Stories by Ibrahim Ramalan
The Abuja Writers Forum (AWF) will feature Aishida Dele, Doris Malgwi and Musa Idris Okpanachi at the October 29th edition of its Guest Writer Session at Nanet Suites, Central Business District, Abuja.
According to a statement by the forum, Doris Malgwi will be reading from her debut novel, The Crippled Eagle. Born to Aba and Deborah Nuwamyung in Kaduna, her educational grooming spanned St. Barth’s Zaria and Ahmadu Bello Univerity, where she took a degree in International Studies.
Writing has been a passion which she has followed from childhood. Inspired by a variety of writers including Chika Unigwe, Mary Higgins Clark, Tami Hoag, Iris Johansen and James Hadley Chase, she has been drawn to the thriller genre.
She is married and has two sons. Currently resident in Abuja and writing at her leisure, her ongoing project is a sequel to The Crippled Eagle.
The second guest writers is a multiple award-winning poet and scholar, Dr. Musa Idris Okpanachi, who hails from Kogi State, teaches at the Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State.
Okpanachi’s new volume of poems, Music of the Dead can be regarded as continuation of the exploration of power and its abuses, which characterise his two previous collections, Eaters of the Living and From the Margins of Paradise.
According to Eugenia Abu, “Okpanachi’s verses are deep, trenchant, jolting us to the reality of our times …(and) he uses all the words in his literary jaw juxtaposed with themes of today, philosophers of old and themes of yesteryears to get us to listen. For lovers of poetry, it is an incredible collection…. For the uninitiated, it is an Education.”
While the writer and critic, Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike, sees Music of the Dead, as appropriating “the trope of protest – associative of the poetry of the earlier generation of poets – to continue the tradition of social commitment in Nigerian literature.”
While Aishida Dele (aka Aishida) is a songwriter, composer and guitarist, as well as a professional baker. An indigene of Ondo State, he was born to Olabode and Victoria Aishida. He spent his formative years in Jos, Plateau State, and started learning the rudiments of music at an early age in the church choir, before moving to Abuja where he joined Open Mic Forum Nigeria.
In 2014, Aishida released his maiden album SHIELD, and in 2015/16 he released a single “Africans “ which had popular airplay on radio and TV stations. The video was directed and shot by Kasim Ibrahim.
He draws musical inspiration from the likes Lionel Richie, Don Moen, CeCe Winans, Age Beeka and Asa.
Aishida has done gigs with Six FootPlus, D’Banj, Age Beeka, M.I. Abaga and other international artists like Henhouse Prowlers, Bobby Ricketts and Chris Thomas King.
The Guest Writer Session, an initiative of the Abuja Writers Forum, started in June 2008 and is in its eighth year. It is a platform for promoting both upcoming and established writers, while enabling direct and immediate interaction with a live audience.
Each edition which runs from 4-7pm also features side attractions of poetry performance, and a raffle-draw for books as well as live music.
