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.

It wore two caps: politics and literature. As politics,the 2nd annual Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu Colloquium preached unity and peace in a country wrecked by the evils of ethnicity, terrorism and corruption. As literary, it promoted education and used its rich heritage to preach unity by honouring the literary icon, the late author Cyprian Ekwensi by naming its new e- library the Cyprian Ekwensi Library.

Creative Alliance, organisers of Literary Star Search contest, in association with WriteHouse Collective, a creative enterprise, culture and arts firm, will convene the January edition of Artmosphere, the quintessential music, poetry, performance and arts event in Nigeria in Ibadan. Significantly, winner of the 2012 edition of the N1 million short story prize contest will be announced.