The Sokoto Book and Arts Festival, the first for Sokoto State, Nigeria, is set to run from July 17-18, 2021. The theme of the festival is “Changing the Narrative.”
Literary platforms Book O’clock Review, Poetry Club UDUS and Caliphate Arts and Literary Forum have in the recent past come together to organize events in their home state of Sokoto, Nigeria. Some of these have been a school quiz competition among 11 schools and a writing masterclass employing the talents of award-winning poet Saddiq Dzukogi and award-winning writer Sada Malumfashi. There was also an event that featured Abubakar Adam Ibrahim talking about his latest book, Dreams and Assorted Nightmares.
The team behind this raft of events decided to do one better as they revealed the first book and arts festival in the state armed with the vision, “to make sustainable impacts that cross-connect traditional and modern innovation in arts and literature. One that draws the attention of the global space to the excellence of creatives from/in Sokoto state.”
The festival called Sokoto Book and Arts Festival, with the acronym Sobafest, will be hosted at the University Auditorium, Usmanu Danfofiyo University, Sokoto on Saturday, July 17 and virtually on Sunday, July 18. The theme of the festival is “Changing the Narrative” which aims to address the anti-literary stereotype the state is labelled with, by showcasing indigenous literary and cultural talents.
The events lined up for the two days include a poetry slam, a stage play, arts exhibition, dance, music, live paintings, body arts, book readings and chats, panel discussions and much more.
The books for the first edition include Boom Boom by Jude Idada, A Sackful of Wishes by Azizah Idris, Yar’fari by A’aisha Abdulkahreem and Dreams and Assorted Nightmares by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim. They are all available at the official SOBAFest store, Book O’clock Store.
For more information, visit the festival on Facebook or Twitter.
Leave a Reply