Talent is not Enough!

Are you a practitioner in any of the following sectors in the Nigerian Creative Industries?

Advertising, Architecture, Art and Antique markets, Broadcasting, Crafts, Design (Including Fashion), Film, Video and Photography; Software, computer games and electronic publishing, Music and the Visual and Performing Arts, Publishing

Do you want…

• To sharpen your business skills through training by leading educational providers in Nigeria and the UK?
• To participate in networking events for business people in the creative industry?
• To be mentored by successful entrepreneurs and leading business people in Nigeria and the UK?
• To be part of secondments across Creative Industries in the UK and across Sub Saharan Africa?
• Then Creative Enterprise Programme is for you!

To qualify, you must:

• Already work in any capacity in any of the above named sectors in Nigeria
• Be aged between 18 and 35 (Candidates outside the age range who meet other criteria may be considered and are encouraged to apply)

• Be entrepreneurial
• Have a passion for your sector
• Have evidence of leadership capabilities in your sector
• Have evidence of originality of ideas
• Have English language skills to IELTS 6 - ‘competent user’ or above.
  

Click here for more information.
Deadline for applications: 7 September 2009

Lauri Kubuitsile: Wriing is 20% talent and 80% hard work!

Lauri blogs here, where she blogs about her writing, Botswana and lots more. In this interview, she reveals that she carries a handbag book; shares birthday with Martin Luther King Jnr; her obsession with her email box; and the fact that writing is serious business. Sure you will learn one or two things from her...share with us!

Three adjectives that best describe you: Hardworking, loyal, cantankerous

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I tend to trust people straight away, but when they let me down I am brutally unforgiving.

Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability to follow instructions. I tend to read a bit and just assume I’ve got it when in fact I don’t, then I set out on the project destined to stop midway through. This is why I’m dead useless with most technical things.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
1. Being without chocolate. 2. Being without caffeine. I contemplate suicide when these two happen simultaneously.

What is the last thing you read that made you laugh?
Exhibit A by Sarah Lotz. Very funny indeed.

What is the worth of a book?
Books have saved me. Within each cover is a beautiful journey that can give you an escape from real life which can sometimes be problematic.

You are Obama for a day, what would you do?
Ban ebooks. I think they might be the work of the Devil. (I vacillate on this point- don’t ask me tomorrow, I’ll surely give a different answer. But really how can we sign an ebook? It all seems unnatural.)

How does being a female Motswana influence your writing?
I’m not sure gender or nationality really matters that much to me. It’s all about life experience and your interpretation of it.

When is the best time to write for you?
I am a dogmatic Capricorn. I write Monday to Friday from about 9 am to 6 pm. Writing is my job and that job like all other jobs involves some busy work; so some of that time is taken up with phone calls, email, blog writing, editing yesterday’s writing, and paperwork. I usually finally get to new fiction writing in the afternoons, from about 3 to 6 pm. I do occasionally write on weekends too.

What is your most treasured possession?
I love my laptop and would be heartbroken if it dies or was stolen or stopped liking me back.

What inspires your writing?
Everyday life inspires my work. Also other writers inspire me. I am addicted to reading writers’ biographies. When I get an anthology, I always read the writers’ bios first. I like to know the many and varied paths people travel to get to this place.

What is your advice to young writers?
It is about 20% talent and 80% hard work. Best to know that at the beginning. Also you must have the tenacity of a barnacle.

Three blogs you always visit and why?
Blood Red Pencil- fantastic writing advice
Straight from Hel- Helen always has interesting writing topics to discuss
Book Trade- To stay current with what’s happening publishing-wise.

How will you introduce your child to literature?
I have two teenagers. When they were babies I bought them lots of books and read to them often. Our house is always full of books. I think that’s the best way to get kids to love books and reading.

What part of the process of writing do you enjoy most?
When writing books, I love the set up work I do before starting. I like laying out the plot, making character bibles, creating that world. I write my rough drafts very quickly after that, almost with a sort of desperation. All that beginning stuff is what I love.

What would a story about your life be called?
The Most Convoluted Way to get There

What is your greatest fear?
I always feel like I get better with everything I write, so I just hope I’ll live long enough to write something quite fantastic. I fear I won’t.

