Ake Art and Book Festival, one of the biggest art, literary and culture festivals in Africa, is back with a bang. The annual fiesta, which book lovers across the globe look forward to every year with joy and excitement, will take place on 20–22 November at Bon Hotel Ikeja Residence, 51 Sobo Arobiodu Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos. This year’s festival is in partnership with Sterling Bank, Lagos State Government and Open Society Foundation.
As has always been the case, this 13th edition will be three days of fun, laughter, discourses, music and networking. It will feature authors, poets, artists, storytellers, film producers, musicians and thinkers from Africa and beyond, who will converge for three days of cultural immersion.
Programmes lined up for this breathtaking festival include book chats, inspiring panel discussions, film screenings, palmwine and poetry night, music night and bedtime stories.
The theme of this year’s festival, which makes the fiesta unique and something to look forward to, is “Reclaiming Truth.” Not only is the theme timely; it speaks to contemporary times in which truth has become a scarce commodity and is often misinterpreted.
It urges us to rediscover the power of authenticity and the courage of integrity in a time when misinformation spreads faster than facts and narratives are engineered to obscure realities. Aké Review, the event publication, presents new writing and art that interrogate truth, challenge dominant narratives and reflect on how we construct meaning in an increasingly polarized world.
Speaking with journalists at a press conference held on November 11 at Ouida in Opebi, Lagos, Ms Lola Shoneyin, the Festival Director, spoke about the overarching relevance of the theme.
“This edition speaks to the reality of what is going on, what we’re all experiencing in the world today. The theme is Reclaiming Truth. Reclaiming truth because it often feels like we are surrounded by lies. It often feels like we consume more lies than truth, especially on platforms on which we find a lot of people interacting, and I’m referring specifically to social media.
“But it’s not just social media. It’s also legacy media sometimes, where it seems like some voices have been muffled. It seems like everybody sees the truth, but nobody acknowledges it. And the worst part of it, I suppose, is that we’re living in an age where even from positions of power and leadership, we don’t seem to enjoy the assumption of truth that many of us expect and sometimes say we grew up with.
“So a lot of the conversations this year will be about defining truth, what truth means, and specifically talking to several journalists and people in the media. And we’ll be having conversations around things like selective empathy and the global media,” Shoneyin said.
Asked what makes Ake Festival so special and unique—so much so that literary buffs look forward to it every year—Shoneyin attributed it to its longevity, intentionality, being embedded in the business, and funding.
“But I think organizing events is a special gift that some people have. And what I normally say is, if I had to describe that gift, it would be that as an organizer, you see the big picture, but you also see the little picture. So a lot of people only see one. But some people see two—they see both.
“And when I go to an event where the head or the leader or the curator has both eyes, I can tell immediately. Because there’s a way your mind works. You’re thinking of what you are going to present to our audience. But at the same time, you’re already thinking about how the audience will respond to what you have presented them with. So we are very, very intentional.
“The success also relies on money and funding. And that’s the truth. A lot of the festivals that you might think are not particularly of good quality—slap $50,000 in front of them and suddenly you might find that the festival atmosphere is slightly different. So, lucky for me, the longevity that I have also works in my favour because it means I know a lot of people.
“But I also know that what I do is quality. That’s what I provide. And I provide quality because the audience is very important to me. I always start from the premise of: What do people need? What would they like? I ask people. I consult. And that’s how we end up here. And of course, like I mentioned, I have people around me who can execute.”
The Festival Director was also full of praise for her team. “If I sit here and tell you that it’s something I do by myself, it would be the biggest lie ever. I have the most incredible set of people working with me. My team is amazing… I’m surrounded by incredible people. Everybody who works here is a winner. And they give 110 per cent. They are dependable. They are reliable. I don’t know where I would be without them. And I am so grateful to each and every one of them. They are the ones that make this possible.”
Shoneyin then used the opportunity to express her appreciation to Sterling Bank for supporting the festival since 2017.
“Sterling Bank has become more than partners for us. They are family. The truth is, I say this all the time and I am going to keep repeating it because it’s true: I have the privilege of travelling far and wide, especially around the African continent.
“And the refrain I constantly hear among curators like myself, festival directors, event organizers, is ‘I wish we had a Sterling Bank.’ This is something everyone says across the continent. I don’t think a lot of curators have experienced what I have experienced with Sterling Bank, and that is having an organization that stands with you through everything,” she noted.
Mr Donatus Okpako, who represented Sterling Bank at the media parley, praised Shoneyin for her consistency over the years. “You’ve been consistent in doing this. And you continue to do a lot despite the challenges and limitations,” he said.
Okpako also said Sterling Bank has been supporting the festival because education is a priority for the bank as a financial institution, adding that it will continue to offer support as it had done in the past. “We have the Heart Sector. These are key sectors that guide the economy and that the bank is interested in investing in. The E in the Heart is Education.
