By Precious Onwe
The Quramo Festival of Words (QFEST), presented by Quramo Publishing Ltd., announced today that the 7th edition of the highly anticipated literary arts festival will take place from October 4 to 8, 2023 in Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The annual gathering of creatives from different industries is organised by Gbemi Shasore, co-founder of Quramo Publishing, a leading media publishing company committed to the production of bestselling books and conversation-starting films.
The theme for this year is Connecting The Dots, a subject that brings opportunities for creatives and stakeholders in film, literature, theatre, and publishing among other players in the creative and media spaces to interact, identify and explore likely collaborations across borders.
According to Shasore, the ability to build bridges where there are none remains the goal. “The recent departure of key players in the Nigerian creative industries to other climes provides a major opportunity for cross-continental collaborations and high-level export of cultural values and literature.
“At Quramo, we remain committed to our vision to equip creatives for the expansion of the creative industries while fostering visibility for literary works that mirror real Nigerian and African experiences. QFEST is an annual celebration of these unique stories, conversations and cultural perspectives,” said Shasore.
As always, QFEST attendees are guaranteed access to enriching book chats, masterclasses, expert-led panel sessions, spoken word poetry and stage plays.
The word slam open mic competition with a cash prize remains one to look forward to.
The highlight of QFest 2023 is the unveiling of the Quramo Writers Prize (QWP) winner who gets a publishing deal and a cash prize worth millions of naira.
The QWP Longlist was recently unveiled at the Quramo office in Lagos, Nigeria.
Some of the speakers and panellists for this five-day event include Femi Odugbemi, Yahaya Maikori, Adedotun Eyinade (RovingHeights), Anwuli Ojogwu (Society of Book and Magazine Editors of Nigeria), James Murua, Kenyan literary blogger, Peter Ryan, the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Kemi Ogunleye, Yinka Davies, Dwin the Stoic, Morenike Olusanya (@iamrenike), and more.
Register to attend for free through this link. For more updates on QFEST 2023, follow @quramo_pub on Twitter, @quramoofficial on Instagram, Quramo Publishing on Facebook and LinkedIn, visit quramo.com/festival and sign up for the QFEST newsletter.
Quramo Publishing is a Quramo Media company, sister company to Quramo Productions, makers of acclaimed documentary, Journey of an African Colony, available on Netflix, and other film productions.
The Quramo Festival of Words, which is currently in its seventh year, attracts thousands of attendees, every year, to participate in workshops/masterclasses, panel discussions, book/author chats and readings, literary competitions, and to watch stage plays, short films and live music performances.
Our past guests met and learned from inspiring personalities like Kadaria Ahmed, Seffi Atta, Falz, Igoni Barrett, Kiki Mordi, Dike Chukwumerije, Eghosa Imasuen, Helon Habila, Innocent Ilo, Lala Akindoju, TJ Benson, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Karen Jennings, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Femi Odugbemi, Bikiya Graham-Douglas, Dare Olaitan, and more.
Every edition has a theme; starting with the eponymous Festival of Words (2019), we’ve had Creativity Reset: The Future of Words (2020) and Transcendence: Words Defying (2021).
Last year, the theme was Africa Positive because it’s about time we start documenting, celebrating and reporting stories of our positive contribution to the global creative economy, to reshape the African identity.
We had appearances from Bolanle Austen-Peters (of Terra Kulture), TaymieB (of Cool FM), Jola Ayeye and FK Abudu (of the I Said What I Said podcast), Tiwalola Ogunlesi, Jude Idada, etc., with brand showcases from Puma, Anfani, Refine Jewelry, Toriara Naturals, etc.