CORA holds book party for NLNG Prize for literature nominees

The Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, on August 25, organised a book party to celebrate the 11 finalists (long list) of the yearly Nigeria Prize for Literature endowed and promoted by the NLNG.
The event which helds at Terra Kulture Arena on Victoria Island, the organisers said was geared towards bringing the works and profiles of the finalists to the attention of the larger public before the announcement of the final three.
“The Book Party, as manifested in the past editions, is to ensure that we bring the short-listed writers and books face-to-face with the literary audiences so that we could create conversations around the work and the author.
“Since the first edition, the Book Party has become a platform through which the shortlisted writers are engaged on their work by the public,” stated the CORA directorate, which has been a critical partner in the projection of the shortlisted works to the attention of the public.
According to the directorate, CORA’s mission is “to create an enabling environment for the flourishing of the contemporary arts of Nigeria and the continent, while its vision is to make art and culture the prime destination for investment in Nigeria and Africa by 2018.” Special guests to the party include authors of the 11 books long listed: Chidubem Iweka (August Inmates); Denja Abdullahi (Death and The King’s Grey Hair); Soji Cole (Embers); Obari Gomba (Guerrilla Post); and Peter E.
Omoko (Majestic Revolt).
Others are: Dul Johnson (Melancholia); Diran Ademiju-Bepo (No More the Taming Hawks); Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan (Once Upon an Elephant); Jude Idada (Sankara); Akanji Nasiru (The Rally); and Dickson Ekhaguere (Unstable).
The event featured readings and discussions around the 11 books longlisted for the 9th edition of the N35.7 million Prize since 2009.
Author canvasses social awakening on environmental protection- To promote longevity in a sustainable ecosystem, an author, Mr. Jerry Chidi has urged Nigerians to be mindful of some activities, which are causative factors for environmental degradation and pollutions in communities.
Chidi warned that if people continue to treat the environment as though it’s indestructible, and the resource infinite, there are possibilities of losing the rich stocks of seafood and the entire ecosystem could become uninhabitable in the nearest future.
Speaking during the presentation of his latest work: Man & Mangroves: An Environmental Awakening, he disclosed that this consciousness is important because it appears the society is sleeping on environmental related issues.
He said that though the society depends so much on the environmental resources, very little premium is placed on its sustainability and conservation, adding that the project is a visual narrative of Nigerians in their mangrove environment.
“We take for granted that which we get for free.
We treat the environment as though it is indestructible, and its resource infinite.
If the trend continues, not only that the society might lose the rich stock of seafood, the environment would become uninhabitable.
“As a documentary photographer, my job involves telling stories about people and our journey through time and space.
My work centres on bringing to light that which is shrouded and highlighting the beauty of everyday sights,” said Chidi.
According to him, the mangrove environment has a lot of aesthetic values and appearance; an endless expanse of evergreen trees with webbed roots digging in and out of the water, the mudflats literally crawling with life; crabs, mudskippers, periwinkles and others that make up the ecosystem but we are losing them so rapidly.
This for him was due to unfriendly human activities impacting negatively on the ecosystem.
He said, “In 2009, I started this body of work called Man and Mangroves.
Initially, the work was just to showcase the beauty and resources of the ecosystem and the people whose culture have been shaped by the environment.
That is, the mangroves as a natural and cultural heritage.” However, after years of travelling around Nigeria’s mangrove communities and seeing and documenting not just beauty and resources, but also environmental degradation and pollution, the title of the work slightly changed in my mind and heart becoming Man & Mangroves: An environmental awakening.” Reviewing the book, a professor of art history and theory at the University of Port Harcourt, Frank Ugiomoh, said the 176- page material is well written in a simple and understandable language and well-researched as well as with clear photographs that illustrate the sorry state of the mangrove forest in Nigeria.
“The book is divided into three chapters.
This material would serve as research material for people who seek to enrich their knowledge on the challenges of the Nigerian mangrove forest and encourage the people to show empathy to the environment.
We employ you to partner with us to make this happen,” he said.