The Arts-Muse Fair

BY MARTHA KINGSMIKE The Advisory Board for The Nigeria Prize for Literature announced the long-list of 11 drawn from 173 books, for the 2019 edition of the prize over a month ago. All 11 long-listed authors are in the running for winning the cash prize of $100,000 ( ₦ 36,200,000) The 11 books on the long list of 11, in alphabetical order by the title of the book, are: - A Hero’s Welcome by Ndidi Enenmor - Boom, Boom by Jude Idada - Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani - Double ‘A’ for Adventure by Anisa Daniel-Oniko - Ginika’s Adventures by Nnena Ochiche - Igho Goes to Farm by Anote Ajeluorou - Mystery at Ebenezer’s Lodge by Dunni Olatunde - Obioma: A Girl’s Journey to Self-Discovery by Nkiru Uzoh - She Calls Him Daddy by Oladele Medaiyese - Spurred Surprises by Lami Adejoh Opawale - The Great Walls of Benin by O. T. Begho A Book Party was held for the 11 authors whose books were long-listed for the 2019 Nigeria Prize f...

Denja Abdullahi,  poet, playwright, literary essayist and culture technocrat was born exactly 50 years ago, on the 27th day of August, 1969 at Idah, Kogi State, Nigeria.  He has been writing poetry for over three decades since his days as a student of English and literature at the University of Jos, Nigeria, where he was the best graduating student of the 1990 set. He also has a Masters in Literature-in-English, acquired at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria in 1992. His poems and other literary pieces have appeared in anthologies such as A Volcano of Voices (1999), Uncle Bola’s Promise (2003), Confluence Blues (2004) Abuja Acolytes (2000) Five Hundred Nigerian Poets (2005) Camouflage (2006) Crossroads (2008) Pyramids (2008), Fireflies (2009), Agogo (2009) and in several other newspapers, reviews, journals and magazines. His first published poetic volume Mairogo: a Buffoon’s Poetic Journey around Northern Nigeria (2001) received honourable mention for the pr...

       Literary Profile of Denja Abdullahi Denja Abdullahi, is the current National President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) who was reelected for the second term last year at the Annual International Convention of ANA in Makurdi, Benue State. He was first elected in November 2015, at the annual convention in Kaduna. Today, he is arguably the most prominent ANA official the association ever had having been in ANA executive council without a break since 2001 when he was elected an Ex-Officio member. He is leading ANA through some radical transformations all in a bid to strengthen the Association to regain its glory and perform its role as the biggest writers association in Africa.      A poet, playwright, literary essayist and culture technocrat, he was born in August,1969 at Idah, Kogi State but hails from Agbaja in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria . Denja has been writing poetry since his ...

BY SALIM YUNUSA “… Life in the city is unbelievable...” Darey croons in my ear, and as I look around, I deeply resonate with the song I recently unearthed, “Pray For Me” by Darey. It was my first time being in the city, and I feel amazed and scared at the same time. I feel like a little bird who’s leaving the nest for the first time. My silent musings and wishes have been answered, for I have been telling myself that it’s about time that I go out of my comfort zone and see the world and all that it has to offer. Unlike Darey’s tragic, heartbreaking story in his song, I am here to serve my country. I was posted to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for my one-year mandatory national service. All my life, I have never left home to any place for any reason. I was born, bred and schooled in Zaria. Abuja is the farthest I have lived in the North, and the closest I have been to the South was the one time I went for Ake Festival in Abeokuta for a few days. It feels so strange,...

By Nana Sule From head to toe, the henna has infinite uses for the human body and mind. These range from medicinal utility, beautification, mummification, spirituality to decorative body art, such that henna and the art of its application are now widespread across cultures and religions. In present times, it is no surprise to see periods specially carved into wedding programs for the artistic designs of hands and feet. This is an art widespread amongst the women of Northern Nigeria. These designs, known amongst Nigerian women as Lalle , or Henna are beautiful and temporal tattoos drawn on hands and feet of females at weddings, naming ceremonies, festivals and even on normal days as means of beautification. However, long before the modern day commercialization of the body art, where artists charge quite lump sums at weddings and other festivities, were days that saw the henna design used for more than just body designs. The origin of henna is traced to the Bro...

ABUJA ON THE MOVE  - A Review of the Creative Sector in Abuja . By  Dike Chukwumerije and Promise Ebichi  From its days of cultural soullessness – caricatured as the stereotypical artificial city, made only of glass, concrete and migrant workers – Abuja has come a long way. For proof of this, look to the increasingly choked calendar of its cultural enthusiast. In recent months, this calendar has been crammed with poetry shows, musicals, theatre productions and cultural festivals, all healthy signs of a creative sector experiencing a boom.  Perhaps it is the city’s increasing population of the aspirational. Or the coming of age of a generation of Abuja born and bred, more inclined to see the city as home. Perhaps it is the re-location of artistes from more culturally vibrant cities, and the resultant pressure on local artistes to do more. Who knows? But the resultant boom has been loud, louder and more broad based than anything before, involving ...

Photo: Google image English writer, Kazuo Ishiguro, author of The Buried Giant, Never Let Me Go, and The Remains of the Day , was recently named by the Swedish Academy as the recipient of the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature. Announcing the winner, the Academy, said of him, “he has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of the world…If you mix Jane Austen and Kafka, you have Kazuo Ishiguro’s work.” Kazuo Ishiguro. Photo: Google image Although this year’s announcement was not greeted with a global shock as last year’s when it was awarded to a songwriter, Bob Dylan, it was no less shocking to many Africans who bandied the speculation that Kenyan writer; Ngugi Wa Thiongo was set to win the Prize this year. Even as there were doubts by some pundits of Ngugi’s chance of winning the prize largely because his writings were seen to be anti-west, it was still being expected that the Prize would be his to pick. Ngugi Wa Thiongo. Photo: Google image The Permanent Secr...