Ashley Hickson-Lovence at Afrolit Sans Frontières Season 5.

Ashley Hickson-Lovence featured at Afrolit Sans Frontières Season 5 from London, UK on Sunday, August 2, 2020. He was moderated by Troy Onyango.

Afrolit Sans Frontières, a virtual literary festival for writers of African origin, was founded by author and publisher Zukiswa Wanner as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic international lockdowns. The festival format is two sessions a day on Instagram Live with an artist moderated by a host who also fields questions from audience members. There have been four editions; Season 1 from March 23-30; Season 2 from April 20-27; Season 3 from May 25 – June 1; and Season 4 from June 29-July 6.

Season 5 kicked off on July 27 and festival goers have so far interacted with Lerato Mogoatlhe in Johannesburg, South Africa, Joe Khamisi in Texas, USA, Frances Mensah Williams in London, UK, Conceição Evaristo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Kayo Chingonyi in Leeds, UK, L.L. McKinney in Kansas City, USA, Gauz in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, and Fiston Mwanza Mujila in Graz, Austria, Ondjaki in Luanda, Angola, and Rodrigo França in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The first writer for the penultimate day of the festival was London-born Ashley Hickson-Lovence the writer of the debut novel The 392 (2019). Over the next hour, audience members listened to the host Troy Onyango engaging with Hickson-Lovence on his writing technique, who he preferred over Dizzy Rascal or Stromzy, how the Covid-19 pandemic had affected him and his writing and loads more.

Watch the two writers engage in the below video;