A speaking event at the Garden City Literary Festival

Some of you may already know that I will be visiting Nigeria soon. The first part of my visit will be to promote A Heart to Mend in the country. I am very grateful for the wonderful reception the book has received there and it will be awesome to meet some of the people who have read AHTM. For the first few weeks of my visit, I'll be taking part in various book events in Lagos, Abuja and some other cities. The one I'm most excited about is the Garden City Literary Festival in Port Harcourt. I've been selected as a speaker on one of the interactive sessions and I also look forward to meeting Wole Soyinka, JM Le Clezio and a galaxy of 50 other writers and authors in Nigeria including Reuben Abati, Adaobi Nwaubani, Helon Habila, among others.

The festival's latest press release is below. You can see the programme HERE

Garden City Festival Reveals Exciting Line-up of Events.

With just a month to go before the third annual Garden City Literary Festival gets underway, the organisers have revealed a line-up of events that promises to offer something exciting for all lovers of books and literature.

The highlight of the four-day event is a historic meeting of two Nobel Laureates – Professor Wole Soyinka and Mr J.M.G Le Clezio. Fans are being invited to send questions in advance for a special interactive conversation with these two great writers.

In keeping with the festival’s tradition of creating a forum for learning, improvement and debate, a special seminar will be held which focuses on the use of social media and how that impacts on Nigeria’s book industry. This topical seminar will be facilitated by Myne Whitman, a refreshing new writer who has used the popular medium of the internet to promote her own writing as well as the work of other Nigerian writers.


And that’s only a small part of what’s in store for visitors to the festival. The ever-popular writers’ workshops will make a welcome return with the celebrated Guardian columnist Reuben Abati taking a class on non-fiction writing, while acclaimed young authors Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani and Helon Habila present sessions on prose and novel writing. Poet and playwright Zainabu Jallo will be imparting her knowledge on drama and poetry.

Add to this a book fair, an exciting photo exhibition and special children’s events, plus a rounding off of the festival with an awards gala dinner, where 50 writers from the past 50 years will be honoured for their contribution to Nigerian literature and you have a literary festival that is definitely not to be missed.

The Garden City Literary Festival is a collaboration of the Rivers State Government and the Rainbow Book Club. It will take place from the 8th till the 11th of December at Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt. To find out more or suggest questions for the Nobel Laureates, visit www.gardencityfestival.com.