DAFLAF 2019: Organisers announce deadline for entries

Submission of entries for the Festschrift in honour of the national President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Denja Abdullahi, who clocks 50 in August, will close on June 30.

Currently, a Director at the National Council for Arts and Culture, Abdullahi has had a successful career across the academia, journalism and public service. He is a published writer with eight works across poetry, plays, essays and scholarly publications. Last year, one of his plays, Death and the King’s Grey Hair was shortlisted for The Nigeria Prize for Literature sponsored by Nigeria LNG.

A statement signed by the Chair and Secretary, Denja @ Fifty Literature and Arts Festival (DAFLAF 2019), Eriata Orhibhabor and Jerry Adesewo, respectively invited entries for the Festschrift from the celebrator’s three constituencies of literature, culture and academia.

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They explained that the entries should be articles of up to 3000 words with a substantive and/or methodological focus that connects with Denja Abdullahi’s works as a literary/cultural activist and as a writer.

Contributors can also send in short pieces to be collectively entitled ‘appreciative connections’ or ‘Denja and I’, each of which should not be more than 1000 words and each of which describes the writer’s relationship with Denja Abdullahi as an individual, a writer and with his works in the creative sector.

The organisers also welcome reviews/critical pieces on Abdullahi’s literary works of not more than 1500 words; Poetry (in honour of the celebrant or inspired by any of his works), short fiction of not more than 1500 words; One-Act plays on the theme of ‘Leadership’ and General critical essays in the areas of literature, theatre, cultural studies and arts administration.

Allentries must be submitted as an attachment in MS word and should be clearly marked in the subject column to indicate the category being entered for. They should be sent to denja50festival@gmail.com.

Apart from the Festschrift, other activities of the Festival include essay writing and performance poetry competition for secondary schools in the FCT, leadership lecture and books presentation and a cultural night/birthday reception/awards night.