The Storymoja Hay festival wasn’t the best last year as one of its most prominent guests Dr Kofi Awoonor died when terrorists attacked the Westgate Mall and he was one of the victims. Events had to be cancelled as the country reeled from the madness of the period. The literature world was shocked with none other than Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka giving a fitting tribute promising to attend next year’s festival in defiance of the bad guys.
Wole Soyinka is set to put his words to action as he will be one of the many guests attending this year’s fete in September. Sources close to the festival have confirmed that the camera-shy literary icon will be one of the biggest if not THE draw at this year’s events.
This is not the first time that Soyinka has landed on Kenyan soil for creative purposes. He was a special guest of the 2011 Kenya International Film Festival where he wowed Kenyans with wit and charm as he rooted for African stories.
In other Wole Soyinka news, Ten African authors have been shortlisted for the 2014 edition of the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. This is a biennial award for the best literary work produced by an African. They include Othuke Ominiaboha, Akin Bello, Soji Cole, Comfort Adesuwa Ero, Toyin Abiodun, Isaac Attah Ogezi, Moshood Oba, Mayowa Saja, Wumi Raji and Akin Adejumo. The list was made from a total of 163 entries submitted from 17 African countries in the genre of drama, which is the focus of this year’s edition.
The winner who will go home with $20,000 is expected to emerge and be presented with his or her prize in Lagos on July 5.
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