What do you feel about the awards and nominations?
I’m a contest junky. I think they’re important, they give writers validation and a bit of publicity and, in the rare case, a pile of money. Despite what many literary writers believe, earning money from your writing is not a bad thing.

Who are your favorite writers?
Kate Atkinson, Margaret Atwood, Andre Brink, Dr. Seuss, Kazuo Ishiguro, Bill Bryson, Tom Eaton, …. Actually my list changes all of the time.

Why do you write?
I am not one of these tortured people who must write or I will suffer untold injury to body and mind. I write because I have a bit of talent and I enjoy it. I’m slightly addicted to the gambling side of it. You send things out and you wait and it’s a yes or no. That waiting is quite a lovely torture for me. I love owning my life also.

What book are you reading at the moment?
I’ve just started Fuse by a young South African writer who goes by the pseudonym of S.A. Partridge. I’m also reading the flash fiction collection, 100 Papers by Liesl Jobson, another South African writer. My handbag book* is Nine Levels Down by William R. Dantz. (* a handbag book is the one you read in queues and on the bus. It needs to allow disruption so mustn’t be too literary and mind absorbing. Just fun.)

Which historical figure do you most identify with? 
I share a birthday with Martin Luther King Jr. and I’ve always been quite proud of that though, of course with no sound basis. He was a very pivotal person in the path to universal human dignity.

If you were to write your epitaph, what would it be?
I’ve actually made a decision, and in this case I do believe it is a final one (very few others ever are) – I don’t intend to die, so this question is irrelevant in my case.

What is the most important attribute in the business of writing?
For me the most important aspects of writing something worthwhile is the beforehand thinking and planning and the final rounds of editing. The first defines the borders within which everything will take place, while the latter polishes things so that the writing is presentable enough to go out in public.

Weird thing that ‘must’ be in place when you write
Not sure how weird this is but I am obsessed with email. I check it every few minutes. I fear some earth-moving news will appear in my inbox and it will sit unread for some minutes.

What is your philosophy of life?
“You’re only willing to succeed to the same degree you’re willing to fail” Wendall Mayes. I always try to fail spectacularly.

AWF 2009 Literary Contest

As part of its objectives to promote the development of literature within Nigeria and beyond, the Abuja Writers’ Forum(AWF) proudly announces the AWF 2009 Literary Contest. Here are some rules:

The contest in this category is exclusively for writers resident in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – that is Abuja and the Council Areas of Abaji, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali. Submissions should be of previously unpublished work in Fiction (Short Story), Poetry or Drama(One-Act Play). If the work has appeared in print or online in any form or part, or under any title, it is ineligible and will be disqualified. However entries in last year’s contest which did not win can be resubmitted if they have been reworked.

Contestants can enter in all three genres but only one entry per contestant in each genre. Send three typed copies of each entry and include on a separate sheet, contestants name, proper contact address, email, phone number(s), and title of entry. Entries should be sent to : AWF Literary Contest, P.O.Box 7131, Wuse, Abuja.

And the prize money? Top three in each category will win N50,000, N30,000 and N10,000 respectively.

Click here for more information.

Bookaholic Blogger of the Month: Jude Dibia

Three adjectives that describe you: Complicated, determined, unpredictable.

How do you choose your characters? I think my characters choose me. There has never been a formula to that; it just starts with the story or an idea of the plot and from there, the characters emerge, all fighting to be heard and seen.

Who do you consider a writer’s writer and why? This is a hard question to answer. A literal interpretation of that would be a writer that writes for the pleasure and enjoyment of other writers exclusively. But, I don’t think that this is what you mean. My writer’s writer is Toni Morrison. The beauty of her words and craft is simply awesome; you get swept away by her imaginative prowess.

What inspires your writing? Everything. Life and the all important ‘what if’ factor.

What is the hardest thing to write about? My personal experiences.

What is the greatest problem of the Nigerian publishing industry? Distribution and the basic infrastructure do not exist.

When and why did you decide to become a writer? I never decided to become a writer. It just happened. I loved reading books and then I developed an interest in telling stories. I think it happened organically.

