The Arts-Muse Fair

British Council  in collaboration with the African Storybook Initiative invites writers and illustrators to participate in a residential workshop for the production of mother-tongue based multilingual storybooks. The workshop is a component of the broader Story Making West Africa project which aims to promote the arts, education and mother-tongue based multilingual education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Story Making West Africa workshop pilots an initiative to create stories in indigenous languages and is an opportunity for individual West African writers and illustrators to contribute to the production of these storybooks at any African Storybook reading level, in indigenous languages and English. Workshop Output 1:  Up to 20 draft story manuscripts with ten manuscripts selected for publishing. Each manuscript will consist of 12-page stories in at least two languages (an indigenous African language and English). Workshop Output 2:  Illustrators draw and colour five sets of illus

BY PAUL LIAM Last Saturday in Minna, Niger state, Ayisha Osori read her book Love Does Not Win Elections to an excited audience. In this piece, Paul Liam reports on the book chat. Saturday 3rd, February 2018 shall linger for a very long time in the minds of guests who attended the feast of intellectual discourses that permeated the triangular hall of the AMAB Bookshop, Minna, Niger state. The event was a special guest author bookchat and signing put together by the triad of AMAB Books, Hill-top Creative Arts Foundation, and The Arts-Muse Fair Blog for Ayisha Osori, the quintessential social activist, lawyer and author of Love Does Not Win Elections. The author encountered an unusual literary reception in Minna, reading her debut non-fictional thriller, which chronicles her exploits as a political novice who contested for the primary election under the PDP for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency in the 2015 elections and lost. The obviously overwhelmed Osori,

Book : No Longer at Ease Author : Chinua Achebe Reviewer : Nana Sule If you were among the many that wondered what became of Okonkwo’s family after he hung himself in Things Fall Apart, then wonder no more. And no, this is no longer about sacrificing an adopted son, evil forests, wrestling, wars and conquering villages, it is about a time from a bit more present. The descendants of the great Okonkwo find themselves as a devoted Christian father and a well-learned son. Obi Okonkwo is the name of the grandchild of the late Okonkwo of Umuofia. He is the first person from Umuofia to cross the seas of Nigeria into the great England. Sent from a loan contribution by all the households in Umuofia to study law, Obi returns to Nigeria, an English graduate and in love with an Osu . Although the people of Umuofia are ready to condone the change of profession, and even give him all the time in the world to repay the loan, what they would not condone, is an outcast, marrying

This is a book you read and savour the richness of the poet’s skilful integration of poetics over and over, poured onto the white pages. The poems are segmented into three sections; The "Images of Memory", "Crossing", and "A Fictional of Farewell". Part One offers normal life occurrences as such while reading one feels the spirited feel of the poems. In Part Two, one is brought into a state of introspection considering the compartments of life's twists and turns. Lastly, Part Three shows the poets personal self realization. So, "A Fictional of Farewell" takes off the veil of convenience for the subject, treading through routes that shapes his/her values and resilience. Discoveries are made and identify affirmed. Love conquering all.  Part One, "Images of Memory", takes one into the everyday happenings of life. The first poem in this section, "Flight", simply conjures the scenario of a traveler in the plane, yet

By Marjaan sadiq    My hands were trembling as I knocked at his door. Music blared from inside the apartment. I recognised the song immediately; Unleash the Dragon by Sisqo. I smiled, the man is some old school. He opened in less than a second, almost like he had been by the door, awaiting my arrival. His appearance didn't help, it made me flustered. He was wearing a multi-coloured button-down shirt. The only problem was that the shirt was not buttoned-down, all the buttons were undone and he was not wearing anything inside it. I halted. That was definitely unprofessional. Then it hit me, coming to his house was also unprofessional. I shifted my eyes from his torso to his face, willing them not to wander further. He was young, younger than I expected a bank manager to be. He was probably in his mid-thirties. "Nina right?" He asked, smirking. My eyes widened: did he just lick his lips? Hmm, I was probably imagining it. I toyed with the idea of lying that

So a friend of mine linked me up with a friend of his in Nassarawa state, who himself wanted someone who is into cultural things and entertainment in Niger state. So, we got talking with Yahaya, a Lafia resident in Nassarawa state. He (Yahaya) is a regular participant of Calabar carnival. Because of his years of experience and participation, the Cross Rivers State Carnival Commission got him acting as a kind of ambassador and go-between with cultural groups and troupes in the northern axis. The Cross River state Carnival Commission through Yahaya got my group invited to the 2017 cultural parade billed to take place on the 26th of December 2017, a day after Christmas.  I got talking yet again with the officials of the carnival commission and they asked me to liaise with my state's ministry for culture and tourism of course as a private participant. On my inquiry with the Niger state Ministry for Culture and Tourism I was able to deduce that their invitation came late and

OneBeat is a music exchange and incubator for music-based social entrepreneurship, where innovative musicians from around the world launch collaborative projects designed to make a positive impact on local and global communities. An initiative of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the groundbreaking New York-based music organization Bang on a Can's Found Sound Nation, OneBeat employs collaborative original music as a potent new form of cultural diplomacy. African countries eligible for the 2018 OneBeat program are: Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe. DEADLINE  Applications are due by 5:00pm (Eastern Standard Time, USA) Feb 9, 2018. NOTIFICATION  Applicants will be notified of the review panel decision by the end of May, 2018. PROGRAM  OneBeat 2018 will take place from September 12 – October 14, 2018. CONTACT  If you have questions pl