By JAPHET ALAKAM

The Mazonia Suite of Eko Hotels and Suites was the venue and the event was the second edition of the annual book party organised by CORA. The event which was in honour of the eleven playwrights whose works were short listed for the prestigious $50,000.00 prize instituted by NLNG lived up to its bidding as the literary community once more gathered to celebrate the playwrights despite the non award of the prize to a winner last year.

As usual the event brought together many literary activists, culture patrons, writers and the general public for the purpose of interacting with the 11 finalists before the shortlist of three was  announced later.
 
Among those present were Professors Duro Oni, Akachi Ezeigbo, Femi Osofisan,Teju Kareem, Segun Ojewuyi. Others were Seffi Atta, Malmod Ali Balogun, Tam Fiofori, Jerry Agada, among others.

And also present at the event were 8 of the 11 shortlisted writers were Onukaba Adinioyi Ojo( The Killing Swamp), Ziky Kofoworola (Queen Ghasengeh), Zainabu Jallo(Onious Make us Cry), Uduak Akpobio(Perfect Mother),  Professor Akinwunmi Ishola(Belly Bellows),Uwem Udoko(Broken Pots), Professor Salami Agunloye(Idia The Warrior Queen of Benin) and Emmy Unuja Idegu(Ata Igala the Great). Two of the nominees, Prof. Ahmed Yerima(Little Drops) and Philip Begho(Leopard Women) were conspicuously absent while a minute silence was observed for Isiaba Irobi(Cemetary Road) who died few months after submitting his work.
Jahman Anikulapo, CORA co-ordinator, told the gathering that the event which held last year at Goethe Institute was moved to Eko Hotels and Suites , following the selling of the parcel of land the housed the institute.

Dr Jerry Agada ANA chairman in his remarks said that “Nigerian authors are happy to be part and parcel of the bok party.” While  thanking the conveners for organising the party, he expressed his desire that at the end of the whole exercise all will be to the progress of Nigeria literature.

The first session featured reading by the writers and as the writers were called out they read from their work. In their respective readings the writers succeeded in giving insight into their works.

Thereafter there was an interlude of performances that spiced up the day by Christopher Collins,  Racheal Makinda, Daniel Arasicm and the duo of Racheal Hastings and Curtis Johnson of the Preemptive cast.

The secretary of Cora, Toyin Akinosho in his remarks stated that the idea behind the event was to explore the vast range of ideas in eleven drama texts longlisted by the eminent group of judges assigned to evaluate contributions for this year’s NLNG Prize for Literature.According to him “One of the reasons why we are doing this is to increase the opportunities for people to know about the literature produced in the country. But as any piece of literature is derived from a slice of a history, or personal experience, this event offers us glimpses of ourselves.”

The second session which was moderated by Wale Obadejo featured questions for the writers. 

Speaking about his work The Killing Swamps, a fictional account of the last moments of late Ken Saro Wiwa, Onukaba Ojo disclosed that the work is only a creative work borne out of his imagination, that he only met Saro Wiwa once and did not hear from him again until he read the news about his death on the papers. Stating that the work is his own personal way of immortalising him.

Jallo’s Onious Make us Cry is not a feminist play. It talks about domestic violence at all levels from home to the national and global level. But in the play the male is the victim.

Idegu’s Atta Igala the Great said that he wrote from the Igala world view because he wanted to bring out the unique culture of Igala and also in reaction to the view of other writers like Prof Wole Soyinka who portrayed  Yoruba world view as universal.
 Uduak in Perfect Mother tackles the issue of male child which is prevalent in the society. Describing the issue as the handwork of people as such it has to be discarded. According to her “ by highlighting the issue I am throwing some more light on it so that we will harmonize it.”

Idia the Warrior Queen of Benin is not a historical play though it used historical materials. It is rather a feminists play that uses the feminists perspective to show how women are perceived in Benin Kingdom.

For Udoko, the political scientist, Broken Pots was a reflection of the socio- political challenges in Nigeria. He said that our actions as Nigerians have contributed to some of the problems in the country.

Prof. Ziky Kofoworola of the department of Performing arts University of Ilorin, the play is experimental. It is a universal affair in concept and context. She said that she used the female as the center because women captures a lot of activities in the home.

Prof. Isola Akinwumi, author of Belly Bellows a play that centers around the goddess of Oya. In the work, he said that he tries to show that women are not the weaker vessels as perceived by people. Though people, according to him, believe that women are weak but that at each period of history, you have women who really bring out the nature of womanhood.

 In a nutshell, the evening ended with the writers stating their expectations as far the prize is concerned, having built confidence in the panel of judges that is headed by Professor Dapo Adelugba.