“So, for Sterling Bank, we remain proud to associate with Ake Festival and we look forward to a very resounding and successful event,” Okpako maintained.
Visitors to Aké Festival will experience a series of stimulating panel discussions featuring eminent guests. Conversations include “Whose Truth Is It Anyway?”, featuring leading authors and thinkers; “The Stories That Matter,” with Mazzi Odu, Paul Okuego, Kiisa Soyinka, and Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie—authors of children’s books; and “The Rise of Romance,” with Fatima Bala, Adesuwa Nwokedi, and Oreva Olujimi.
In “What Is Truth?”, Adania Shibli, Mr Kunle Ajibade, and Dr Olaokun Soyinka explore the nuances of truth and authenticity. Other panels include “Global Media and Selective Empathy,” featuring Adrian Harewood, Zeinab M. Salih, and Jonas Kiriko, moderated by Joseph Ike, as well as “Mainstream Media and the Loss of Trust,” with Tolu Ogunlesi, Colombe Schneck, and Myroslav Laiuk.
The festival will also host “Why Speculative Fiction Matters,” highlighting the genre’s power to reimagine reality and challenge perceptions. Together, these conversations will ensure that attendees leave Aké Festival feeling inspired, reflective and more connected to global experiences.
“Multi-award-winning author Bernardine Evaristo will be joining us, along with Adania Shibli, the acclaimed Palestinian writer, and Nkereuwem Albert, whose debut novel The Bone River, published by Ouida Books, is set in Calabar and explores the power that flows through ancient bloodlines and the secrets of the Four Houses ruling the unseen.
“We will also host a special Book Chat around one of Ouida Books’ bestsellers, Mrs Kuti, a memoir of Remilekun Kuti, the wife of Fela Kuti, featuring Femi Kuti, Yeni Kuti and Made Kuti.
“Our Romance Book Chat lineup expands this year to include Fatima Bala, author of Broken: Not a Halal Love Story, who will present her latest novel Hafsatu Bebi, and Bolu Babalola, the romconnoisseur herself, with her new book Sweet Heat,” a press statement read.
Guests expected at the festival include Alain Mabanckou, Bofane In Koli, Louisa Onomé, Femi Kayode, Olufemi Terry, Olayinka Yaqub, Marvellous Michael, Iris Mwanza and Andie Davis.
Online registration for this year’s festival has started. Attendees can register on the festival’s website at www.akefestival.org or come to the venue to register and attend.
As has always been the case, this 13th edition will be three days of fun, laughter, discourses, music and networking. It will feature authors, poets, artists, storytellers, film producers, musicians and thinkers from Africa and beyond, who will converge for three days of cultural immersion.
Programmes lined up for this breathtaking festival include book chats, inspiring panel discussions, film screenings, palmwine and poetry night, music night and bedtime stories.
The theme of this year’s festival, which makes the fiesta unique and something to look forward to, is “Reclaiming Truth.” Not only is the theme timely; it speaks to contemporary times in which truth has become a scarce commodity and is often misinterpreted.
It urges us to rediscover the power of authenticity and the courage of integrity in a time when misinformation spreads faster than facts and narratives are engineered to obscure realities. Aké Review, the event publication, presents new writing and art that interrogate truth, challenge dominant narratives and reflect on how we construct meaning in an increasingly polarized world.
Speaking with journalists at a press conference held on November 11 at Ouida in Opebi, Lagos, Ms Lola Shoneyin, the Festival Director, spoke about the overarching relevance of the theme.
“This edition speaks to the reality of what is going on, what we’re all experiencing in the world today. The theme is Reclaiming Truth. Reclaiming truth because it often feels like we are surrounded by lies. It often feels like we consume more lies than truth, especially on platforms on which we find a lot of people interacting, and I’m referring specifically to social media.
“But it’s not just social media. It’s also legacy media sometimes, where it seems like some voices have been muffled. It seems like everybody sees the truth, but nobody acknowledges it. And the worst part of it, I suppose, is that we’re living in an age where even from positions of power and leadership, we don’t seem to enjoy the assumption of truth that many of us expect and sometimes say we grew up with.
“So a lot of the conversations this year will be about defining truth, what truth means, and specifically talking to several journalists and people in the media. And we’ll be having conversations around things like selective empathy and the global media,” Shoneyin said.
Asked what makes Ake Festival so special and unique—so much so that literary buffs look forward to it every year—Shoneyin attributed it to its longevity, intentionality, being embedded in the business, and funding.
“But I think organizing events is a special gift that some people have. And what I normally say is, if I had to describe that gift, it would be that as an organizer, you see the big picture, but you also see the little picture. So a lot of people only see one. But some people see two—they see both.
