Aké Arts and Book Festival

The tradition & historical record

The Aké Arts and Book Festival is a literary and artistic event held annually in Nigeria. It was founded in 2013 by Lola Shoneyin, a Nigerian writer and poet, in Abeokuta. It features new and established writers from across the world, and its primary focus has been to promote, develop, and celebrate the creativity of African writers, poets, and artists. The Aké Arts and Book Festival has been described as the African continent's biggest annual gathering of literary writers, editors, critics, and readers. The festival has an official website and a dedicated magazine, known as the Aké Review. ¹

Lola Shoneyin founded the festival because, according to her, she "wanted a place where intellectuals and thinkers can come together and talk about African issues on African soil". The festival is named after Aké, a town in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where Africa's first Nobel Laureate in Literature, Wole Soyinka, was born in 1934. ¹

The first edition of the festival was held at the Cultural Centre in Kuto, Abeokuta, 19–24 November 2013. The theme of the festival was "The Shadow of Memory". One of its major highlights was an event where four Nigerians under the age of 21 had the opportunity to quiz the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka on his life. ¹

The second edition of the festival was held from 18 November to 22 November 2014. The theme was "Bridges and Pathways". The festival was held at the Cultural Centre in Kuto, Abeokuta. It was organized in collaboration with the Ogun State Government, Access Bank, Etisalat Nigeria, and Annoying Logo. The programme featured nine book chats with authors including Yejide Kilanko, Bernardine Evaristo, Okey Ndibe, Nnedi Okorafor, Chude Jideonwo, and many others.