The Abuja Writers Forum (AWF) marks its fifth anniversary with a one-day writing workshop for secondary school students in the FCT and its celebrated Guest Writer Session on the 28th and 29th June, respectively.
The Guest Writer Session which holds at the Banquet Hall of Nanet Suitesand incorporates
poetry performance, mini art exhibition,a raffle-draw for book, and some live music, will feature the writers Ikeogu Oke and Victor Oluwasegun. Oke, who will be reading from his latest
collection of poems, In The Wings Of Waiting, holds a BA in English and Literary Studies from the University of Calabar and an MA in Literature from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Since 1988 his poems, short fiction, scholarly articles and journalism have appeared in various publications on both sides of the Atlantic and Asia. Among his published works are three books of poetry:Where I Was Born (2003), Salutes Without Guns (2009) and Song of Success and Other Poems for Children (2011). He has also published a children’s story book: The Lion
and the Monkey (2013).
In 2010, the Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer selected his Salutes Without Guns as one of the Books of the Year for the Times Literary Supplement (TLS). Gordimer said of Oke in her comment, published in TLS, to justify the selection: “Here is a writer who finds
the metaphor for what has happened and continues, evolves, not often the way we want in our lives in Africa and the world. He does so timelessly and tellingly, as perhaps only a poet can.”
Oke has also performed his poetry and other writings in various countries. Most recently, his children’s story “The Lion and the Monkey” premiered, as a reading performance by him, at the 2012 South African Literary Awards (SALA) held at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. And later his poem “No Dirge for Achebe” premiered, as a stage
performance by him, at the inaugural Ola Ndi Igbo celebration held at the Civic
Centre, Lagos, in April 2013.
He has recently completed a musical epic poem entitled “The Heresiad”, on which he worked intermittently from circa 1989-2013. Victor Oluwasegun’s debut collection of short stories, In The Shadow, is eliciting attention for its skillful plotting and blend of genres. Born in Sagamu,
Ogun State on April 29,1964. He attended Ogun State University where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English.He served in Kano as a lecturer in Advanced Teachers’s College ( Now Federal College of Education, Kano.
Oluwasegun has worked in quite a number of places including defunct Mutual Trust Savings and Loans in Lagos, where he was the Acting Head of Administration. He later moved to Lifeline Children’s Hospital in Surulere, Lagos as the Head of Administration. He however resigned after a year to focus on Messie’s Kingdom, a novella that took him ten years to
complete.
Oluwasegun worked at Ayida Communications as the General Manager and eventually began his journalist career with Encomium Magazines in Lagos.
He moved to Abuja to work with CookHall Ltd as an Administrative Manager. He eventually found fulfillment in the The Nation Newspapers where he is presently a political correspondent.
Apart from In The Shadow, he has written Messie’s Kingdom, Nightfall, Aminat & Mahmoud and A Big Surprise.
He also has to his credit a music album, “Uroyin Ayo” (Good News), which he produced in collaboration with his wife.
His current writing project is a science-fiction novel tentatively titled “The Sagamu Takeover”. He is married to Felicia and they have three children.
The Writing Workshop holds on 28th of June, and will be facilitated by an alumnus of the Cane Prize Writing Workshop and Cane Prize 2013 short story nominee, Elnathan John.
