Efuru @ 50: Call for papers

Efuru @ 50: Call for papers

By Japhet Alakam

The Flora Nwapa Foundation invites abstracts for 15 – 20 minute presentations during the National Conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of EFURU under the theme; EFURU@50; A Celebration of Flora Nwapa and African Women Literature. The conference will be held at Abuja, Enugu, Lagos and Maiduguri between 29th November – 11th December 2016. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 30th September, 2016. The conference is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of EFURU, the book that heralded the birth of Modern African Women Literature. It will be a platform for writers, scholars, literary critics and other interested parties to engage, rethink and propose possible new directions for African Women Literature, which has been defined (and undefined) by different agencies at different moments. It will also answer questions about women’s contribution to the African literature, the Diaspora’s influence on African literature, and the extent to which the same has been influenced by the current global trends. The abstracts should not exceed 200 words, on any of the sub-themes. Deadline for submission of abstracts is 30th September 2016. All abstracts should be submitted electronically to: info@efuru50.com

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/efuru-50-call-papers/

Drums for Flora Nwapa’s Efuru at 50

Drums for Flora Nwapa’s Efuru at 50

September 4, 2016 LITERARY CAFÉ

Yinka Olatunbosun

Look around you. Today, the world celebrates Chimamanda Adichie, Beyonce Knowles and Michelle Obama as contemporary feminists. However, for many students of literature, you cannot separate feminism from the works of many African women writers. Name them, Buchi Emecheta, Efua Sutherland and Mariama Ba, all have written around women and their stake in the patriarchal African setting. But the first woman to ever write a published work of literature in Africa is Flora Nwapa and is deservedly referred to as the First Lady of letters. Her most celebrated work which is incidentally her debut novel, Efuru was published in 1966 by Heinemann, London in the African Writers Series. It was all the impetus other African women writers needed to turn their imagination into readable narratives.

Nwapa was the first to expose the nature of the African woman to the world; her ordeals in marriage and societal expectations. The plot tells of an Igbo woman, Efuru who lives in a small village in colonial West Africa. She desires to bear a child and has the ill fortune of being married twice to two men with polygamous mindset. Although the book is 50 this year, the thematic content of independent woman, marital infidelity and belief in the supernatural powers in Efuru makes it very relevant in our time. Spinning the time backwards, Efuru was in the reading list in secondary schools as well as tertiary institutions where literature is taught. But lately, Efuru has become extinct. But to celebrate the iconic work, the only son of the respected writer, Uzoma Nwakuche who is the Chairman, Flora Nwapa Foundation has recently announced that a coordinated series of activities are lined up to mark the golden anniversary of this inspiring work.

At the Literamed Publications Building, Ikeja, a press conference was held to inform the public that Efuru , the pioneering novel would be celebrated in four cities namely, Lagos, Abuja, Maiduguri, Enugu as well as the writer’s hometown, Oguta. The buzz has been on social media but the effect is incomparable to the nolstagic feeling at the sight of an old copy of the book placed on the table to evoke fond memories.

The coordinator and promoter, Efuru at 50, Prince Paschal N. Mebuge-Obaa II, explained the choice of the locations for the celebrations.

“The relevance of Enugu in this celebration cannot be over-emphasised. This is to appreciate the fact that Flora Nwapa taught English and Geography at Queens School, Enugu in 1960s and nurtured her God-given talents as a novelist and publisher in Enugu before moving to Lagos. She was thrice appointed Commissioner in quick succession at Enugu, the capital of East Central, where she worked and eventually died in 1993,” he said.

Nwapa was also an assistant registrar at the University of Lagos between 1962 and 1964 and a visiting Professor at the University of Maiduguri. The Chairman, National Organising Committee, Dr. Wale Okediran gave an insight into the activities surrounding the celebrations which include discourse and paper presentations, symposia, children’s carnival, writing competitions, drama sketches from Efuru as well as the Grand Finale which will be held in Enugu and Oguta.

