By UCHE UDOH

While writing may be regarded as a natural ability, it is also one which should be honed and improved upon. In recognition of this, writing workshops remain a key component of the Port Harcourt Book Festival (former Garden City Literary Festival).

Aspiring writers, readers, publishers and booksellers from across Nigeria and beyond have benefited from these workshops, which have had the likes of Prof. Wole Soyinka, Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo, Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Capt. Elechi Amadi facilitate. In this year’s Festival, several writing workshops are available to children, youths and adults. Entries for the youth and adult writing workshops are now being accepted on the Port Harcourt Book Festival website.

A facilitator talking to the writers during a workshop

The PHBF will take place this year from the 21st – 26th of October and will feature a writing/drama/arts workshop for children. Also on offer are prose, poetry and scriptwriting workshops. The writing workshops are a platform wherein aspiring writers sit under the tutelage of their established counterparts. The latest addition to the workshop offerings, the scriptwriting workshop, comes about in keeping with this year’s Festival theme: Literature and the Creative Economy.

This year, Chika Unigwe, winner of the NLNG prize will facilitate the prose writing workshop, and Tade Ipadeola, award-winning author will facilitate the poetry workshop. A representative from the British Council is expected to facilitate the scriptwriting workshop. A variety of other activities are available for festival participants including a book fair, symposia, drama performances, and interactive sessions with existing authors.