The 2020 Guest Writer Session series, will take off on February 29, with the duo of Julius Bokoru and Doug Kaze at Rosebud Suites (former Nanet Suites) by 4pm.
Julius Bokoru is a Nigerian poet, essayist and memoirist and his debut memoir, “The Angel That Was Always There”, was one of ten works selected by the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) to pioneer the Nigerian Writers Series.
According to Edith Yassin, Spokesperson of the Abuja Writers Forum (AWF), he has been a resident writer at the Ebedi International Writers Residency at Oyo state, Nigeria and has been a participant of several writing workshops. He currently resides in Abuja state where he is working on his second book.
He is, at Present, the Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to Chief Timipre Sylva, former governor of Bayelsa State and Hon. Minister of State For Petroleum Resources
Doug Kaze is a lecturer at the University of Jos, but is also a writer and recording artiste. Born to civil servant parents in the city of Jos, where he was educated at St. Murumba College and the University of Jos. As a child, he was drawn to music, listening to his father’s reggae collections and watching keenly the likes of New Edition, Michael Jackson and Bob Marley on television.
As a teenager in the 1990s, he fell in love with hip-hop and rhythm and blues. During these years, he began to explore the art of songwriting and developed a collection of his own original songs.
He has two albums to his credit. The first which is self-titled album, isan experimentation with diverse sounds and influences towards a soulful, folky African sound. The second is Paradigm Shift and provides thought-provoking lyrics that address social issues and promote love and peace in society.
Doug has written poetry and fiction since his secondary school days. His poetry has been published in the online journals The Houston Literary Review (defunct) and Aerodrome.co.za, and his fiction in Cavalcade and Type/Cast.co.za. In 2011, he published a collection of short stories titled Eyelash Magic.
In a recent interview, he described himself as an explorer of several passions. “I actually started out wanting to be a rapper, a basketballer, a lawyer, a broadcaster, a writer, a painter. Somehow, in the journey, some of the interests dominated the others. I discovered my passion for teaching when I was in university. I discovered I had a desire to simplify ideas for others. So I’d organise free English lessons at church. Music and writing, however, seem to be always there. I don’t see myself as one who has got it all together. I’m just a juggler, still fighting to organise my interests. I’ve tried to let go of some of them and focus on one, but I always return. Sometimes I work in seasons. So this could be the season of music; another time, writing. But the best method that has helped me to conquer these tensions has to do with how I think about these domains. I try to think of them not as contradictory, but as different aspects or faces of the same thing. As meaningless as that sounds, it has helped me in amazing ways not to feel divided within me. So things flow both naturally and consciously.”
The Guest Writer Session also features live music, a Q and A segment and a raffle draw for books. It is one of the initiatives of the Abuja Writers Forum, others include a weekly Critique Session and a Creative Writing Workshop Series.