“A major aspect of the National Event is the literary competition among secondary school students in the four centres. Copies of Efuru will be given to these students to read for one month before the day of the Literary Competition. The competition will involve a quiz, reading comprehension and one-act dramatic enactment of any part of the book by participating schools,” he said, adding that the submission of abstracts will commence in September and the deadline for the submission of the academic papers is October.

The theme for the national conference is which will take place in the five cities is “Efuru @50: A Celebration of Flora Nwapa and African Women Literature’’.

“The conference will also be celebrating the pioneering work of Africa’s first published female author as well as the achievements, friendships, partnerships and challenges of African Women Literature this past 50 years. The conference will be a platform for writers, scholars, literary critics and other interested parties to engage, rethink and propose possible new directions for African women literature. It will also answer questions about women’s contribution to the African literature, the Diaspora’s influence on African literature and the extent to which the same has been influenced by the current global trends,’’ he said. For Nwapa’s son, Uzoma remembering his mother through her literary masterpiece is the least one can do in honour of the woman of firsts. Nwapa was omitted from the list of the honoured Nigerians during the centenary celebrations. Her son pledged to keep her memory alive in spite of the national omission.

“I was breast-fed for two years by my mother even while she was in public service. Though she was a public figure, she was a mother. I knew her more as a mother than as a writer. She inculcated a great sense of tolerance and balance and I admire her way of dealing with people and things,” he said.

The Flora Nwapa Foundation will focus on women, promoting women literature, financial independence and entrepreneurial skills. In future, a Flora Nwapa centre would be established to serve as a hub for women writers.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/09/04/drums-for-flora-nwapas-efuru-at-50/

Celebration of Efuru @50 begins in Lagos

Celebration of Efuru @50 begins in Lagos

Published August 23, 2016 Chux Ohai

Members of the literary community are poised to celebrate 50 years of Efuru, the first African novel to be published in English by Nigeria’s first female author, Prof. Flora Nwapa, who died in 1993.

The late writer’s only son, Uzoma Nwakuche, recently announced the flag-off of the event in a meeting with journalists in Lagos, on behalf of the Flora Nwapa Foundation.

Nwakuche said that apart from the 50th anniversary of Efuru, the foundation would be celebrating African women’s literature, African women and Flora Nwapa herself, whom he described as a ‘lady of firsts’. The celebration, he noted, would also be hinged on her achievements as the first African female writer, first female state commissioner in Nigeria and African female publisher.

“We urge the federal and state governments to acknowledge and join us to celebrate this great African woman who has served her country and pioneered modern-day African women literature in her relatively short but extremely productive and memorable life,” he said.

One of the facilitators of the event, Paschal Mebuge-Obaa, explained that Lagos was chosen for the official flag-off of the Efuru @50 celebration because of its significance to Nwapa’s life as a writer and academic.

“Just like Lagos, the relevance of Enugu in this celebration cannot be over emphasised, too. This is to appreciate the fact that Flora Nwapa taught English and Geography at Queens School Enugu in 1960s as a career civil servant; she nurtured her God-given talents as a novelist and publisher in Enugu before moving to Lagos,” he said.

Also, describing the theme of the celebration as Rekindle the Declining Reading Culture of the Nigerian Youths: Efuru and Flora Nwapa as Iconic Symbols, Mebuge-Obaa said, “We hope to use the celebration to advance human achievement by introducing attractive and stimulating intellectual innovation models and promoting reading culture among the Nigerian youth. A lot needs to be done to assist the Federal Government in this direction.”

Efuru was published in 1966 by Heinemann in London. The story is set in a typical rural Igbo community in Nigeria. The major themes include sacrifice, love, spirituality, cultural interference, superstition and feminism. The novel has been described as a celebration of the individualistic female and the world of women.

According to Mebuge-Obaa, a number of activities has been lined up for the 50th anniversary celebration of the novel abroad, beginning with an event hosted by the United Nations Commission for Women in New York, USA in March.

