Akada Children’s Book Festival founded by a children’s book author, Olubunmi Aboderin-Talabi, has emerged the 2023 Brittle Paper African Literary Platform of the Year.
Aboderin-Talabi, who organised the first edition of the festival in 2019, is a director of PUNCH Nigeria Limited and author.
This is just as a Ghanaian writer and culture curator, Sylvia Arthur, was named the winner of the 2023 Brittle Paper African Literary Person of the Year.
The awards recognise individuals who have done outstanding works in advancing African literary culture and industry in the given year.
According to a statement posted on the Instagram page of the organiser, other winners at the 9th edition of the awards include the South African digital content creator, Nokukhanya Ntsaluba, who won the Social Media Influencer of the Year and Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure who won the Publisher of the Year award.
Commenting on the awardees, the organiser of the awards, Brittle Paper, said those recognised are individuals who have done outstanding work in advancing African literary culture and industry in 2023.
“We are really proud of everyone on the list. They have all stepped up to the plate and contributed towards making this year a huge success for the culture,” the organiser said.
Aboderin-Talabi’s book festival, according to the organiser, won the literary platform of the year 2023 for “championing children’s literature in Nigeria and fostering a safe and inspiring space for children to explore books and ideas.”
The organiser added, “The festival was founded by Olubunmi Aboderin Talabi, a children’s book author and influential figure in the Nigerian publishing industry. The festival is the first and largest Nigerian book festival exclusively for children.
“Many of us know Talabi as a children’s book author but she has been in the Nigerian publishing space for much longer and in other roles.
“She is currently the chairperson of the Association of Children’s Authors and Illustrators of Nigeria. Although her professional background is in corporate directorship, her true passion lies in writing for children, with 12 books published.
“With a career spanning 29 years in the publishing industry, primarily in newspaper publishing, she also holds an honorary doctorate in Media and Communications and serves on the board of The PUNCH, one of Nigeria’s top newspapers.
“She is deeply committed to improving literacy and ensuring that children have better access to books, particularly, to read for pleasure.”
Commenting on the literary platform award won by Talabi’s ACBF, the Editor, Brittle Paper, Prof Ainehi Edoro, said the ACBF was shifting Nigerian literary culture.
“There is no doubt that ACBF is shifting Nigerian literary culture in ways that speak to the broader growth we are observing in African literature globally.
“It is enabling infrastructural impact in the Nigerian literary space by signaling the possibility of a market and industry around children’s books,” Edoro said.
On his part, the Publisher of Masobe Books, Othuke Ominiabohs, said with the Akada Children’s Book Festival, the future of African literature is promising.
Ominiabohs said, “Because of Talabi and the ACBF, the future of literature and the continent at large is so much brighter: for a child who reads is an adult who leads.”
The organiser also explained that Arthur won the African Literary Person of the Year award “in recognition of her outstanding contributions toward promoting the visibility of African and African diaspora literature on Instagram and other social media platforms”.
Also, the organiser said Ntsaluba won the social media influencer of the year “in recognition of her outstanding contributions toward promoting the visibility of African and African diaspora literature on Instagram and other social media platforms”.
Vazhure won the 2023 Publisher of the Year for “making space for Shona language literature, heeding the call of the great Ngugi wa Thiongo that we need to take seriously the “claims of our language on us.”
