Azuonye, Murua, Musialowski to headline Abuja writers event

Three literary giants, Nnorom Azuonye, James Murua, and Michal Musiałowski, have been announced as the headliners of the debut (virtual) edition of the Abuja Writers Forum (AWF) Link Up which kicks off on Sunday.

The AWF disclosed this in a statement that said the session will hold on Zoom from 4- 6 pm Nigerian Time. The maiden edition will focus on publishing blogs, journals, and anthologies as a means of giving writers, especially those from Africa, a platform of expression.

The AWF statement is reproduced below:

Azuonye is a Dramatic Artist, Poet, Interviewer, Literary Editor, and Publisher based in London. He is also the author of ‘We Need God in Nigeria Again’ (Poetry), ‘Funeral of the Minstrel’ (a play), ‘The Bridge Selection: Poems for the Road’, and ‘Letter to God & Other Poems’.

Nairobi, Kenya-based James Murua is a blogger, journalist, and podcaster who has written for a variety of media outlets in a career spanning print, web, and TV.

He was also announced as Best Writer “Theatre, Art and Culture” at Kenya’s Sanaa Theatre Awards and listed as one of the top men in digital in Kenya in 2018.

Murua has conducted workshops on blogging and social media in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi and has been a media consultant for the Goethe Institut, Nairobi.

He was an editor for The Star newspaper in Kenya for five years and a columnist for nine where he was voted “Columnist of the Year” in 2009.

Musiałowski, on the other hand, is a teacher, a poet, and a cultural activist based in Germany. He is a co-founder of the free global creative expression community and platform Blank Pages that promote art as a tool of connection and transcultural dialogue. His academic work concentrates on Nigerian Poetry, Cosmopolitanism, and Art-Based Research.

The Abuja Writers’ Forum (AWF) was established to encourage the creative writing potentials of Nigerians and people of the sub-region of Africa.

It also aims to facilitate the growth of the country’s book industry in all its ramifications and provide a favourable environment for the development of a vibrant reading culture.