9 writers, 4 cities: The book tour

From May 2nd to Saturday June 6th 2009, nine Nigerian writers will embark on a book tour to 4 cities across Nigeria. The event is themed 9 Writers, 4 Cities: The Book Tour, and it is a series of book readings, book signings and discussions. Each event will be recorded and made available for download online. The series of weekend readings will hold in Benin, Ibadan, Lagos and Warri. The first event, which is to be hosted by Writers Anonymous at the African Artists Foundation in Lagos, will be followed by a ‘Book Party’. The participating writers are: Odia Ofeimun (poet and author of The Poet Lied), Toni Kan (author of Nights of a Creaking Bed), Lindsay Barrett (journalist, poet and author of several books, including Song for Mumu), Jumoke Verissimo (author of I am Memory), Tade Ipadeola (a lawyer and author of the poetry collection A Sign of Times), Joy Isi Bewaji (author of Eko Dialogue), Eghosa Imasuen ( medical doctor and author of To Saint Patrick), A. Igoni Barrett (managing editor of Farafina magazine and author of From Caves of Rotten Teeth) and Bimbo Adelakun ( journalist and author of Under the Brown Rusted Roofs).
The series of events will take place at the following places:

Ø Lagos: Saturday, 2nd May, 2009 at the African Artists Foundation, No 54, Raymond Njoku Street, Ikoyi, Lagos

Ø Lagos: Sunday, 17th May at The Palms Shopping Mall, Lekki Express Way, Lekki

Ø Lagos: Saturday 6th June, 2009 at the African Artists Foundation, No 54, Raymond Njoku Street, Ikoyi, Lagos

The 6-week tour will be reported on the Farafina magazine blog, The Farafinist. Audio and video recordings of each reading will also be placed on the Switched On website as podcasts. Dada Books, Daylight Media and Auggust Media are also media partners in this project.

The dates and venues of the Benin, Warri and Ibadan events will be sent out soon.
For further information, please call +2347061141232, email: auggustmedia@gmail.com

PICTURES:
1. Toni Kani
2. Odia Ofeimun
3. Eghosa Imasuen

Jos Festival of Theatre holds... in the face of curfew

Despite the curfew imposed on the city of Jos, Plateau State, by the state government following the November 2008 sectarian violence, the Jos Repertory Theatre, JRT, still managed to make the best out of the tight situation, successfully holding its annual theatre festival - the Jos Festival of Theatre.The festival, which is the fifth since it debut in 2004, took place from 20th to 29th March, 2009, at Alliance Francaise, opposite Standard Building located in the heart of the city.
The ten-day event featured seven plays, staged under tight schedules to beat the 9 pm curfew deadline. Instead of the usual 7 pm, each show began at about 5 pm and ended at 8 pm daily.
Due to the curfew, venue of the festival was also changed from Crest Hotel, Old Airport Road, to Alliance Francaise, to make it easier for people to get back home on time after the show. The choice of the plays for the festival was equally influenced by the crisis and its aftermath. From Athol Fugard’s Woza Albert, directed by Tunde Awosanmi, to Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero, directed by Austin Efe Okonkwo, the plays focus on the need for tolerance and peaceful co-existence irrespective of religious, ethnic or political differences. Even the new plays – Spencer Okoroafor’s Visa to Nowhere and Phillip Begho’s Smallie – are loud statements on the Jos experience. The festival was a dedication to the Jos crisis and at the same time a celebration of the Nigerian theatre and theatre practitioners. Every year, new plays are produced for the festival as the organizers call for play script entries prior to the event. Visa to Nowhere and Smallie emerged through this process. Interestingly, the plays were directed by new directors who gained their theatre experience through the JRT. They are Eucharia Egah and Wapi Barau, directing Visa to Nowhere and Smallie, respectively. Another new director is Emmanuel Degri, who has acted several plays including Biyi Bandele’s adaptation of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and is well known for his brilliant acting. He directed Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba’s A Resting Place.
Other plays featured at the festival were Bose Ayeni-Tsevende’s Morning Yet Again, based on the book, U Are A Poet, written and choreographed by Bose Ayeni-Tsevende, and Jean Paul Sarte’s No Exit, directed by the festival producer, Mr. Patrick-Jude Oteh and supported by the French Cultural Centre, Abuja. The colourful event, which was mainly sponsored by the Ford Foundation, came to a close with a pledge by the organizers to do it again next year and subsequent years.
JRT was founded in November 1997 with the mission of promoting theatre culture in Nigeria and the vision to be the most successful and longest surviving private, independent theatre organization in the country. According to the founder and Artistic Director of the Jos-based theatre outfit, Mr. Oteh, the outfit has a big dream. "We are trying to create an unforgettable world theatre by utilizing the theatre to confront and challenge crucial issues which affect our society with the ultimate aim of educating and entertaining audiences."
Indeed, the organisation is already achieving some of its noble objectives through various activities, prominent among which is the annual theatre festival. To date, it has organized and participated in over sixty events, nationally and internationally, featuring famous plays like Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel. The events include MUSON Festival in Lagos (2000), the 8th All Africa Games in Abuja (2003) and the 16th National Sports Festival, Kaduna (2009). The international engagements include theatre related activities in Sierra Leone, Kenya, South Africa Cote d’voire, Italy, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. As a result of its vibrant activities over the years, JRT has not only become a nurturing ground for new playwrights, actors, actresses and directors but a centre for the development of the Nigerian theatre. And the just concluded festival is a screaming testimony to the fact.