What is the secret to being a fine writer? You have to read a lot to acquaint yourself with what others before you have written and understand what works; why they were successful and be familiar with all the elements that make for fine writing.

What is the oddest job you’ve done? While I was pursuing a diploma in Arts school, I worked behind a counter in a popular evening hangout close to the university serving drinks and making sharwarma (not sure if that’s the right spelling).

Your first story written: I really can’t remember the name, but it was an adventure story much like the ones I used to read by Enid Blyton. I was quite young then.

Greatest achievement in writing career: I think for now, it’s just being able to tell the stories I have told, and the tremendous feedback and support I have received from readers.

What book are you reading at the moment? The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Rainbow by D.H Lawrence and One Hundred Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li.

Five favorite writers and why:
• Toni Morrison – She has a way with language and storytelling that simply leaves me breathless.

• James Baldwin – His novels are simply timeless.

• Virginia Woolf – I’ve always been fascinated by her writing.

• J.M Coetzee – Wonderful writer, almost faultless in his writing.

• The fifth would be all the wonderful Nigerian writers I have been reading lately and mentioning one would mean I have to mention them all.

Why did you write Unbridled? It was a story that simply refused to leave me and I was excited about the challenge of telling it in the voice that I did.

Who is your perfect reader? A patient reader.

What is the last thing you read that made you laugh? A friend’s recent note on Facebook!

How do you relax? Watching television.

Recently, your blog became more like a writer’s workshop, why? My blog is always evolving. I guess after I started receiving emails from people asking me about my writing process etc, I decided to share with them some of the things I picked up since I started writing.

How do you juggle being a writer and work in the corporate world? I wish I knew, but I don’t. I write when I am inspired and that could be late at night or in the early hours of the morning or weekends… I have managed to separate my writing from my career.

Which of your works was the most challenging for you to write? They were both challenging and in the process of writing either, I must have felt at one point of the other that ‘this is the most challenging work thus far!’

What should we expect from you in the nearest future? Well, I have had some short stories published recently in magazines, e-zines and the One World Anthology of short stories. I have just completed what I hope will be my third novel and I will start working on another book similar to my first novel, Walking with Shadows.

What is the value of a book? Good books are priceless. Once a book can achieve most of its goals, and in that, I mean its ability to inspire, inform, entertain and elicit the appropriate emotional reaction, then, it is worth every penny spent on getting it and becomes priceless.

Writing Sample: Excerpt from upcoming novel, Blackbird
Underground City was the real deal, with its smothering intimacy with violence and depravity. A conglomeration of roguishly built shanty homes, it flanked the Sambo creek, a torrid expanse of water snaking its way to the sea. The ‘city’ littered an entire mass of land, giving little or no room for roads or streets. Yet, on the other side of the water, were manicured suburbs housing the rich.

Omoniyi was alert; he had to be. The stories he had heard of how a man could be robbed of the shoes he was wearing if they looked like they could be traded for a wrap of hemp were not to be taken lightly. He also knew that he could be knifed in the back for staring at the wrong person. These worries were enough to keep him cautious. He stayed away from this neighbourhood as much as he could, but Scorpio lived here now and he had come to see him for work.

As Omoniyi walked from the bus, he suddenly felt intimate with this place. It had its own soul and its own vibe, expressed by a cacophony of hooting car horns, mixed with the cadences of tired bus engines that coughed and puffed under the baking sun, overlaid by a multitude of voices that talked, whispered, shouted, traded, cursed, laughed, cried, sang and sighed, all in unison. Once you set foot in Underground City, you felt its touch and its breath on you.

But Omoniyi recalled that it had not always been like this. Back in the 50s, he’d heard, it used to be a respectable settlement called Elnugeja. How had it changed? The story went that a young man called Bayo had returned to his native city with a law degree from England, where he’d been sent after winning a government scholarship. He’d suffered racial abuse there. On his return, he looked for a home––only to find that a colour bar operated in his own country, too. He searched for a home in Ikoyi and Apapa before he realised they were reserved for the colonial Europeans and other so called elite. Why, he must have wondered, did a racial-divide exist here? Why did the whites have a better stake in land and property than the indigenes?

