Aké Festival 2020 holds online with ‘African Time’

ORGANISERS of the annual literary, cultural and arts event, Aké Arts and Book Festival have said that this year’s edition of the fiesta with the theme African Time will hold online due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Director and founder of the festival, Lola Shoneyin, made this known on Sunday in a statement.

She hinted that the festival, which is scheduled to hold from October 22 to 25 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, will showcase programme of 65 inspiring book chats, workshops, panel discussions and performances from voices across Africa and Africans in the Diaspora.

“Our world has changed forever; the magnitude of recent world events cannot be ignored. In 1918, African nations were in the clutches of imperial forces that degraded our stories, culture, history, language and belief systems.

“More than a century later, the Covid-19 pandemic finds Africa struggling with the colonial hangover of poor leadership and a predatory global order. Now is the time for Africa to recalibrate and break the cycle of betrayal by those elected to lead. It may have come later than hoped for but for the children of Africa everywhere, this is African Time,” the statement read.

Founded in 2013 and now in its eighth edition; the festival hosts some of the most sought-after and innovative voices in black thought.

Although the festival has featured new and established writers from across the world, its focus has been to promote, develop and celebrate creativity on the African continent in diverse genres.

Guests for this year’s event include the Noble laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; French novelist, critic, and playwright, Maryse Conde; New York Times best-selling author, Tayari Jones; Canadian novelist, Esi Edugyan; Jamaican writer and New York Times-bestseller, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James.

Others are Zimbabwean lawyer and writer, Petina Gappah; British academic, activist and author, Kehinde Andrews, Elias Wondimu, CEO and President of TSEHAI Corp. Also on the guests list are South African journalist, novelist and editor, Zukiswa Wanner; Nigerian creative writer, journalist and critic, Molara Wood, Bolu Babalola, a self-proclaimed ‘romcomoisseur’ and writer, and a writer and teacher, Okechukwu Nzelu.

According to Shoneyin, this year’s edition of the literary fiesta is scheduled to cover a wide range of issues including intersectional feminism, ‘blacktivism’ and colourism to the burgeoning post-Covid mental health crisis and decolonisation of black spaces.

“The theme: African Time is in recognition of the global anti-racism movement that has gathered momentum and visibility in recent months,” Shoneyin stated.