Etisalat Affirms Commitment to Creativity with Ake Arts & Book Festival

Etisalat has affirmed its commitment to creativity and talent development in Nigeria with support for this year's edition of the annual Ake Arts & Book Festival holding in the historic city of Abeokuta, Ogun State, from 15th to 19th of November.

This is the third time Etisalat is partnering with the Ake Arts & Book Festival since its launch three years ago.

Elvis Ogiemwanye, Director, Brands & Experience, Etisalat Nigeria, said the telco is supporting the initiative because Ake Arts & Book Festival, like the Etisalat Prize for Literature, reinforces Etisalat commitment to literature and the promotion of creative endeavors like arts and photography.

“We are delighted to support Ake Arts & Book Festival again this year because it is literary inclined and it aligns with our vision of promoting people’s passion, nurturing talents and providing platforms that enable Africans to communicate their ideas and tell their own stories”, he said.

Ogiemwanye while describing Ake Arts & Book Festival as an international gathering of eminent authors and writers, disclosed that the highpoint of this year’s event is a special session during which literature enthusiasts will have the opportunity to review the nine longlisted books for the 2016 Etisalat Prize for Literature.

The books are: Julie Iromuanya, Mr. and Mrs. Doctor (Coffee House Press, USA), Mohale Mashigo, The Yearning (PanMacmillan, SA), Nakhale Toure, Piggy Boy’s Blues (Penguin Random House, USA), Jen Thorpe, The Peculiars (Penguin Random House, USA), Elnathan John, Born on a Tuesday (Cassava Republic, Nigeria), Jowhor Ile, And After Many Days (Farafina an imprint of Kachifo Limited, Nigeria), Andrew Miller, Dub Steps (Jacana Media, South Africa),  Jacqui L'Ange, The Seed Thief (Umuzi Publishers, South Africa) and Unathi Magubeni, Nwezelenga: The Star Child (Black Bird Books Imprint of Jacana Media, South Africa).

Ogiemwanye noted that the key objective of bringing the books to Ake Arts & Book Festival is to give many people the opportunity to share in the passions and aspirations of the literary society.

“The Etisalat Prize for Literature wholly embodies our company’s vision, which is to promote and celebrate writers of African descent in order to give credence and honour to ‘home-grown’ talents while encouraging further participation in this area”, he enthused.

Since its launch, Ake Arts & Book Festival has welcomed over 200 guests in the last two editions, held over 150 events, and directly reached more than 10,000 people from across the world. Last year, festival’s guests came from 18 countries.