SCENES FROM:
1. No Exit
2. A Visa to Nowhere
3. Smallie
4. A Resting Place
5. Woza Albert
6. Woza Albert

Reported by SUMAILA UMAISHA and published in the 4/4/09 edition of New Nigerian newpaper.

Jos Repertory Theatre is growing - Oteh (interview)

PATRICK-JUDE OTEH, the founder and Artistic Director of Jos Repertory Theatre, JRT, who holds Diploma, Bachelor degree (upper class) and Masters in Theatre Arts from the University of Ibadan and a Masters degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Jos, has a mission of making his theatre organisation the most successful in Nigeria. To achieve this mission he has, among other things, instituted the Jos Festival of Theatre, which takes place annually. This year’s edition, which is the 5th in the series, was very successful despite the challenges posed by the curfew imposed on the city of Jos following the recent sectarian crisis. He speaks to SUMAILA UMAISHA on the event.

NNW: What informed the change of venue for this year’s edition of the Jos Festival of Theatre?

Patrick-Jude Oteh: The change in venue has its root in the November 2008 Jos crisis. So after consulting with all concerned, we decided to shift the venue from Crest Hotel, Old Airport Road, which had been the venue for the event for the past years, to Alliance Francaise, opposite Standard Building, which is more central. This will enable people to easily get to the venue and get back home, after the show, before the 9 pm curfew deadline.

In what ways has the curfew affected this year’s festival?

It has really affected our programme in the sense that we have to start the performance at 5 pm to 6 pm instead of our usual 7 pm. The turnout hasn’t been as much as it should be because rather than going home from office and having a rest before coming for the show, people have to come to the show directly after closing from office. And not many people could do that. But this is just a passing phase and the turnout hasn’t been as bad as we projected. The fact that we have this level of turnout is a pointer to the fact that a lot of people here still have a lot of resilience. The people’s spirit for this year’s festival has been extremely commendable.

What other challenges have you faced in this year’s festival, apart from those arising from the curfew?

The curfew has been our greatest challenge as we have to, despite our conscious effort to beat the curfew, keep reminding the anxious audience not to worry, the play would soon be over for them to leave.

What is new in the organization of this year’s festival?

In this year’s festival there has been more local participation as against previous festivals. For instance, during the festival, we had free drinks at the gate going with every ticket. And they were from our local collaborators. We even had an organization that decided to subsidize the ticket for students to attend. So that’s why we sold students’ tickets at two hundred naira. I think we are gradually overcoming the challenge of funding. If we have fifteen organizations in Jos doing what organizations like Grand Cereals and Oil Mills Limited, Nigerian Film Corporation, SWAN Water, etc. are doing, I think the festival will be able to run as a full entity on its own. I believe we are getting there fast because the level of participation this year has been far more that what we’ve been expecting, and it is good.

