The party sponsored by Nigeria LNG, is a literary feast of ideas which customarily holds in hounor of 11 longlist of writers in the Nigeria Prize for Literature annual competition. It took place last Sunday, August 7, 2022, at the Shell Hall MUSON Centre, Lagos.
Being the 13th edition, the book feast that witnessed a hall filled to the brim, was also live streamed to a global audience via zoom, and social media platforms.
The Literature prize which rotates yearly among four genres – fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature, focuses on poetry this 2022. And chasing this year’s prize money of $100,000 are 11 longlisted authors in whose honour the Book Party was organised.
The poets first read portions from their collections after which they answered questions bothering on what inspired them to publish the longlisted works and what poetry meant to them.
The authors in no small way, thrilled the audience as they read poems cutting across themes of love, politics, culture, life, society, etc., from their books.
Aside entertainment by cultural troupes, some of the poets like Diana Abasi, and Agema turned parts of their readings into songs. Agema especially, made minstrels out of the audience, lighting up the entire event with excitement.