“And when I go to an event where the head or the leader or the curator has both eyes, I can tell immediately. Because there’s a way your mind works. You’re thinking of what you are going to present to our audience. But at the same time, you’re already thinking about how the audience will respond to what you have presented them with. So we are very, very intentional.
“The success also relies on money and funding. And that’s the truth. A lot of the festivals that you might think are not particularly of good quality—slap $50,000 in front of them and suddenly you might find that the festival atmosphere is slightly different. So, lucky for me, the longevity that I have also works in my favour because it means I know a lot of people.
“But I also know that what I do is quality. That’s what I provide. And I provide quality because the audience is very important to me. I always start from the premise of: What do people need? What would they like? I ask people. I consult. And that’s how we end up here. And of course, like I mentioned, I have people around me who can execute.”
The Festival Director was also full of praise for her team. “If I sit here and tell you that it’s something I do by myself, it would be the biggest lie ever. I have the most incredible set of people working with me. My team is amazing… I’m surrounded by incredible people. Everybody who works here is a winner. And they give 110 per cent. They are dependable. They are reliable. I don’t know where I would be without them. And I am so grateful to each and every one of them. They are the ones that make this possible.”
Shoneyin then used the opportunity to express her appreciation to Sterling Bank for supporting the festival since 2017.
“Sterling Bank has become more than partners for us. They are family. The truth is, I say this all the time and I am going to keep repeating it because it’s true: I have the privilege of travelling far and wide, especially around the African continent.
“And the refrain I constantly hear among curators like myself, festival directors, event organizers, is ‘I wish we had a Sterling Bank.’ This is something everyone says across the continent. I don’t think a lot of curators have experienced what I have experienced with Sterling Bank, and that is having an organization that stands with you through everything,” she noted.
Mr Donatus Okpako, who represented Sterling Bank at the media parley, praised Shoneyin for her consistency over the years. “You’ve been consistent in doing this. And you continue to do a lot despite the challenges and limitations,” he said.
Okpako also said Sterling Bank has been supporting the festival because education is a priority for the bank as a financial institution, adding that it will continue to offer support as it had done in the past. “We have the Heart Sector. These are key sectors that guide the economy and that the bank is interested in investing in. The E in the Heart is Education.
“So, for Sterling Bank, we remain proud to associate with Ake Festival and we look forward to a very resounding and successful event,” Okpako maintained.
Visitors to Aké Festival will experience a series of stimulating panel discussions featuring eminent guests. Conversations include “Whose Truth Is It Anyway?”, featuring leading authors and thinkers; “The Stories That Matter,” with Mazzi Odu, Paul Okuego, Kiisa Soyinka, and Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie—authors of children’s books; and “The Rise of Romance,” with Fatima Bala, Adesuwa Nwokedi, and Oreva Olujimi.
In “What Is Truth?”, Adania Shibli, Mr Kunle Ajibade, and Dr Olaokun Soyinka explore the nuances of truth and authenticity. Other panels include “Global Media and Selective Empathy,” featuring Adrian Harewood, Zeinab M. Salih, and Jonas Kiriko, moderated by Joseph Ike, as well as “Mainstream Media and the Loss of Trust,” with Tolu Ogunlesi, Colombe Schneck, and Myroslav Laiuk.
The festival will also host “Why Speculative Fiction Matters,” highlighting the genre’s power to reimagine reality and challenge perceptions. Together, these conversations will ensure that attendees leave Aké Festival feeling inspired, reflective and more connected to global experiences.
“Multi-award-winning author Bernardine Evaristo will be joining us, along with Adania Shibli, the acclaimed Palestinian writer, and Nkereuwem Albert, whose debut novel The Bone River, published by Ouida Books, is set in Calabar and explores the power that flows through ancient bloodlines and the secrets of the Four Houses ruling the unseen.
“We will also host a special Book Chat around one of Ouida Books’ bestsellers, Mrs Kuti, a memoir of Remilekun Kuti, the wife of Fela Kuti, featuring Femi Kuti, Yeni Kuti and Made Kuti.
“Our Romance Book Chat lineup expands this year to include Fatima Bala, author of Broken: Not a Halal Love Story, who will present her latest novel Hafsatu Bebi, and Bolu Babalola, the romconnoisseur herself, with her new book Sweet Heat,” a press statement read.
Guests expected at the festival include Alain Mabanckou, Bofane In Koli, Louisa Onomé, Femi Kayode, Olufemi Terry, Olayinka Yaqub, Marvellous Michael, Iris Mwanza and Andie Davis.
Online registration for this year’s festival has started. Attendees can register on the festival’s website at www.akefestival.org or come to the venue to register and attend.