What informed the choice of the play you presented this year?

It is informed by the recent Jos crisis. We chose plays that would promote dialogue, the basic human need for living together, tolerance, love for one another, etc. The plays, from Woza Albert to The Trials of Brother Jero were selected bearing in mind that all human beings have basic needs that are communal rather than individualistic. Some of the plays also reflect the angle of youths, which are being used as canon fodders by some politicians and religious leaders. They are in their millions and most are jobless. How could they be made useful? These are some of the questions raised by some of the plays. The basic tenet of making sure that we live together as a community is beginning to erode very fast. So these plays are our own contribution to the on-going debate and dialogue that is occurring within the country as a whole and Jos in particular.

What would you say are the cumulative effects of the Jos Annual Festival so far?

First and foremost, we have created awareness that relaxation is not only about going to sit down somewhere and drink beer and not going home till about 11 pm. People are becoming aware that with theatre you can have a good quality of life. Through our activities, your mind is stimulated, enabling you to contribute in discussions that are taken place on how to make the society better. Organizations like the Nigerian Film Corporation have seen the need that the theatre and film play roles that are complementary to each other. Jos Repertory Theatre is growing, so we are looking forward to a time when the festival will be self-sustaining and people will be more appreciative of whatever it is that we are trying to do. Right now there are some of us who have been part of the festival for the past four years who have moved on to other fields of endeavour but are still in the mainstream of theatre. So, soon we will have people who will say I passed through the training ground of Jos Repertory Theatre or the Jos Festival of Theatre. That, for us, will be very satisfying and we are already getting to that stage.

Finally, what would you like to say to your sponsors?

To the Ford Foundation, especially, we say a huge thank you. Three quarters of the festival would not have been possible without them. Also the French Cultural Centre has played a big role in this festival. They sponsored one of their own plays. Other sponsors, to whom we are grateful, are the Grand Cereal, Nigerian Film Corporation, Jos International Breweries, Coca Cola, 7Up, SWAN Water, etc. All of them have joined hands together to make sure that we are bringing hope back to this society. Again, we thank the Ford Foundation for having supported the festival to its fifth edition.

(c) Interviewed by SUMAILA UMAISHA and published in the 4/4/09 edition of the New Nigerian newspaper.

The challenges of writing in Igbo language (interview)

NNW: Let’s have your brief biography.

Emmanuel Ugokwe: I was born in a village in Imo State Nigeria. My father was formerly a teacher and so my mother. I came on the down line in a large family of nine. After receiving my primary education at a local mission school, I proceed to Iheme memorial grammar school Arondizuogu and secondary commercial school for my secondary school. I then enrolled at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria, for a course in Law and currently a student of University of Nigeria, Nsukka . I grew up in my humble village until at 6 when I left home to my maternal parents.. I lost the loving attention in these ten years or more I spent outside home and no one encouraged me as mother did. While with my grandparents I tried to adjust to life of old man and woman. They too were proud of me. I had the privilege to hear them speak from the wealth of their wisdom. Grandfather was a known man in the village and beyond. He had a large house that housed many strangers and close relations, he had a large expanse of land more than many of his contemporaries, and he had money too and stumps of domestic fruits. He also had a stream called by his name. He had acquired much wealth in his youthful years both in pourtharcourt and in the village. He had everything money could buy and it was really a privilege to be with them. I did many things and was not beaten, something which was unusual in my own home. They took me as the last son of the family for all their children had left home to the city. But they were strict and lived the life of old. I lost many things as I was growing up and it was a pain that I could never recapture those moments again. I had no young friend, I play and talk only like an old man and woman. I was with him everywhere. He was blind, I read for him, carried him by the hand and we chatted like comrades. He taught me to be patient and respectful and that I would be anything I would be.. Many things I should see and places I should visit were not possible. They placed a restriction to me. But I was but off than many of my elder brothers. There were many things mother did not know that I know about her parents. I know tradition more they do; I was more meek, calm, humble, easygoing, bendable, and adjustable. I would have inherited something tangible from him if he had been my paternal father. It was not in our custom for one to inherit anything from his mother’s kinsmen unless they want to do that out of will, but I am satisfied that I grew under his protective hand. They are both late now, I am taking it all by myself hoping that providence and passing of time will heal such painful wound in my heart and that of my love one.

