Sat March 14:Lagos Writers hosts Segun Olusola on the Power of the Word

Dear Writer, As Ambassador Segun Olusola marks his 74th birthday on March 18, the Association of Nigerian Authors, Lagos celebrates with this Nigeria's great user of the spoken and the written words. Olusola, a theatre and television man,  the fist ANA Vice president to former President Chinua Achebe, author of Village Headmaster and Twenty Five years of Nigerian Broadcasting and other books on social and refugee matters,  frontline broadcaster and a pioneer refugee carer and champion will be the guest of the house. Very few Nigerians practice the capacity to lend a generously listening ear the way Chief Olusola does at any time. In his many years in broadcasting, Olusola who has prepared Nigerian heads of State for the camera, will be speaking on The Place and Power of the Spoken and Written Word. He would also be sharing with writters on how to present themselves before television cameras, and at public interviews. First Segment:                    - Readings and Responses to works in progress                      - Sharing Literary Experiences around      books and book events                                             - Book Presentations of new works Second Segment:                        Guest of the House:                     Ambassador Segun Olusola              Third Segment Segment:                   Making ANA Lagos Work Better                         Venue: National Arts Theatre, Aina Onobolu Complex Wing,                                  Iganmu, Costain, Lagos                         Time : 2.30pm -6pm                         Date : Second Saturday of March14, 2008.   Note: That the wedding of Akin Adeoya, shall not in any way affect our meeting.                         Forward this invitation to other serious writers of ideas. Come also with your dues for the new year, or pay into ANA Lagos GTB account 201107510110   Yours sincerely, Chike Ofili: Chairman.

Fw: Akin Adeoya finally finds a Wife, Sat 14 March

--- On Wed, 3/4/09, chike ofili <chikeofili@yahoo.com> wrote: From: chike ofili <chikeofili@yahoo.com> Subject: Akin Adeoya finally finds a Wife, Sat 14 March To: "ALAG" <authorsinlagos@yahoogroups.com> Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 11:26 AM Dear writer,   Akin Adeoya, copywriter, poet, journalist and publisher of Brands & Products , now known as M2 a marketing weekly, has finally found --- On Tue, 3/3/09, akin adeoya <adeoyaakin@yahoo.com> wrote: From: akin adeoya <adeoyaakin@yahoo.com> Subject: AKIN WEDS FLO To: "Akin Adeoya" <akinadeoya@marketingmixideas.com> Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 10:58 AM Ladies and Gentlemen,   Make una join me o because I don fall in love!!   Akin   Akin Adeoya 36a Toyin Street Ikeja-Lagos 01-8905446 08035561219 Get your preferred Email name! Now you can @ymail.com and @rocketmail.com.

ANA Meets last Sat February28;Readings and Discussions on The Nature of Love

Dear writer,   As a result of this year's Valentine's day coinciding with our regular second Saturday of every month meetings, the house took a decision to allow members have some time with their spouses and lovers. We however moved the meet to the last Saturday of the same February.   We intend to have readings of poems and prose passages on love, share personal experiences on the issue and go ahead to intellectually discuss its very nature and how our associatio, ANA can be loved beyond a personal interest.   You are expected to come with your writings on love and love letters and correspondences that can help the experiential understanding of the subject.     First Segment:                    - Readings and Responses in works in progress                      - Sharing Literary Experiences of love                                             - Book Presentations of new works and excerpts from love centred books              Second Segment: Discussion                                            Theme:The Nature of Love; and Loving ANA Beyond Personal Interest                         Venue: National Arts Theatre, Aina Onobolu Complex Wing,                                  Iganmu, Costain, Lagos                         Time : 2.30pm -6pm                         Date : Last Saturday of February 28, 2008.                            Forward this invitation to other serious writers of ideas. Come also with your dues for the new year, or pay into ANA Lagos GTB account 201107510110   Yours sincerely, Chike Ofili: Chairman.

