Interaction is a great gateway to innovation, sharing, and learning in every society that desires growth. Such is the aim of the African Writers Conference (AWC), a yearly event that targets African Writers. It brings together policymakers, literary veterans, journalists and writers engaging them in discussions that unearth the rich and diverse culture embedded in African Literature.
The first edition was held in Nigeria in 2018, themed, “Reimagining African Literature: New Voices, New Narratives in the Fight of the Girl Child”. During the Conference, the Speakers focused on educating people on how to achieve better; and on how writers hold the power to change the perspectives in their world. Ideas like the need for writers to write more stories with a strong female lead and authority; for African Women to be their heroes by speaking for themselves rather than being spoken for; and most importantly, education as a means towards empowering the Girl Child.
The 2019 edition was held in Kenya in collaboration with Writers Guild Kenya (WGK) during the Nairobi International Book Fair organised by the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA). The Conference was labelled “Cultural stereotypes in African Literature: Rewriting the narratives for the 21st Century Reader.” Like every other Conference, this also had its unique mould. It was centred on doing away with the stereotypical nature of writing stories, which in its way has killed authenticity in African Literature. Food for thought from the Conference is a statement made by Alex Nderitu of Kenya. He said, “real artists don’t try to look like artists; the artistry is all inside.”
The 3rd edition was hosted by Zambia, in November 2020. It was a hybrid event that had both physical and virtual attendance due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its theme, “The African Identity” unearthed the difference between who we really are and the stereotypes that have been laid on us, exposing the need to break off that stereotype by first of all realising who we are, loving ourselves, and hence, showing the world who we are rather than conforming to what those outside Africa says we are. Our arts and everything we produce has a telling on our Identity, so, we must produce works that speak to the realities in our communities.
This year’s edition of the African Writers Conference will also be a hybrid event, hosted in partnership with the Department of Literature, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It is being hosted by Writers Space Africa (Tanzania Chapter). It will feature three panellists; a keynote speaker and a moderator; and every discussion will be around the theme, “The Future of African Literature.”
Through all these editions of the AWC, the Writers mingle has been a yearly feature too which presents the Writers with an opportunity to unwind whilst connecting and networking with each other as they interact on various themes such as
– The African experience in 2019.
– The African Identity in Contemporary Arts in 2020.
This activity is usually carried out on the eve of the AWC for about ninety minutes and attended by between fifty to eighty people including the panellist who are creative minds from diverse African countries. This year’s edition is scheduled to take place at Alliance Française of Dar Es Salaam on 8th October at exactly 16:30 EAT under the theme; “African Literature as a Vehicle for Cultural Renaissance.”
At the end of every conference, it is a tradition to announce the winners of the African Writers Awards and the Wakini Kuria Prize for Children’s Literature. Watch out!
