The 10th edition of the Ake Arts and Book Festival with the theme “Homecoming” will begin in Lagos on Thursday, November 24.
The venue for the literary event is at Strong Tower Events Centre, 40 Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
To be headlined by Véronique Tadjo, the 2022 edition of the festival will bring over 1,000 writers, poets, musicians, actors, filmmakers, artists and thinkers from Africa and the world together to celebrate creativity.
Tadjo is the writer of books and poems such as Latérite, As the Crow Flies, A mi-chemin, The Shadow of Imana and a host of others.
The event will begin at 9:30 am with a welcome ceremony. There will be three panel discussions, an interview, four book chats and a free film screening.
The first book chat will begin with Born in Blackness by Howard French and Uncommon Wealth by Kojo Koram. It will be hosted by Lovie Biakolo and commence at 10:35 am. The second book chat will be hosted by Bisi Adjapon who will be In Conversation with South African journalist, Zukiswa Wanner at 12:45 pm. There will be another “In Conversation” in the third one hosted by Omotoke Solarin-Sodara and will have Zimbabwean author, Tendai Huchu on seat.
It is to begin at 2:55 pm.
The fourth and final one is at 6:10 pm with a look at titles such as The Havok of Choice by Shiro Koinange and The Deep Blue Between by Ayesha Attah.
The panel discussions will start at 11:40 am, with Navigating Vulnerability in a Macho. Guests on the panel include, Nnamdi Ehirim , Derek Owusu and MI Asaba. It will begin at 11:40 am.
To find out more about the book chats, check out the full Ake Arts and Book Festival programme at www.akefestival.org/programme.
There will be an interview with Tunde Onakoya, on “Chess in Nigerian Slums” and it will be hosted by Kadaria Ahmed at 5:05 pm.
Finally, there will be a film screening showcasing the behind the scenes of Biyi Bandele’s The King’s Horseman including interviews with Deyemi Okanlawon, Shaffy Bello and Bandele himself. The screen presentation will be hosted by the festival founder and author Lola Shoneyin and will commence at 7:30 pm.
The three days of cultural immersion is a return to holding physical sessions after the 2021 edition of the festival was done virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
