Fitting Finale With A Thrilling Trio

By Elvis Iyorngurum
A touch of couture and the regular staple of film and literature provided a thrilling finale for the Abuja Writers Forum’s (AWF), 2013 series of the Guest Writer Session. The November 30 event which held at Nanet Suites, Abuja featured Medeenat Lawal (couturier), Alex Byanyiko( broadcaster and filmmaker) and Segun Oke (a banker and writer).
The Guest Writer Session was conceived as a book reading event to create a platform for celebrating the literary arts, authors and also providing the general public with the opportunity to interact with writers. Over the years, it has evolved to incorporate the celebration of other genres of the arts. It was, therefore, a resounding way for ending the year as fashion appreciation was added to the list of genres of arts to feature at the book reading, joining filmmaking and music on the list.
The event started with Jennifer Odogwu reading Doris Lessing’s short story Flight. The story was read in honour of Ms Lessing who passed away recently at the age of 94. She was a writer, poet and playwright. In 2007, Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature, becoming the 11th woman and oldest person to be awarded the prize at the age of 88. In awarding the Nobel Prize to her, the Swedish Academy described her as ‘that epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power, has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny. She had earlier in 2001 been awarded the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime’s achievement in British literature.
When Segun Oke, who came all the way from Lagos took his turn, s he read from his novel, Call Me Joke. A freelance writer, Oke works as a fulltime commercial lender in a commercial bank in Lagos. He won the admiration of respondents from the audience who praised his writing style for its imagery and the beauty of his craft. Oke is currently working on his second novel, Crossroads.
Medeenat Lawal had her array of models who hit the catwalk, showcasing her amazing designs. A graduate of Fashion Design and Clothing Technology from the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Ms Lawal described her designs as stylish and modest. She said she uses local fabrics to create contemporary dresses that will cater to the fashion taste of women of all ages and class. She was praised for her ingenious designs and for using local fabrics like Aso oke in her creations.
Alex Byanyiko’s short film, The Wrong Number, is his debut independent film production and was shown to the public for the first time on the night. The film drew a lot of applause from the viewers, demonstrating Byanyiko’s success a producer that can hold his audiences spellbound with his film. It was indeed a great endorsement for his debut production. A producer and presenter with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Channel 5 Abuja, Alex has been a film editor and scriptwriter until recently when he decided to pursue his long-held dream of being a filmmaker. He was praised for his ingenious creativity which produced a professional first work in The Wrong Number.
The highpoint of the event was the raffle draw which saw members of the audience win book prizes. The book raffle has been a consistent feature of the event since its inception and over the years, hundreds of books have been given out to members of the public for free, through it as the forum’s contribution to reviving the book culture in Nigeria.
The AWF is a foremost literary organization in Nigeria whose contribution to the appreciation of literary arts in the country has been unprecedented. The forum has as some of its interventions at rescuing Nigeria’s reading culture, a critique session that holds every Sunday at 4pm at the International Institute of Journalism, Asokoro, Abuja; a monthly Guest Writer Session that holds on the last Saturday of every month as well as creative writing workshops that help writers and aspiring writers to hone their skills and develop their confidence in their writing ability.
Iyorngurum is a writer, poet, editor and the Secretary of the Abuja Writers’ Forum. He writes from Abuja.