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http://punchng.com/celebration-efuru-50-begins-lagos/

Preparations intensify for Efuru@50 six-city celebration

Preparations intensify for Efuru@50 six-city celebration

October 17, 2016 

*Profs. Bolanle Awe, Zaynab Alkali, Akachi Ezeigbo, David Ker are keynote speakers         

Ahead of the November 29th commencement date of the ‘Efuru@50’ celebrations, the Dr. Wale Okediran-led National Organising Committee (NOC) is pressing solidly ahead with preparations to ensure a hitch-free event in the six selected cities.

The golden jubilee of the novel written in 1966 by the late Flora Nwapa and published by Heinemann, would be loudly celebrated in Lagos, Maiduguri, Abuja, Enugu, Owerri and Oguta from November 29 to December 11 under the theme, ‘Efuru@50: A Celebration of Flora Nwapa and African Women Literature.’

As part of efforts to ensure a hitch-free celebration, local organising committees (LOCs), under the supervision of eminent scholars, have been constituted to aid the work of the NOC

Scholar and poet, Professor Hope Eghagha of the Department of English, University of Lagos, is head of the LOC in Lagos while Dr. Razinat Mohammed is overseeing preparations at the University of Maiduguri. Professor Vicky Sylvester of the English Department, University of Abuja is head of the local organising committee in the FCT, Prince Paschal Mebuge heads that of Enugu and Mr. Camilus Ukah is chair of the committee in Owerri.

 Also, keynote speakers including Professor Bolanle Awe (Lagos), Prof. David Ker (Abuja), Prof. Zaynab Alkali (Maiduguri) and Prof. Akachi Ezeigbo (Enugu) have been contacted.

‪Not willing to leave anything to chance, members of the NOC including Dr. Okediran, Prince Pascal Mebuge, Barrister Uzoma Nwakuche (Nwapa’s first son), Chinyere Obi-Obasi, Salamatu Sule, Akintayo Abodunrin, Isaac Ogezi and Ikeogu Oke have also paid courtesy visits to key stakeholders. The NOC, has amongst others, visited the managements of UNILAG, UNIABUJA, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC)  Abuja, UNIMAID and IMT Enugu among other places.

 Personalities and organisations including the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi,  Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, NTA Enugu, Radio Nigeria Enugu, Ford Foundation Lagos, Nigerian Breweries Lagos, Goethe Institute Lagos, British Council Lagos and Chief Victor Umeh in Enugu have also been visited to seek their cooperation.

‪Happily, the authorities of UNILAG, UNIABUJA, UNIMAID, IMT Enugu, NTA Abuja (for the use of  NTA Arena for the Children’s Carnival), NTA Enugu, Radio Nigeria Enugu, Ford Foundation and  Nigerian Breweries have since confirmed their support.

Similarly, eminent Nigerians including the  Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, ex-military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (Rtd), Gen T.Y. Danjuma (Rtd), Bishop Mathew Kukah, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Senate Leader, Mohammed Ndume and Ministers of Education, Information and Culture, Mines, Women Affairs, Transport and Communications among others have been contacted for support.

 ‪Disclosing what else needed to be done before the conference opens on November 29, Dr Okediran said schools participating in the literary competition would soon be confirmed while copies of ‘Efuru’ would be distributed to them.

He urged other individuals and corporate Nigeria to come on board and join in the celebration of both ‘Efuru’ and its writer, Nwapa, an assistant registrar at the University of Lagos between 1962 and 1964, a visiting Professor at the University of Maiduguri and three time commissioner in the East Central State.

 The ‘Efuru@50’ celebration will feature discourse and paper presentations, symposia, children’s carnival, writing competitions and drama sketches from the novel. The grand finale has been scheduled for Oguta, Imo State the birthplace of the  author on Saturday December 10 2016 with a Cultural Festival.

https://cityvoiceng.com/preparations-intensify-for-efuru50-six-city-celebration/