Uganda hosted one of the largest gatherings of African writers which took place in Kampala from Wednesday 19 to Friday 21 October, 2005.
The British Council through its InterAction initiative organised the three- day literary extravaganza that brought together 45 writers from 17 African countries and the UK. The Festival was a unique creative networking event that celebrated the richness of writing coming from the African continent.
InterAction is a leadership programme being implemented in Africa to develop a new generation of African leaders as they face up to challenges of the 21st century. InterAction is the British Council’s biggest programme in Africa. It supports dynamic individuals who are searching for alternatives and challenging accepted ways of doing things in order to achieve greater impact for Africa. This initiative has received new impetus as leadership was one of the key elements referred to in the Report of the Commission for Africa that was launched by the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair in early this year.
The festival aims was to bring together at least two writers from each of the 19 African countries in which the British Council implements its InterAction initiative.
Participating writers were drawn from across Sub-Saharan Africa and the UK. The participating African countries were Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Participation is the bedrock upon which the networking event was founded. Each of the attending writers brought with them, a new writing for performance and debate at the festival. Established and emerging writers were provided with a platform to showcase and discuss new work on an equal footing. The festival was dynamic and forward thinking and looked at the role of the writer in society today, drawing, but not dwelling upon the past.
InterAction is the key feature for all 45 participating writers. They took part in a range of themed panel discussions, public readings, question and answer sessions; and wider reaching community events such as creative writing workshops for local schools.
The writers had a choice of attending debates and live spoken word events. Some of the events were open to the public who were encouraged to join in the debates and interact with the writers and their work.
The Festival provided established and emerging writers with an opportunity to celebrate and perform their work. It gave the writers a chance to bring their work to wider audiences in a cross cultural context. They shared experiences of the writing process through structured discussion and explored the current political and social context of their writing in an African and global context. Furthermore, the writers discussed with the British Council about literature development in Africa and the future of literary activities.
“Beyond Borders Festival: A Festival of Contemporary African Writers” is one of the several high profile Pan African projects in which the British Council, through its InterAction initiative, is involved in support of the African led New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
For more information please cantact Sandra Hook
|
