, co-founder of Red Media Africa.

The Ímbubé Awards will celebrate the literary works of African writers under the age of 35, seeking to ‘encourage a new generation of world class contributors in the literary space’.

For the first year of the festival and awards, Ímbubé 2017 will focus on the short story, with a creative writing competition for young and emerging writers in for categories:

• The Future of Africa [Sci-Fi, Fantasy]
• Human rights / free speech [Non-fiction, Historical Fiction]
• Nollywood 2.0 [Drama, Crime or Romance Fiction]
• The power of writing [Adventure, Children’s fiction]

Find out more about the festival at the link above.

Categories Africa Fiction International Non-fiction

Tags Book events Book Festivals Debola Williams Edirin Edewor Enajite Efemuaye Hope Eghagha Ímbubé African Book Festival Ini Akpan Naomi Lucas Nigeria Okechukwu Ofili Silas Okwoche Steve Harris Toni Kan