ANA, NLNG, BBC Prizes Competitions for all, out

Dear writer: pls be reminded that the NLNG prize for poetry is also out. See last Sunday Guardian for details. The BBC 2009 playwriting comprtion closes on March 31 , while LNLG closes March 14.     Dare to try.   ChikeOfili. 2009 ANA LITERARY PRIZES:CALL FOR ENTRIES Posted by: "denja abdullahi" denjabb@yahoo.com   denjabb Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:02 am (PST)     PRESS RELEASE        (Published & unpublished works)  2009 ANA LITERARY PRIZES: CALL FOR ENTRIES   Nigerian writers, at home and abroad, willing to enter their new works for the  Annual Literary Prizes of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) may do so now.   Interested creative writers should send six copies (6) of their entries (specifying the category being entered for) alongside a covering letter to the General Secretary, Association of Nigerian Authors, Suite 67, National Theater Complex, Iganmu Lagos. The entries which can be for any of the following categories must not have been entered before and must have been published between 2008 and 2009:   v    ANA/Cadbury Prize for Poetry                                         $1000 (Published works only)   v    ANA/NDDC Flora Nwapa Prize for Women Writing         N100,000 (Published works only)   v    ANA/NDDC Gabriel Okara Prize for Poetry              N100,000 (Published & unpublished works)   v    ANA/NDDC J. P. Clark Prize for Drama                    N100,000 v    ANA/NDDC Ken Saro Wiwa Prize for Prose             N100,000 (Published &unpublished works)     v    ANA/Chevron Prose Prize on environmental issues        N100,000 (Published works only)   v    ANA/Jacaranda Prize for Prose Fiction                   N50,000 (Published works only)   v    ANA/Funtime Prize for Children's Literature (prose)              (unpublished works only, Ages 8-15)                 N150,000                                                   Winning entry to be published by sponsor (Funtime Publications ) with a sign on fee of N250,000   v    ANA/Atiku Abubakar Prize for Children's Literature       N100,000 (Published works and picture books only; Ages 0-7)   v    ANA/Lantern Books Prize for Children's Fiction      N100,000 (Unpublished works only, Ages 8 - 15)         Winning entry to be published by Lantern Books   v   ANA/JAMES ENE HENSHAW PRIZE FOR PLAYWRITING( unpublished playscripts only)N100,000. Playwright of winning entry to work with an experienced director for the production of the play. v    ANA/NECO Teen Author Prize (prose)                    N100,000 (Published & unpublished works) See below for specific guidelines   v    ANA/Mazariyya Teen Author Prize (poetry)            N50,000 (Published & unpublished works) See below for specific guidelines   GUIDELINES FOR TEEN AUTHOR PRIZES   1.             Entrants must be students in any secondary school in Nigeria 2.     Entries must be a collection or a single story of between 25 – 40 pages for prose, or between 25 – 40 poems for poetry. 3.                Illustration (optional). 4.                Accompanying documents are: (i)Letter of identification from school principals on letter headed papers bearing name, signature and stamp with the entrants' two passport photographs, name, school, age (attach birth certificate) (II)entrants admission letters; (III)current cumulative record of entrants' academic performance (Junior or Secondary School); (IV)letter of consent from parents; (V)entrants' email addresses and phone contacts. 5.                Unpublished entries (in six copies) should be properly bound.         Deadline for the receipt of all entries for the 2009 ANA Literary Prizes is Teusday 31st March 2009. A shortlist will be announced in the first week of October, 2009. Winners of the prizes will be announced at the Awards Dinner in Minna, Niger State during the 28th International Annual Convention   of ANA in  October ,2009.       DENJA ABDULLAHI General Secretary ANA 26th January,2009.

Re-branded ANA Lagos New Look, Comments

--- On Thu, 2/5/09, chike ofili <chikeofili@yahoo.com> wrote: From: chike ofili <chikeofili@yahoo.com> Subject: ANA Lagos New Look To: "Chike" <chikeofili@yahoo.com> Date: Thursday, February 5, 2009, 7:08 AM Attached herewith are the new ANA Lagos Look.   Regards,   Chike Ofili   Please write back your honest comments, however frank. It was presented to the house the same last Saturday of Januaryy that we decided against holding the  Feb 14 ANA meeting that fell on Valentine day.   Be reminded that we would be meeting, last Saturday of February 28 where we shall be examining THE NATURE OF LOVE, a sub topic of which will be: Loving ANA Beyond Personal Interest. You are expected to come with love poems and passages and to share your love experience. Details of the programme, later.   Chike Ofili.

Poetry:Nigerian Law does not criminalise witchcraft?

A Local Voice:

In television I saw the wayo
And in facebook I see the image
They say na witch one child be
Coz the darkness of em charcoal blue skin
and the pity pity for face
should tell us say na mars em come from
and dat kind of world that em evolved from

for juju house
i saw djembe drums
cowries they scatter
old men dey chanting slogan
women bottocks shaking
as they kid they wailing
em dey crying
'I no go be witch again
Again and again
Em dey crying…

I dey write you what I see
I no no weder na witch true or witch lie lie

The Poet Voice:
there are laws
and there are no laws
and in Nigeria we have our laws
Nigerian Law does not criminalise witchcraft
Why? Do not ask me because I don't know

I am called by my surname OMOSUN
If I tell you the meaning I think
They will crucify me and call me WITCH

The Nigeria criminal law know not what witch means
Mainly because you cannot prove witchcraft
or the abracadabra that its associates

so where there is no law
These 'so-called pastors' or 'men of God'
Are the law unto themselves
We can not try them for murder
Because they say they are murdering murder
The children they kill are murder murder
Murder two times multiply murder murder

