ANA RIVERS AND RSU START A SUPERB LITERARY PARTNERSHIP: CAPT. ELECHI AMADI IN FOCUS


By Raphael Edookue

(Publicity Secretary, ANA Rivers)


 In what will be an amazing literary partnership for the decade, and a demonstration of literary friendliness by Prof. Nlerum Okogbule (Vice-Chancellor of Rivers State University), the Rivers state branch of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA Rivers) and Riv


ers State University (RSU) have started a superb partnership in the area of creative writing to celebrate literary excellence while also reawakening the literary consciousness of  literary enthusiasts and budding creative writers in Rivers State, Nigeria, and beyond. This partnership has birthed what is now called: ANA/RSU International Conference on Creative Writing and the theme for this year's conference is: ELECHI AMADI, LITERATURE AND THE NIGERIAN SOCIO-POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT. Other sub-themes include: Elechi Amadi's world view: Culture, Religion and Ideology, Elechi Amadi's writings and the environment, Politics and Elechi Amadi's writings, The Poetry and Drama of Elechi Amadi among others.

The conference will hold in the Amphitheater of the main campus of Rivers State University between September 22 and September 24, 2022, having the Governor of the state, Chief (Barr) Nyesom E. Wike as the Chief host while Prof. Nlerum Okogbule, the literary friendly Vice-Chancellor of Rivers State University will host the event. H.E. Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary-General of Commonwealth of Nations will serve as the Special Guest of Honour.

The conference, expected to light up Port Harcourt and give it that 2014 World Book Capital smell again will attract other distinguished literary scholars from across Nigeria so that Dr. Wale Okediran, the current Secretary-General of Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA), a multi-award winning author who once served as President of the Association of Nigerian Authors, and a former member of the House of Representatives, will be joined by three other literary giants: Prof. Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo (winner of the Nigeria Prize for Literature and current Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Nigeria Prize for Literature), Prof. Zainab Alkali (1985 Winner of ANA Literary prize and author of the famous novel: The Stillborn) and Mr. Camillus Ukah (President of Association of Nigerian Authors) as guests while Prof. Kontein Trinya and Associate Prof. Isaac Eyi Ngulube will serve as keynote speaker and lead paper presenter respectively.

Furthermore, regarding the preparedness of the partnering bodies to put up a conference of this nature, focusing on one of Africa's most-talked-about literary icons, Capt. Elechi Amadi, the Vice-Chancellor of RSU, Prof. Nlerum Okogbule and the Chairman of  ANA Rivers, Chief Adi Wali have both expressed their confidence in Dr. Ndubuisi Ogbuagu (Head of Department of English and Literary Studies of RSU) and Mr. Anaele Ihuoma (Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee) as well as Prof. Ibiere Ken-Maduako and Dr. Obari Gomba who are both serving as the conference rapporteurs to successfully deliver on their core duties to give an international fragrance to this three days event.

Mr. Anaele Ihuoma has therefore urged both students and lecturers as well as other literary enthusiasts to take advantage of this opportunity to contribute to the advancement of literary scholarship by sending in abstracts on the numerous sub-themes of the conference.

This indeed, is a conference that will light up Port Harcourt and give it that 2014 World Book Capital smell again.


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