Writing Workshop

By Sabiu Abdullahi 

The Flame Tree Writers’ Project, in partnership with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, has announced a call for applications for a writers’ workshop targeting emerging writers from Northern Nigeria.

The initiative aims to support young writers in honing their craft and envisioning a more democratic and peaceful Nigeria.

According to Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, founder of the Flame Tree Writers’ Project, “This has been a passion project of mine for so long, and I am excited that, with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, it is coming to fruition.”

The workshop, scheduled for June 24–28, 2024, in Abuja, will be co-facilitated by NLNG Nigeria Prize–winning authors Abubakar Adam Ibrahim and Chika Unigwe.

Participants will receive guidance in writing a short story suitable for publication in an anthology. 

Ere Amachree, Program Manager at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, noted, “The foundation is excited about the Flame Tree Writers’ Project, as it advances our vision of promoting writing as a means of political expression, just like Heinrich Böll, the German writer after whom our foundation is named.” 

The call for applications is exclusively for writers from the 19 Northern States of Nigeria, aged between 18 and 35. Female emerging writers are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Interested participants must meet the eligibility criteria and submit their applications to flametreewritersproject@gmail.com by June 1, 2024. 

Encouraging writers to apply, Mr. Abubakar said, “It’s not just a workshop but a project that will publish the stories from the workshop in an anthology of new writing and get them into institutions of learning, where they will be taught as part of the growing and exciting corpus of literature from this part of the country.”

The All Poets Network (APN), in collaboration with the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) and Akweya Radio, organise one-day poetry writing workshop at the Department of Theatre and Performing Arts, Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano. Dr Ola Ifatimehin, the head of the Department, will facilitate the workshop.

Engausa, a hybridised English-Hausa language, is used by many Hausa speakers in northern Nigeria. The language is gaining momentum, especially on social media. However, writing poetry in the same language is usually unconventional or even unwelcomed.

Announcing the workshop, Khalid Imam, the curator of APN, describes Engausa poetry as “a type of poetry which combines English and Hausa words in its expressions. It borrows from the vocabulary and cultural expressions of both languages to create imagery and tonality that colours and beautifies poetry in fresh modes.”

Dr Ifatimehin said that when he began writing such poetry, he was surprised to see that “so many people found it quite fascinating and some started writing as well.” He added that although there had been debates around it, it is catching on. Dr Ifatimehin disclosed to this reporter that “we have recently gotten funding to do an anthology”.

The Daily Reality is the first online news medium in Nigeria with a dedicated section on Engausa. Therefore, the company has promised to support this avant-garde movement and other creative writings in Engausa. The event will take place on 10th July 2021 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.