African Writers Showcase Works To Commemorate AU Day
The Library of Africa and The African Diaspora (LOATAD) at the Du Bois Centre in Accra last Saturday hosted five distinguished writers from the African continent to brainstorm on their works and project themes that amplified the future of the African continent.
The writers were gathered under the AU20 Writers Residency programme organised by the LOATAD as part of the African Union (AU) 20th celebration held on Saturday, November 26.
Ms. Sylvia Arthur, founder of LOATAD, described the session as real privilege to host prolific African writers, adding, “It’s been our privilege at LOATAD to host writers from all corners of Africa. We believe writers are the voice of the people and they play a key role in preserving the past, documenting the present, and imagining the future.”
She was grateful to the African Union, the UNDP and Africa No Filter for support of African writers and for their foresight in recognising the contribution writers made to Africa’s cultural, social and economic development and progress.
According to her, over 400 African writers from 35 countries applied to take part in the project, and only five were selected, adding, “It’s within this context that LOATAD exists as one of the few writing residencies on the continent and as we celebrate our fifth year, which coincides with the African Union’s 20th year, we seek to cement our place in this rarefied space, not just for the art but for Africa.”
Rev. Reuben Kwesi Kwadzofio, Director of the Dubois Centre, noted the need to consolidate achievement in economic, social, growth, peace, security and governance as a continent to make its inhabitants more prosperous.
Mr. Sukhrob Khoshmukhamedov, Deputy Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said in January 2021, UNDP partnered with the African Union Commission to launch a series of activities under the AU20 initiative that would educate, inform and engage African citizens on the mandates and policies of the African Union since its formation in 2002.
The AU20 Artists & Writers Residency Programme aimed to use the voices of Africa’s creative talent to mark a historic moment in the AU’s leadership of the continent’s development, unity and peace through a celebration of Africa’s culture, creativity, art and innovation.
The writers-in-residence included; Nour Kamel, Egyptian poet and editor; Sukoluhle Nyathi, Zimbabwean creative writer, editor and data analyst; Tony Mochama, Kenyan fiction writer and journalist; TJ Benson, Nigerian award-winning novelist and Musih Tedji Xaviere, Cameroonian writer.