It could only happen in Port Harcourt, the city now referred as the World Book Capital. Here, literature has become so common that even wedding feats are now turned into literary festivals, thanks to the Garden city Literary Festivals, and the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, Rivers state branch.

Lemi Ghariokwu,self taught Nigerian born artist is the famous illustrator of late Afrocentric king Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s record labels. He also illustrates so many other artists and his creative album designs tell beautiful stories about music and carries along strong message from the artists across through visual capturing of metaphoric thoughts of the artists. Designing about twenty six of Fela’s album covers, and over two thousand other album covers in the last thirty eight years, Ghariokwu has no doubt carved a niche for himself.

Ogochukwu Promise (Phd) is a Fiction writer, playwright, poet and essayist. She is the founder and coordinator of The Lumina Foundation which instituted the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. She also edits and publishes the literary magazine, The Lumina, as well as The Promise Magazine.

Reconstruction of social and historical account of African traditional societies is an enterprise that ought to be thriving in an environment that has over the centuries groaned under the perfidy of discovering themselves through the eye of writers outside their cultural experience, but more importantly, at a time when studying history as an academic discipline has been outlawed.

Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo, the outgoing Editor of Guardian on Sunday joined the golden club of those who have lived for five decades on January 16, 2013. This tireless man who, as an undergraduate of Theatre Arts in the University of Ibadan acted in Professor Femi Osofisan’s play, “A Restless run of a locust” is not just an enigma. He is a restless ubiquitous man with a sense of mission and passion for humanity.

TUCKED in Okupe estate in Maryland Lagos is a privately owned Sculptural garden. This property which plays host to a number of local and international visitors annually, is owned by renowned art collector and promoter, Engr. Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon.

WE have just received an excellent catalogue of the exhibition, Arts de la vallée de la Bénoué Nigeria (Nigeria – Arts of the Benue River Valley) which is taking place at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, France from November 13, 2012 to January 27, 2013. The exhibition no doubt shows some 150 impressive wood, terracotta and metal sculptures demonstrating the diversity of cultures and the creative genius of the peoples of the Benue Valley.

At the 2012 Garden City Literary Festival, Veronique Tadjo presented a keynote paper on the theme, African Women and Literature. The event, which held at the Cinema Hall, Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt was robustly discussed by a panel of discussant that comprised; Prof. Onyemachi Udumukwu, Ms Doren Baingana and Miss Chibundu Onuzo and was moderated by Chioma Opara. Today, Vanguard’s arts presents a rapporteur’s report on the Symposium as recorded by Dr. Obari Gomba and Mr. Ene Igbifa.

The four special documentaries will follow the exploits of participants in the leadership programme Desmond Tutu leads, which attempts to build a new network of African leaders who are together committed to tackling their countries’ most stubborn problems.

I first met Dr. Remigius Onyejekwe Oriaku in the last days of December 1991. I met him at the famous Faculty of Arts quadrangle of the University of Ibadan (UI). That day, the usual hustle and bustle of Yuletide was palpable. The haze which came with the dust of December hung over the entire University landscape that was screened off by the imposing faculty building.