Hausa was the featured language at the Afrolit Sans Frontières African Languages Edition on Thursday, October 29, 2020.
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. There have been five editions running since it begun; Season 1 from March 23-30, Season 2 from April 20-27, Season 3 from May 25 – June 1, Season 4 from June 29-July 6, and Season 5 from July 27 to August 3.
A special season of the festival dubbed the “African Languages Edition,” curated by founder Zukiswa Wanner and Mukoma Wa Ngugi with support from the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia Johannesburg is now here. The format is two sessions a day with an artist moderated by a host who also fields questions from audience members simultaneously on the Afrolit Sans Frontières Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter pages.
The festival which has been running for three days has already featured the languages of Kiswahili, Ewe, and Lingala. On Day Four, the language focus was Hausa, a language spoke in the West African countries of Niger, Nigeria, Ghana, Sudan, and Cameroon. The host for the day was Abubakar Adam Ibrahim.
The first panel of the day featured Rahma Sherif Abdul Majid who has published over twenty books. Watch the first session in full below which is primarily in Hausa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chjc3pO73bg
The evening session had Hausa novelist, playwright, poet, biographer, publisher, journalist, actor, film producer, director, and a cultural activist Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino who has written over fifteen Hausa novels. Of these, three have been translated into English, The Soul of My Heart (In Da So Da Kauna-translation), Young Women Substance Abuse, and the Way Out (Translation of Mata Da Shaye-shayen Kayan Maye: Ina Mafita?), Nemesis (Masoyan Zamani-translation), and Kaico! Watch the discussion featuring the esteemed multi-disciplinary artist in the below video. Please note that the language spoken is primarily Hausa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovKPKTy4fJs
The program for the fifth day, today, Zulu Day hosted by Nokuthula Mazibuko Msimang is as follows;
12:00 pm/13:00 WAT/14:00 CAT/15:00 EAT: Zanele Ndlovu
18:00 pm/19:00 WAT/20:00 CAT/21:00 EAT: Nakanjani G. Sibiya
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