Usman, Adeko, others for 2019 African Writers Conference

The African Writers Development Trust (AWDT) has announced the speakers and judges for this year’s African Writers Conference (AWC) and awards taking place in Kenya. The speakers are Nabilah Usman, a Nigerian teacher with a background in broadcasting, Sabah Carrim, a Mauritian novelist, Nnane Ntube, a Cameroonian-born poet, teacher, and activist, Alex Nderitu, a Kenyan […]

The African Writers Development Trust (AWDT) has announced the speakers and judges for this year’s African Writers Conference (AWC) and awards taking place in Kenya.

The speakers are Nabilah Usman, a Nigerian teacher with a background in broadcasting, Sabah Carrim, a Mauritian novelist, Nnane Ntube, a Cameroonian-born poet, teacher, and activist, Alex Nderitu, a Kenyan poet, playwright and novelist, and Tom Odhiambo, a literary critic and a senior lecturer in the Department of Literature at the University of Nairobi.

Judges include Kolabomi Adeko (Poetry), a Nigerian physicist by training but a poet by passion, Tanzanian writer and award-winning author Nahida Esmail (Children’s Literature), Sabah Carrim (Short stories), a Mauritian novelist, and Adah Bitiah Chembo (Flash fiction), a Zambian writer and editor.

The judging panel will be chaired by Anthony Onugba, who is the founder and Vice President of the African Writers Development Trust. He is the brain behind the annual AWC and African Writers Awards. He is also a novelist.

AWC debuted last year in Abuja, Nigeria. The conference is an event conceptualized by the African Writers Development Trust (AWDT) aimed at bringing together writers of African descent to a common platform, build bridges for networking, provide opportunities for writers to promote themselves and their work, and sustain a conversation on advancing the collective interests of African writers. It is supported by UNESCO, Writers Guild Kenya, the Association of Nigerian Authors (Abuja Chapter), Poetica Magazine, among others.