In memory of Professor Pius Adesanmi, writer, critic, poet and educator, who died in the fatal Ethiopian Airline crash on March 10, 2019, the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) have dedicated second ANA/AE-FUNAI project to the review of state and challenges of literary criticism in Nigeria.
Devoted to projects of the association that seek the expansion of the frontiers of Nigerian literature, this second edition of ANA/AE-FUNAI, the association says, addresses the lack of or absence of literary critics and criticism working in tandem with the current and new literary writings and development as well as literary criticism, that is on and offline and beyond the weekend literary reviews on print, digital media and the secluded academia.
With the one-day programme comprising an international conference and a workshop on the and July 2 and 3, 2019, ANA targets research paper on Nigeria literary criticism that focus on but is not limited to the following sub themes: Nigerian Literature in its Current Forms, Literary Criticism and the Critics Role in Nigerian Literary Enterprise, The Canons and Theories of Nigerian Literary Criticism, Digital Literature or Literature in Online Platforms; The Role of Digital, or Conventional Media in Literary Criticism, The New Spaces of Publishing, Literary Production and Distribution; The Role of Literary Organizations in Literary Development, Re-contextualizing Literary Criticism in Nigeria, among others.
Interested entrants are to submit abstracts of no more than 250 words on or before April 30. Accepted submissions will be notified by first week of May 2019.
Adesanmi’s relations with the association dates back to 2001, when his poetry publication ‘The Wayfarer and Other Poems’ (2001), won the ANA Poetry Prize that year and had gone on to deliver the keynote address at ANA’s 2012 International Convention in Akwa Ibom State.
His other literary works include such prose non-fiction satiric works as ‘You’re Not A Country Africa’ (2011) and most recently ‘Naija No Dey Carry Last’ (2015).
Describing Adesanmi as “brave in his views, risking all to register the urge of his muse,” ANA president, Mallam Denja Abdullahi, noted that the writer left more than just accolades but also a teeming population of adherents and mentees who saw in him, a father figure and one that is willing and able to steer them to the land of intellectual success.
“ANA mourns Prof. Pius Adesanmi. Nigerian writers are deeply pained by this most untimely and unanticipated passage. The global community of African scholars sorely feel the pangs of this painful exit of a friend, colleague and comrade. We enjoin ANA chapters to commiserate with our sister chapter in Kogi State over this loss, while also in our usual tradition of strength in the face of adversity, engage in activities that will immortalise him in readings, talks and literary activities dedicated to his memory,” Abdullahi concluded.