The Abuja Literary and Arts Festival invites you to the ALlitfest''22 Virtual Town Hall meeting scheduled to hold the 5th of October 2022 at 6:00pm The theme for this year's discussion is breaking into film. The Focus is to discuss the need for better synergy between Nigeria's literary and film industries. The townhall, in the traditional manner, will provide a space for frank discussions among audience members.        

The Abuja Literary Society is pleased to announce that preparation for the 5th Edition of its Abuja Literary and Arts Festival (ALITFEST), tentatively scheduled for September 2022, is in full swing. The theme for 2022 is "The Struggling Thriving Artist”. It is intended as a follow up to last year’s theme “Making Art Work". The theme for 2020  is "The Art of Empathy".

"This year, we will be continuing our focus on creative livelihoods by equipping creatives with the information, skills, resources and networks that they need to thrive.” says the Festival Director Teniola Tayo. Activities for ALITFEST22 will include panel discussions, a series of workshops (poetry, fiction and screenwriting), a boot camp for creatives, a poetry grand slam competition, a stage play, an art exhibition, a book and art fair, a fashion show and a music concert. The programming will take place primarily in person, but with some virtual activities. Meanwhile,  Joy Ujenyu Sanni has been appointed as the festival's Deputy Director; before her appointment, she served in multiple capacities in the preceding editions. As part of the pre-event activities, the festival released an anthology titled ‘On Empathy: Stories and Poems’ made up of short stories and poems from various writers across Nigeria. “This is our first volume of short stories and poems from some fresh Nigerian voice who entered our Alitfest Arts & Literature Short Story Competition in 2021,” says the Festival Director Teniola Tayo. The Anthology, which is free to download on the festival website - https://alitfest.com/anthology21/anthology21/ -  includes winning stories from the 2021 ALITFEST/ALS Prize for Short Stories/ In 1st place, we have Mazpa Ejikem for the story "All His Scents; in 2nd place, we have Favour Ahuchaogu for the story "Of Weddings And Funerals", and in 3rd place, we have Hymar David for the story “Spirit Husband”. The winners got a cash prize of N200,000, N100,000 and N50,000, respectively. Also in the top 5 were Tega Oghenechovwen's "The Guests Of Mama Nazari" and Musa Khalid's "The Other Sides Of The Sun". Special recognition of Familoni Olubunmi for the story, "A Woman's Knees are for Suffering". The story was a favourite of one of the judges, Odafe Atogun, who dedicated his judging fee of N50,000 to Olubunmi. The story was also part of the top 10 entries. The same goes for Tega Oghenechovwen for the story "The Guest of Mama Nazari". It was a favourite of our judge, Hajo Isa, and she has also decided to dedicate her fee of N50,000 to the writer. The story was part of the top 5 entries. “We had 451 submissions, and four judges read and judged the screened stories over a number of weeks. Our deep appreciation to our judges - Hajo Isa, TJ Benson, Samson Kukogho Iruesiri and Odafe Atogun,” the Festival Director Tayo explained. The Anthology which was commissioned by Abuja Literary Society (ALS), funded by Berliner Kunster Programm (DAAD), and published in partnership with Geko Publishing (South Africa), has six short stories and 10 poems in the collection from poets of all ages, religion and different styles. The chairman of the Abuja Literary Society (ALS), Victor Aneliefo, said this about the anthology “On Empathy: Stories & Poems remind us that our future of narrative and fiction is rooted in Nigeria's incredibly creative past, but they are in the amazingly imaginative minds of the contemporary, young Nigerian writers.” Furthermore, Phehello J. Mofokeng, an author and publisher in South Africa, said the anthology  “ Refreshing new voices from a country that leads the charge of African literature”. He added that it is “truly a fresh collection that not only exposes but also elevates Nigerian authors as the nurturers of African narrative. This Anthology has to form a critical part of the Abuja Literary Festival, and it needs to make its way throughout the continent”. ALITFEST is an annual week-long multi-genre festival organised by the Abuja Literary Society (ALS) based in Nigeria's capital city. Bamas Victoria ALITFEST22 | Head of external communication | +234 (0) 8067069900 Buy Ticket

This year we bring you an Animation workshop with the Theme introduction to animation 101. The workshop will be facilitated by Franklin Fache and held virtually on the 5th of October from 2pm to 4pm Interested participants should send an email to info@alitfest.com indicating interest         Buy Ticket

The Abuja Literary and Arts Festival returns this year with the popular POETRY SLAM competition. This year is the 2nd year of holding the slam physically since the pandemic. The Slam is set to hold on Friday, 7th  October 2022 at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. Confirmed slam participants have to buy a ticket on the website.   PRIZE First Prize - N200,000 Second Prize - N100,000 Third Prize - N50,000 People’s Choice Award - N20,000     ELIGIBILITY Unlike last year poets, do not have to be finalists in a slam anywhere in the world. Interested participants are required to upload a 2-minute video of themselves  performing a poem on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ALITFEST2022 before the 26th of September. Shortlisted participants from the pool of applications will be notified by 30th September 2022.    RULES FOR CONTESTANTS AT THE SLAM   

1. The ALS Slam consists of 3 rounds.
2. Contestants must prepare 3 poems if they advance to the 2nd and 3rd rounds.
3. Poems can be on any subject and in any style.
4. Each poem must be an original written and performed by the author.
5. Performances are timed and should not exceed:
   1. (a) 1 minute for the First Round;
   2. (b) 2 minutes for the Second Round; and
   3. (c) 3 minutes for the Third Round.
6. No props are allowed.
7. No costumes are allowed.
8. No musical instruments (leave the drum set out) or pre-recorded music are allowed.
9. Each poem may only be used ONCE during the competition.
10. Speak up clearly (we want to hear and know what you are saying). 

Disclaimer: ALS reserves the right to publish videos of performances on ALS platforms for marketing and publicity purposes. In line with data protection regulations, participants will however be given the option to sign an online consent form to grant ALS rights to publish videos and to opt out, as preferred.   Buy Ticket

We have a running partnership with I Can Draw Africa to showcase the work of their artists.

This is tentatively planned as the closing event. Buy Ticket

For the second time, ALITFEST will organise a debate event for students. This will be a post-festival activity.

We will be continuing with our short-story competition this year. This will be a post-festival activity.

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Last year, we opted to drastically cut down the number of panels we have and will be organising less than five panels this year.

As part of the programming for the Abuja Literary and Arts Festival (Alitfest) 2022, MMG (Dike Chukwumerije's Man Made Gods) is back in Abuja. For a chance to experience Stand-Up Poetry - topical, creative, inspiring and absolutely entertaining - save the date.   Tickets to the play cost 2000 Naira and 1000 Naira for students and anyone with a  PVC   Buy Ticket

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This year Efe Paul Azino(poet), Yewande Omotosho(writer) and Kukogho Ireusiri Samson(writer) will be facilitating workshops on the themes of Building a career as a poet and Writing compelling characters.   Both workshops will be held virtually starting with the Writing workshop on the 3rd of October and the poetry workshop on the 4th. They will be held from 2pm to 4pm on each day.   Interested participants must buy a ticket and indicate interest with an Email to info@alitfest.com

This year, our outreach event will consist of trying to onboard Abuja-based artisans within the Jabi Arts and Crafts village on e-commerce platforms to help expand their markets. We are reaching out to partners such as Jumia, Konga and Jiji to make this a reality.