GCLF 2012

Port Harcourt, UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 is also the home of the annual Garden City Literary Festival. The festival, which is in its fifth year, is an annual celebration of Literature and the Arts and also a platform for networking between players in the book chain industry. The main features of the festival include; The Garden City Book Fair, Writers’ Workshops, Symposium, book readings, Drama Performances and children’s events. The GCLF will hold between October 15 and 20. There is something for everyone.

Writers

The workshops which run for 3 days, are facilitated by seasoned writers. The workshops takes participants through the rudiments of writing, then gives them an opportunity to revise their work and finally present their finished work to their peers, who critique it and offer valuable feedback. On completion of the workshops, participants are given a certificate of attendance. This year Doreen Baingana will facilitate the fiction class and Dr. Obari Gomba will take the Poetry class. Cpt Elehi Amadi and Veronique Tadjo will handle the Master’s classes. The workshops are free but require pre-registration.

Children

The festival also features events, like creative workshops for children, book signings and seminars. 

Booksellers

The Garden City Book Fair, another key feature of the festival, is open from 8am to 6pm daily for the duration of the event. The book fair is open to booksellers, publishers, gift shops, education establishments, banks and others. Patrons to the exhibition in the past have included, Longman Nigeria PLC, Heinemann, Book Craft, Bible Wonderland, Litramed Publications among others.  Port Harcourt is fast developing as a book hub, and with the city clinching the much coveted title of UNESCO World Book Capital 2014, the book industry in the city is expected to thrive even more.  Schools, universities and the general public are invited to come and maximise this opportunity to shop for a variety of books and learning resources all under one roof and at competitive prices.

For more information please log on to www.gardencityfestival.com  and www.portharcourtworldbookcapital.org.