DISCOVERING NEW MYSTERIES COMPETITION

DEADLINE: August 31, 2009.

GENRE: Short Stories, Novels, Scripts and Screenplays.

DETAILS: Free contest offers large prizes for mystery writing in
several genres: original plays, screenplays, teleplays, and short
stories for both adult and youth audiences. All entries should be
able to be performed (read) in under an hour.

PRIZES: $ 10,000 for "Best New Work" (one prize across all genres),
$ 5,000 for "Best New Writer", $2,500 for "Outstanding Screenplay
or Teleplay", $1,000 for "Best Work for Young Adults (12-18)",
$1,000 for "Best Short Mystery Play" (category includes one-act
plays, short screenplays, and short stories).

URL: http://www.newmysteries.org/submission_guidelines/

The Special Art of Short Story Writing

Are you in Lagos? Do you write or are you an aspiring writer? Then, you need to read this.

The Centre of Excellence Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Lagos is squaring up to meeting a major need on "The Special Art of Short Story writing". The guest writer and special resource person for the worksop is the Guyana-Caribbean Nigerian wife, Prof. Karen King Aribisala, a creative prose writer of international craft.

Karen's The Hangman's Game won the Commonwealth 2008 prize as the First Best Book in prose fiction in the African category. Her first book, Our Wife and other stories is a most experimental collection of short stories with each story not exceeding two-three pages yet lucid and loaded in symbolism. In it, she does not only serve the taste of "Bitter Leaf" associated with cross-cultural marriages, she also shows the pleasures and pamperings therein. A Professor of African and Caribean literature and feminism with a fine creative bent, Karen will be workshoping writers into her findings on the special art of Short story Writing.

Date: Saturday August 29, 2009 Time: 2pm-5pm

Venue: Aina Onabolu Complex, National Theatre, Costain-Iganmu, Lagos.Karen King

Prof. Karen King Aribsala would also be reading from her book and doing the the infrequent, do an oral performance of her stories like the African griot.

Writers are expected to come read their short stories only. No poetry reading will be allowed. It is short story day.

The Baobab Prize: An African Literary Award

The Baobab Prize 2009, an African literary revolution for children

August 2009 -This month marks the launch of the second annual Baobab Prize, an international literary award established to encourage the writing of African literature for young readers. Issuing a statement to commemorate the launch of the prize, co-founder and director of the prize Ghanaian Deborah Ahenkorah said, “The success of our inaugural year gives us confidence as we launch today. We received entries from nine African countries and our participating writers ranged in age from eleven to sixty-four years. It is clear that the Baobab Prize is here to stay and to revolutionize African literature as we know it.”

The Baobab Prize annually invites entries of unpublished African short stories written for audiences either 8-11 years or 12-15 years. This year the prize will award $1,000 to the best story in each category and $800 to the most promising young writer (18 years and below). Also all short listed stories will be considered for possible publishing. The Baobab Prize is open to African citizens of all ages. Deadline for submission is April 15, 2010.

Rama Shagaya, Senegalese co-founder of the prize says, “the mission of the Baobab Prize is to identify the literary giants of the next generation and produce classic stories that will be appreciated for years to come. This year, we want to challenge African writers to unleash their imagination. Tell us a story we've never heard before. A winning story this year will be a story that stands out."

The winners of the inaugural year of the Baobab Prize were Lauri Kubuitsile from Botswana with Lorato and her Wire Car, the best story written for readers aged 8-11 years; Ivor W. Hartmann from Zimbabwe with Mr. Goop, the best story written for readers aged 12-15 years and Aisha Kibwana from Kenya, the most promising young writer with Strange Visitors that took her Life Away. The Baobab Prize has lofty dreams about the future of African literature. It envisions that in ten years bookstores all over the world will be brimming with top quality African stories written for children. The Baobab Prize was founded in July 2008. Two top stories from its inaugural year have been picked up for publishing in Africa. This literary award is made possible with funds provided by Bryn Mawr College, The Global Fund for Children and members of the Baobab Prize administrative team.

For more info on the competition, email Deborah Ahenkorah, baobabprize@gmail.com or visit the BAOBAB website...