ALIFEST Reveal Theme For 5th Edition, Debut Festival Anthology

Abuja Literary Society (ALS) has revealed the theme for the fifth edition of the Abuja Literary and Arts Festival (ALIFEST) tentatively scheduled to hold in September, in addition to releasing its debut festival short story anthology entitled On Empathy: Stories and Poems.

Themed The Struggling Thriving Artist, this year’s theme is a follow up to 2021’s Making Art Work and will continue to focus on boosting creative livelihood via equipping creatives with the information, skills, resources and networks they need to thrive.

Activities for the festival which will largely be held offline, will comprise panel discussions, a series of workshops on poetry, fiction and screen writing, a boot camp for creatives, a grand slam poetry competition, a stage play, an art exhibition, a books and art fair, a fashion show and a music concert.

Ujenyu Joy Sanni who has worked in several capacities since the onset of the festival will deputize the festival director, Teniola Tayo.

As part of pre-event activities, ALIFEST released its first short story anthology titled On Empathy: Stories and Poems which features short stories from fresh voices across Nigeria.

“This is our first volume of short stories and poems from some fresh Nigerian voices who entered the ALIFEST Arts and Literature Short Story Competition in 2021. We had 451 submissions, and four judges, Hajo Isa, TJ Benson, Samson Kukogho Iruesiri and Odafe Atogun, who read and judges the screened stories,” said festival director, Tayo.

On Empathy: Stories and Poems, features ten poems and six short stories winning stories of the 2021 ALIFEST/ALS Prize for Literature. These include first place winner Mazpa Ejikem’s All His Scents; second place winner, Favour Ahuchaogu’s Of Weddings and Funerals; and third place winner, Hymar David’s Spirit Husband. It further featured Tega Oghenechovwen’s The Guests of Mama Nazari and Musa Khalid’s The Other Sides of the Sun which were among the top five winners of the competition.

Familoni Olubunmi’s A Woman’s Knees are for Suffering and Tega Oghenechovwen’s The Guest of Mama Nazari both favourites of competition’s judges Odafe Otagun and Hajo Isa respectively, who both volunteered their judging fees each to the writers.

The anthology is commissioned by ALS, funded by Berliner Kunster Programme (DAAD) and published in partnership with the Geko Publishing South Africa. It is available for free download at the festival’s website.