TO mark the 10th anniversary of Port Harcourt World Book Capital, the Rainbow Book Club, the programme’s project managers, has launched two new initiatives.
These initiatives, Talking Books Africa and the R.O.A.R. Africa series are set to revolutionize the literary landscape. Talking Books Africa, a monthly, virtual, live conversation with authors, kicked off with novelist Chibundu Onuzo, author of ‘Sankofa’ as a guest. The R.O.A.R. Africa series, on the other hand, will bring to life the biographies of notable Africans for young readers.
R.O.A.R., in partnership with UNESCO, will start with the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, who turns 90 in July.
Port Harcourt made history 10 years ago when it assumed its tenure as UNESCO World Book Capital, beating eight other contenders, including Oxford.
In his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the year-long tenure of World Book Capital, Professor Soyinka highlighted the book’s importance in national development and the threat to education.
Musicians Burna Boy, Timi Dakolo, MI, Waje, Yemi Alade and Nosa rendered the P.H. World Book Capital theme song at the same event.
During the World Book Capital year, a myriad of impactful programmes were launched. These included the establishment of 200 book clubs in schools, Shell’s sponsorship of a 350-seater library, and the publication of stories written by children from the 23 local councils of Rivers State and Nigeria’s 36 states about their communities.
Hay Festival and Rainbow Book Club collaborated on the ‘Africa 39’ project, which selected and celebrated 39 of Africa’s most promising writers under the age of 40.
That year, Port Harcourt World Book Capital exhibited at the Cape Town Book Fair, the London Book Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair.
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