Ake Festival 2017

Ake Arts & Festival du livre 2017

Ake Festival is 5 days of cultural and literary immersion.

The Ake Arts and Book Festival is an exciting five-day programme of cultural and literature-focused events which include book chats, panel discussions, poetry readings, workshops, performances, stage plays, film screenings, music concert and art exhibitions, featuring Nigerian and international authors, actors, writers, filmmakers, academics, performers and thinkers. There’s the famous pop-up bookstore to which pupils, publishers, book lovers and the general public are invited to visit. Ake Festival is renowned for book bargains. The festival bookstore stocks over 8000 books.

This year's edition of the festival takes place in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria, on November 14 – 18, 2017. Abeokuta is the capital of Ogun State and is an hour’s drive from Lagos. A city of historical and cultural significance, Abeokuta is home to one of the most famous tourist attractions in Nigeria: Olumo Rock.

The theme for the fifth edition of Ake arts and Book Festival is This F-word and events will focus largely on creative women doing amazing things both on the African continent and beyond. To quote eminent Egyptian author Nawal El Saadawi, “Solidarity between women can be a powerful force for change, and can influence future development in ways favourable not only to women but also to men.”

The 2017 edition of Ake Arts and Book Festival is not only an opportunity to foster solidarity amongst women across the continent, it is a rare opportunity for women to share their individual journeys, to explore some of the barriers that women encounter in Africa and to celebrate success stories. As usual, the Ake Arts and Book Festival aims to showcase the very best of contemporary African literature, poetry, music, art, film and theatre, whilst showcasing the work of the trailblazers.

Each year, creatives are invited to participate in honest and constructive conversations about issues and themes that are pertinent to Africa. The Ake festival is fast becoming one of Africa’s cultural hubs; several literary communities and organisations collaborate with Ake Festival to make announcements about initiatives and prizes, taking advantage of the growing number of visitors that attend the festival every year.

Following the success of the last four editions, this year’s edition will feature nearly 100 guests, comprising largely African women. Ama Ata Aidoo, a Ghanaian author, poet, playwright and academic is headlining Ake Festival this year and will be joined by some of Africa’s finest creatives spanning several generations. These include Nnedi Okorafor, Mona Eltahawy, Ayobami Adebayo, Mohale Mashigo, Pumla Gqola, Hannah Pool, Leyla Hussein, Adebola Rayo, Zinzi Clemmons, Kinna Likimani, Ladan Osman, Koleka Putuma, Zikiswa Wanner, Molara Wood, Kadaria Ahmed and many, many more.

The Festival is named after Ake, one of the ancient communities of the city, and for which one of Wole Soyinka’s memoirs is named. Against the backdrop of the rocky hills of Abeokuta in the lush South-Western countryside, the main venue for Ake Arts and Book Festival is the Arts & Culture Center, Kuto, Abeokuta, which boasts of a range purpose-built performance spaces.