How Niger is producing teen authors

THE Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation in Minna, Niger State, has, over time, sought to make an intentional departure from writing literature for children to produce literature written by children themselves. The Hill-Top Arts Center, situated at the Hilltop Model School, Minna, Niger State, serves as a haven for mentoring prospecting teen authors on their selective genre. Thus, it is here that the journey to be published begins. This has been going on since 1997.

The general philosophy is mentoring in every aspect of a child’s stay at the art centre, which is induced with participatory activism in the process to their getting published. Therefore, the high interactive sessions between the mentor and the mentee does not end with the face-to-face sessions or online mentoring, as well as attending literary events around the country, but mentees are regularly involved in the process of book production at the press. So, the teen author whose book is being published gets a wholesome knowledge not just about writing, but publishing. This is the 21st century writer, the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation is producing at her mentoring facility in Minna.

The authors bring their scripts to the center and are featured in a monthly Teen Authors Flash, a session that features a mentor (volunteers who are already published writers) and a mentee (teen author who has completed his/her script) and other members of the center for a critique session. It is a teen author guest writer session. The script is then subjected to a very rigorous and intellectual discourse by members of the panel and audience. The script is further shared amongst themselves for further criticisms until the mentor certifies the book ready for publication.

After this, the centre seeks for a sponsor who will donate money for publishing the book. After a sponsor is found, it is then forwarded to the publisher.

Honourable Mikail A. Bmitosahi, Professor Faruk R. Haruna, Teresa O. Ameh, Professor Maiturare, Engineer Yahaya D. Dauda, Isu Media, Abuja, Dr Abubakar Dzukogi, were those who sponsored the 10 teen books published in 2016.

Polarsphere Books, Minna is the publisher of the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation Teen Authors Series. A total of 11 books were published in 2016. The books were presented publicly on April 23, 2017 during the recently concluded Nigerian Festival of Teen Authors (NIFESTEENA) to mark the World Book Day celebration in Minna.

The published books include: Mustapha Gimba’s Memoirs of a broken heart; Fidelis Obaseki’s Chronicles; Victor Ugwu’s Rhythms; Peter Kwange’s Deflowered; Priscilla Adesina’s The After Party; Anas Dubanni’s Whispers in the Shadow; Khadijah Sa’eed Jagaba’s My Virgin Eyes; Zakiyyah M. Dzukogi’s My Book of Poems; Miracle Attah’s Inside My Pain, Yusuf BM’s Brittle Songs and Amina Umar’s The Deliquent’s Harvest.

With the permission of parents or guardians, the prospective authors are invited to the publishing company with soft copies of their works. The script is further subjected to editing, the cover concept is designed with the input from the teen author, or they outrightly take photographs of what they want on the cover. The teen painters in the house also do some sketches for some books.

Art professionals illustrate the cover or shoot pictures for the covers. After, the preliminary pages of the book are laid, the blubs are written by the authors or the mentors and after a final check, the book is ready to go to press. All these processes are done together with the author.

The process, usually spread over months, has also succeeded in creating a community of student-writers who are linked and united by their books.

At the press, the teen authors are also put through the rudiments of printing; the final laying, graphic design, editing, filming, plating, printing,  sorting, binding, cutting and trimming.

The journey to being published,  though rigorous and sometimes frustrating, is a worthwhile, memorable and interesting experience for the mentor, the mentee, and other participants.

The cumbersome nature of this volunteer work is usually melted by the excitement of a new book by a teen author and their parents, as well as their teachers, and the ‘shock’ sent to adults within the community once they realise that a child has written a book.

• Makama Shekwoaga sent in this piece from Minna, Niger State.