Shivering in a spirit dance
Drums beating along each part
The relic assault the victims
Point half a million for the exorcism
For murder two times multiply murder murder

what do you think...please reply
or visit me in facebook

the article by reuben Abati of the guardian inspired this poetry

Omosun Sylvester Planning Officer Bells University of Technology Ota, ogun state +234 8052130879 www.tribalpoetry.blogspot.com www.bellsuniversity.blogspot.com

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Re: NO ANA Meeting On Val Day till Sat Feb 25

Na wa for you o?  Who will you wife or fiancee on the said day, Chike Wife-Fianceeless-Ofili!   Dont even dare to think to call my name!  She will be with me!  In Abuja!   DH

NO ANA Meeting On Val Day till Sat Feb 25

Dear writer,   The Centre of Excellence Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Lagos will not be holding its regular second Saturday of the month meeting that fell on Saturday February 14, Valentine Day.   The leadership of the association would be glad to see its members mind their wifves, husbands and fiancees on that day, reading only love related matters to their spouse, and do no more than that.   On the last Saturday of the same February, the general meeting will be holding on a discussion on LOVING ANA BEYOND YOUR PERSONAL INTEREST among many other interesting aspects of the programme to be announced later.   Please bear with us.   Chike Ofili, Chairman, ANA Lagos.

ANA Meets on: What alternatives to Bookshops; Profiting from writing in Nigeria

Please Note: Kindly make efforts to do an informed observation of the bookshops in your neighborhood and your local government, or the ones in your workplace, and come to the meeting with your observations: their names and adresses, emails and phones.      Dear writer,     Sequel to our most inspiring meeting on the last second Saturday of this month where we heartily discussed What ANA Should Be Seen Doing For Writers, is this follow-up issue on the need for writers to take the bull by the horns in taking their craft and economic worries beyond the typical application of the strategy of do nothing; of practiced helplessness. We want you to come and be part of this open house discussion on taking our craft of writing beyond the partial fulfillment of the mere psychological satisfaction of being published, or of being a prize winner that does not transform our lives from what it used to be. We'd like to know your views on  this, and what you propose should be the  strategic new direction that will afford writers a better deal in this era  when other members of the art family are profiting from their art including the late starters, Stand-Up -Comedians. What viable alternative do we have to the present state of things in the marketing channels of distributing, selling, retrieving sales, or getting royalties as the case may be. What alternatives to the dying tradition of bookshops? What creative alternatives can we adopt to interest Nigerians in liking, buying and reading our books in the way Nigerian movie and music have substantially snatched the eyes and ears of Nigerians from foreign films and music respectively. Can we come together to snatch the minds of Nigerians from foreign invasion through books with our alternative options? We can, so we should come on the last Saturday January 31 with our thinking caps of irresistible alternatives.           First Segment:                    - Readings and Responses in works in progress                      - Sharing Literary Experiences                                             - Book Presentations of new works              Second Segment: Discussion                                            Theme:Profiting from Writing Beyond the Partial                                 Fulfillment of Publishing This is going to be an open house discussion by members and people of creative and transformative ideas.                         Venue: National Arts Theatre, Aina Onobolu Complex Wing,                                  Iganmu, Costain, Lagos                         Time : 2.30pm -6pm                         Date : Last Saturday of January 31, 2008                              All serious writers who respect their calling for writing are expected. Forward this invitation to other serious writers of ideas. Come also with your dues for the new year   Yours sincerely, Chike Ofili: Chairman.

ANA Meets Sat January 31 ;Lagos Writers Discuss Profiting from Writing Beyond Just Publishing

Dear writer,     Sequel to our most inspiring meeting on the last second Saturday of this month where we heartily discussed What ANA Should Be Seen Doing For Writers, is this follow-up issue on the need for writers to take the bull by the horns in taking their craft and economic worries beyond the typical application of the strategy of do nothing; of practiced helplessness. We want you to come and be part of this open house discussion on taking our craft of writing beyond the partial fulfillment of the mere psychological satisfaction of being published, or of being a prize winner that does not transform our lives from what it used to be. We'd like to know your views on  this, and what you propose should be the  strategic new direction that will afford writers a better deal in this era  when other members of the art family are profiting from their art including the late starters, Stand-Up -Comedians. What viable alternative do we have to the present state of things in the marketing channels of distributing, selling, retrieving sales, or getting royalties as the case may be. What alternatives to the dying tradition of bookshops? What creative alternatives can we adopt to interest Nigerians in liking, buying and reading our books in the way Nigerian movie and music have substantially snatched the eyes and ears of Nigerians from foreign films and music respectively. Can we come together to snatch the minds of Nigerians from foreign invasion through books with our alternative options? We can, so we should come on the last Saturday January 31 with our thinking caps of irresistible alternatives.           First Segment:                    - Readings and Responses in works in progress                      - Sharing Literary Experiences                                             - Book Presentations of new works              Second Segment: Discussion                                            Theme:Profiting from Writing Beyond the Partial                                 Fulfillment of Publishing This is going to be an open house discussion by members and people of creative and transformative ideas.                         Venue: National Arts Theatre, Aina Onobolu Complex Wing,                                  Iganmu, Costain, Lagos                         Time : 2.30pm -6pm                         Date : Last Saturday of January 31, 2008                              All serious writers who respect their calling for writing are expected. Forward this invitation to other serious writers of ideas. Come also with your dues for the new year   Yours sincerely, Chike Ofili: Chairman.

