The Committee for Relevant Art, CORA in collaboration with the Nigeria Prize
for Literature, sponsored by the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), is organising a special edition of the annual CORA-NPL BOOK PARTY.
Theme:
ALL LAUREATES’ FEAST
Date:
THURSDAY, OCT. 8
Time:
4-6pm
Venue: Zoom
Register in advance for this webinar by clicking the link –
http://bit.ly/BookParty2020
Why the special CORA-NPL Book Party?
As the cultural events season opens up following the series of lockdown occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, the absence of the Nigeria Prize for Literature has become a recurrent subject of debate in the literary circuit.
In particular, the CORA-NPL Book Party, which has always been the kick-starter
for the Literary season, has been subject of inquiry lately. It usually set the template and the pace for literary events that characterize the season – August to December.
As such, the CORA Programme directorate has been inundated with queries about the absence of the Book Party in the cultural calendar.
While the reason for the postponement of the NPL 2020 has been well communicated by the management of the Prize, still a large number of members of the literary circuit, especially keen followers of the project, expect that the Book Party should be held.
The CORA, in discussion with NLNG, therefore resolved that staging a virtual
edition of the CORA-NPL Book Party, is imperative. It is conceived as a special
gift to Nigeria in a season that marks the country’s diamond (60th) anniversary.
The NPL is one of the very few key accomplishments of the country in the annals of cultural development.
The structure of the programme:
The 2020 Book Party will host all the past winners of the Nigeria Prize for Literature to a 2-hour session of discussions around their career and their work that fetched them the NPL prize. It will also be an occasion to look into the state of Nigerian literature, especially in the four genres that feature in the NPL.
The Party will thus bring together all the past winners of the NPL, who are currently located in different parts of the world. From record, there have been 14 winners since the beginning of the project. Three of them have passed on, leaving 11. These 11 laureates will be hosted at the 2020 Book Party.
Objectives:
Aside the obvious advantage of the Party to the corporate brand of the NPL, the CORA believes that it also has its merits to the writing career and brand equity of each of the laureates.
i. It will provide opportunity for the media and the public to have update
information about these past winners who are currently located in different parts of the world.
ii. The Book Party will enable the NPL Secretariat to bring its past laureates
into one family; and keep them in close network. We believe that each
of the winners of the past editions remains a veritable ambassador for
the NPL, which remains the biggest prize project on the continent of
Africa.
iii. The CORA believes that these winners constitute an eminent body of
leaders of thought in our contemporary literary discourse, and ecosysytem.
DATE and MODALITY:
The proposed date is OCTOBER 8 while the nation will still be in the throes of
the 60th anniversary celebrations.
It will be a virtual party by Zoom but will also be broadcast on YouTube and Facebook.
Because it is holding online, we expect that thousands of people will be able to
participate in the programme, which gives greater reach.
The questioning direction will be:
i. Personal – what has happened to their writing since winning; what they
are working on.
ii. Genre Specific – their opinion on the genre in which they won.
iii. General – State of Writing & Literature.
iv. Opinion – The future of NPL.
ABOUT THE NPL
The Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by NLNG, is aimed at bringing Nigerian authors to public attention and celebrating literary craftsmanship in the nation. The Nigeria Prize for Literature is one of the 10 richest and most prestigious literary prizes in the world. The Prizes are administered, on behalf of Nigeria LNG Limited, by the Advisory Board for Literature made up of reputable and distinguished Nigerians. The prize comes with a cash reward of $100,000.
ABOUT CORA
CORA is a 29-year old organisation created and managed by dedicated culture enthusiasts with the intent of making Nigeria a prime destination for culture tourism. CORA was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria as a charity in 2007 as
the CORA Art & Cultural Foundation. In 2006, the organization received the Prince Claus Award for Culture & Development and has been instrumental to major policy shifts in the creative industries. CORA organises regular art events and symposia. These events constantly draw attendance from the cream of Nigeria’s art enthusiasts, practitioners and patrons and are regularly reported in the press. Ideas shared at CORA organised forums have influenced major interventions in the literary, filmic, musical, visual and performative arts of Nigeria in the past two decades and more.
