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An evening of rousing book readings, conversations, poems and good music — the CORA Book Trek took center stage at the British Council, Ikoyi Lagos, on Monday, November 5, 2018 and was totally phenomenal. This time of year is the season for art lovers across the country and Africa in general. With events like the Lagos International Poetry Festival and the Ake Festival recently rounded up, it is time for book lovers and members of the literary circuit to connect and celebrate our peerless culture by way of books. The Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), promoters of the Lagos Book and Art Festival, is a 26-year old club of culture aficionados determined to make Nigeria a major destination for culture tourism by 2018. The CORA Book Trek set the scene for the 2018 LABAF, which began on Monday, November 5, 2018, and will run till Sunday, November 11, 2018.

Renewal: A World That Works For All

Themed, Renewal: A World That Works For All, this year’s edition of the festival is inspired by the imminent need to focus on the process of our rebirth as a nation, as we enter the 20th year of our democracy and prepare for next year’s general elections.

“This festival hopes to show several points of light in a dark, pessimistic world, headlined by Herdsmen killings, Boko Haram sit-ins, Biafra secession, kidnappings, and other convulsions in the polity that unsettle us all. Can we all through books imagine a world of better possibilities?” — LABAF

Veteran Nigerian authors, Emike Oyemade and Chuma Nwokolo, at the Book Trek overwhelmed attendees with imposing excerpts from their books, revealing Nigeria’s past, present, and the possible future of our state of affairs; if we do not rise up soon and take the bull by the horns as a collective entity. Other stories by authors, bordered on several banes of our society, including the ordeals of the girl child, in a province where she is seen as less, only good for house cleaning and bearing children. The spoken word poetry – done by members of the AJ House of Poetry and LoudTHOTZ Poetry – was one of the highlights of the evening, as they thrilled guests with spine-tingling words fully armed with the efficacy to make patriots of listeners. The week-long yearly ritual to celebrate African literature continues with an even more exciting line up for this year’s edition of the festival. Click here to find the programme for LABAF 2018. See Photos from the Book and Art Festival below: