Quramo Publishing is pleased to announce the third edition of the Quramo Festival of Words, QFest 2021, with the theme: “Transcendence: Words Defying.” Last year, the festival was themed “Creativity Reset: The Future of Words,” as a way of interrogating the adjustments resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, globally. “Transcendence: Words Defying” will unravel how storytellers and creatives around the world have modified words—for enlightenment and restoration, and as an effective tool in the fight for social justice and equality.
With the popularity of podcasts, Zoom, Instagram, Clubhouse, WhatsApp, and other virtual platforms for expression, words have taken on different forms. From written texts to audio documents and visual texts, the festival will explore the effectiveness of these new forms in the age of clampdowns.
From social media bans to worsening inflation, brain drain, and numerous killings across Nigeria and Africa, the Quramo Festival of Words will look at a dynamic range of human issues in the throes and aftermath of a pandemic, and how different artists explore these issues and cope with its harsh impact on the creative industry.
Gbemi Shasore, Executive Publisher at Quramo Publishing and convener of QFest 2021, said, “This year’s theme, ‘Transcendence: Words Defying,’ is apt, as it captures the struggles of creatives who, though amongst the worst hit and the most stifled during and after a pandemic, are constantly seeking meaning and restoration through all the traditional and alternative modes of creative expression that words allow.”
This year’s QFest will explore its theme through poetry, book chats, panel discussions, film, and more. The guest line up of 50 includes Professor Ahmed Yerima, Dike Chukwumerije, Karen Jennings, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Femi Odugbemi, and many more exciting creative voices.
The Quramo Writers’ Prize, our flagship prize which is currently in its fifth year, has since 2019 been incorporated into the Quramo Festival of Words. As is tradition, the prize winner will be unveiled at the festival.
For enquiries, reach the festival director Iquo DianaAbasi at iquo@quramo.com.