Lagos Writers Discuss Profiting from Writing Beyond Just Publishing

Dear Writer,     Sequel to our most inspiring meeting on the last second Saturday of this month where we heartily discussed What ANA Should Be Seen Doing For Writers, is this follow-up burning issue of the need for writers to take the bull by the horns in taking their craft and economic worries beyond the typical application of the strategy of do nothing; of practiced helplessness. We want you to come and be part of this open house discussion on taking our craft of writing beyond the partial fulfillment of of a mere psychological satisfaction of being published, or of being a prize winner that does not transform our lives from what it used to be. We'd like to know your views on  profiting from writing beyond the partial fulfillment of being published, and what you propose should be the  strategic new direction that will afford writers a better deal in this era  when other members of the art family are profiting from their art including the late starter, Stand-Up -Comedy. What viable alternative do we have to the present state of things in the marketing channels of distributing, selling, retrieving sales, or getting royalties as the case may be. What creative alternatives can we adopt to interest Nigerians in liking, reading and buying our books in the way Nigerian movie and music have substantially snatched the eyes and ears of Nigerians from foreign films and music respectively. Can we come together to snatch the minds of Nigerians from foreign invasion through books without our alternative options? We can, so we should come on the last Saturday January 31 with our thinking caps of irresistible alternatives.           First Segment:                    - Readings and Responses in works in progress                      - Sharing Literary Experiences                                             - Book Presentations of new works              Second Segment: Discussion                                            Theme:Profiting from Writing Beyond the Partial                                 Fulfillment of Publishing This is going to be an open house discussion by members and people of creative and transformative ideas.                         Venue: National Arts Theatre, Aina Onobolu Complex Wing,                                  Iganmu, Costain, Lagos                         Time : 2.30pm -6pm                         Date : Last Saturday of January 31, 2008                                     All serious writers who respect their calling for writing are expected. Forward this invitation to other serious writers of ideas. Come also with your dues for the new year   Yours sincerely, Chike Ofili: Chairman.

POETRY COMPETION FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS

Dear writer,   Please interest your younger ones and teachers and students in secondary schools in this poetry competition.   Thanks.   The AMBASSADOR'S POETRY CONTEST is a poetry competition strictly for nigerian secondary school students. if you are one, then you are fit to come on board. compose a poem on any topic of your choice and send it in microsoft word format to seeme@ambofpoetry.com. the poem must be at most 25 lines. if you are able to make through the rounds of the contest, you would be sent some mails to notify you. send alongside your name, email, phone number, the name of your school and the address; failure to do this automatically disqualifies your entry. the last ten standing will have the opportunity to perform their poems live at the launching of THE NATIONAL POETRY MONTH come march, 2009 before live judges:   THE JUDGES    Sage Hassan,  Chike Ofili , Helen Sosu  Emem Ema.    PRIZES: the winner will be crowned as the PRINCE/PRINCESS OF POETS IN NIGERIA   cash prize   publishing contract.                         ayodeji ajomale-god                         US ambassador of poetry.

ANA Meets Sat 10 Jan

Date: Monday, January 5, 2009, 1:19 AM   Dear Writer,   Happier New Year! And i hope, happier ANA Lagos.   This first meeting of the month will seek to have us talk about what our expectations are as ANA Lagos members among other burning issues.   First Segment:                    - Readings and Responses( Open house)                      - Sharing Literary Experiences          LOSING AN EDITOR, THE STORIES OF OKEY OKPA's WRITERS & PUBLISHER                      Speakers: Jude Dibia, Author of award winning, Unbridled                                      Hyacinth Obuseh,award winning author publisher,Hybun International, Abuja.                                    - Book Presentations                      Toni Kan's: Night of the Creaking Bed ( A novel)                    Joy Isi Bewaji's Eko Dialogue( A collection of short stories)   Second Segment: Discussion                                            Theme: WHAT ANA SHOULD BE SEEN DOING FOR WRITERS This is going to be an open house discussion by members and people of ideas                         Venue: National Arts Theatre, Aina Onobolu Complex Wing,                                  Iganmu, Costain, Lagos                         Time : 2.30pm -6pm                         Date : Every Second Saturday of the Months                                Saturday January 10, 2008   Come with your dues for the new year   Yours sincerely, Chike Ofili: Chairman.