Event: Association of Nigerian Authors -ANA- Convention

The Association of Nigerian Authors has released official posters after postponing its upcoming 2015 International Convention by two weeks. The convention will now hold from 12th - 15th November at Arewa House in Kaduna (Nigeria).

I told you that November will be packed with a lot of creative and literary events... :)

The shift was done for two reasons: to accommodate the Lagos International Poetry Festival that started on the 28th of October 2015 to end on the 1st of November 2015, and for the PAWA -Pan African Writers’ Association's International Conference celebrating Chinua Achebe on the International African Writers’ Day at Accra, Ghana. The PAWA Conference will hold from the 5th to the 8th of November, 2015. However, the shift coincides with the Lagos Book and Art Festival, holding from the 13th to 15th November 2015 in Lagos.

Event: The ArtHub - 24 Oct. 2015

The ARTHUB is a collaboration of different literary related groups. They converge bi-monthly on the HUB in Surulere, Lagos, and their next meeting is coming up on Saturday 24th October 2015, featuring "AJ DAGGAR TOLAR."

It's open for all... Don't miss it.

For more information, click here.

Literarily Yours,

CMO.

Contest: The 2016 Brunel University African Poetry Prize

To all the poets out there, emerging voices, who have not yet published a full-length poetry book, and those who are still shy to share their work to the world, this is your opportunity to be recognised for what you do.

The 2016 Brunel University African Poetry Prize is open for submission!!! But until 30th November 2016, so hurry up and put your poems together.... 10 poems. And totally worth it. The winner gets GBP 3,000.

The prize is only open to poets who were born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African, and aim of the prize is to develop, celebrate and promote poetry from Africa.

For more information on the terms and conditions, and how to submit your entries, click here.

Good luck and let the creative juices flow.

:)

Literarily Yours,

CMO.

Book Review: Americanah

Book Description:

Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time.

Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion—for each other and for their homeland.

Book Review: The Clarion Call

Book Description:

A collection of poems based on the experience of the author during his one-year service in the NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) scheme to his beloved country Nigeria.

***

"The Clarion Call" is a poetry collection by author Albert Seraphin.

This is a collection of fifty-seven poems, but not your regular "romantic" collection, as the tone fluctuates between humour, happiness, and sadness, feelings a normal human being would have. This is also due to the theme, which is a rather serious one, as it is based on the NYSC (National Youth Service Corps - Nigeria) service year.

Short Story: Black Box

Happy ‪#‎IndependenceDay‬ Nigeria. Enjoy my new ‪#‎ShortStory‬ as you rest in your homes :). ‪#‎BlackBox ‪#‎Mystery‬ ‪#‎Suspense‬

I wrote this short story after an All Staff Session where I work. The story was inspired by the session and all my colleagues who were present at that time, therefore I dedicate it to all of them.

You can read the story below.

Description:

An Ideas Box is proposed during a Market Knowledge session in a company. But the box goes missing because it is believed to contain much more than ideas. Who has the Ideas Box and why? But the main question is: What is really in the box?

Book Review: No Time For Goodbye

Book Description:

Fourteen-year-old Cynthia Bigge woke one morning to discover that her entire family, mother, father, brother had vanished. No note, no trace, no return. Ever. Now, twenty-five years later, she'll learn the devastating truth

Sometimes better not to know. . . 

Cynthia is happily married with a young daughter, a new family. But the story of her old family isn't over. A strange car in the neighborhood, untraceable phone calls, ominous gifts, someone has returned to her hometown to finish what was started twenty-five years ago. And no one's innocence is guaranteed, not even her own. By the time Cynthia discovers her killer's shocking identity, it will again be too late . . . even for goodbye.