When and how did you start writings?

I started writing in 1990 when I was five. I learned reading early enough because I enjoyed a privileged which many of my elderly brothers did not. We were mostly boys and they were very interested in themselves while I took to mother who taught me how to read and to write. At school it marveled the teachers that I could read even when I was barely 5 and I taught many of my classmates how to read too. Mother was interested to see me grow to a wonderful man and to make him proud with my knowledge. So she set out to the farm one morning leaving me and my old paternal grandmother at home. I took an Igbo bible and read the story of Adam and eve. I came to love that story so much that I wrote something about it. I cannot remember exactly what I wrote on but it was on the children of Adam and how they felt when they heard what their parents did. Mother came home and I greeted him with that story Cain and able. I wrote the story entirely in my own words. I did not copy from the bible. Mother smiled and praised me. That was the good part of mother. She praises me even in little thing. I saved that story for years and lost it when I left home to my maternal home where I spent the next eleven years or more. Father that day was proud of me and told me that his late uncle penned down all the names of men in their twenties in the early thirties during the colonial days. I must have inherited his nature in writing. When I talk he read meaning into everything I said. I kept writing since then in almost all genres and for all age brackets.

What inspired you into writing in Igbo language?

I love the language. I write in other language too, but Igbo to me is the language I first heard mother speak and I grew up to see other people around me speak the same language. It carries my identity, it make me what I am. I also write in Igbo because I was thought many proverbs which could not make a direct meaning in another languages and I put them in to my writing.

What are the difficulties associated with writing in Igbo language?

Proverbs and coordination. We have limited number of people who speak, read and write the language, it is a big challenge. You write what they will like to hear, what they can read, what they can hear and it will torch their heart and move them to action. Something that will keep the mind going. Writing in Igbo is not just sit pick your pen and write, no it is more than just doing that. So I sat organized myself and starts off and after that I read it all back to know if I would like that story if another person had written on it. I only give my pass mark after reading it myself.

How did you feel when your name was announced as the winner of ANA prize for Igbo writing?

I was so happy that I told myself well-done. It was beyond the power of my words when the news got to me. Though it was my third award for the year but writing in my mother tongue and making it on the list of Nigerian writers made me feel good about myself. Someone even called me Igbo man of letters for the year. He was right. I wrote in Igbo and I am proud.

Do you also write in English; what are your main themes; are they different from the themes you use in your Igbo writings?

I write in English more than I write in Igbo but I write differently. If you are an Igbo man you will find out that many things stand in the world of English and Igbo. So you write in different mood, setting, themes and interests. While many people read English and understand that some culture are the same, it is not so in Igbo. I write entirly to the test of the two world.

How far do you intend to go in writing in Igbo language?

I am working on two new titles now and when they are out you will see it and I believe that the award made me stand still head high in my race to be a good writer of the time. I don’t feel easily intimidated especially in writing, I will ensure that I write what the world will like, the world of Igbo’s.

What is your advice to other young writers aspiring to write in the indigenous language?

Appreciate your language first. Tell people that no mater how bird flies in the high heavens they would descend to the tree and so for any other flies. If we can write in our mother tongue, we promote yourself, we promote the world, we have the sense of belonging, we work hard to snatch from the west what they had taken from us that made things to fall apart in this part of the world. Writing in our mother tongues will promote unity in ourselves, we can have something to be proud of. It will create the importance of unity and harmony.
I am publishing four titles now and when they are out I will let you know.

(c) Interviewed by SUMAILA UMAISHA and published in the 28/2/09 edition of New Nigerian newspaper.