All You Need to Know About HIBAF
A history-making event is only days away from changing how we view the literary arts in Northern Nigeria. The Hausa International Book & Arts Festival (HIBAF) is set to grace the literary space from October 21 – 23, 2021, in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
Introducing New Audiences to the Hausa Language
Curated by the creative collective of young minds known as Open Arts, HIBAF makes the Hausa language a focal point of the arts with the aim of showcasing the diverse talent West Africa has to offer.
“The Festival aims to open up discussion about Hausa as a language through literature, history, music, and arts to be displayed to a new and exciting audience.”
– Open Arts
The inaugural event will take place at Arewa House, Kaduna, and comes loaded with the vast and explorative theme, ‘SPACES’. This is uniquely a convergence for writers, readers and lovers of Hausa Language.
A Gathering of Arewa Minds
Open Arts and its partners have assembled a host of great minds with ties to the Arewa literary scene. Just like HIBAF’s theme, they cut across all facets of the arts, from literature to the performing arts, poetry, dance, music and more. The organisers also have a Hausa creative writing workshop planned to give new minds that extra nudge to reach their potential.
Look out for your favourites and discover new ones as you check out the list of panels below.
Discussion Panels
To make the event even more exciting, HIBAF will feature several discussion panels across multiple topics. Two virtual sessions will be hosted on Facebook Live while the remainder will take place at the venue.
20th October, 2021
- The Language of African Literature (Virtual Session)
- Richard Ali – Moderator
- Prof. Madhu Krishnan
- Dzekashu Macviban
- Ismaila Bala
- Gender, Narrative & Hausa Literature (Virtual Session)
- Dr. Carmen McCain – Moderator
- Dr. Umma Aliyu
- Prof. Asabe Kabir
21st October, 2021
- Hausa Language and Identity (Hausa)
- Prof. Ibrahim Malumfashi – Moderator
- Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu
- Kachallan Kano Magaji Galadima
- The Next Generation of Hausa Writers (Hausa)
- Khalid Imam – Moderator
- Maryam Sokoto
- Fatima Hussaini El-Ladan
- Salim Yunusa
- Poetrylogue: Blind Hausa Poets (Hausa)
- Muhammad Malumfashi – Moderator
- Yahaya Makaho
- Arts Management & Literary Activism in Northern Nigeria
- Dr. Dima Chami – Moderator
- BM Dzukogi
- Sumayya Jaéh
- Salim Yunusa
- Halima Aliyu
- Film, Cinema & A New Audience (Hausa)
- Bilikisu Yusuf Ali – Moderator
- Sani Liyaliya
- Maryam Abubakar Abdullahi
22nd October, 2021
- Women Writing Women
- Fauziyya Tukur – Moderator
- Rahma Majid
- Halima Ahmad Matazu
- Halima Ahmad
- Hausa Novel Writing (1927 – 2021) (Hausa)
- Bashir Abusabe – Moderator
- Rahma Majid
- Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino
- Balaraba Ramat Yakubu
- It Can Now Be Told by Dadasare Abdullahi
- Hassana Maina – Moderator
- Aliyah Adamu
- Prof. Ibrahim Malumfashi
- Writing Northern Nigeria in English (Hausa)
- Fauziyya Tukur – Moderator
- Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
- Hadiza Isma El-Rufai
- Richard Ali
- Northern Nigeria: The Cost of Peace
- Hamza Ibrahim Baba – Moderator
- Hakeem Baba Ahmed
- Hassana Maina
- Suleiman Usman Yusuf
- Samuel Aruwan
In addition to all these panels, HIBAF has for your entertainment, poetry performances, storytelling, durbar procession & cultural displays. There would also be film screenings for the following:
- Unseen – Directed by Priscilla Victor and Neemah Musa
- Where is Dadiyata?
- Shaihu Umar
For a country blessed with over 500 ethnic groups with distinct identities and languages, it comes as a surprise that literary programs and events such as HIBAF are uncommon and less frequent than their English counterparts. It makes sense as the tongue we inherited from our colonial masters is our official language, but our native tongues deserve to be celebrated just as prominently, if not more, than English.
HIBAF is certainly a welcome development and with the possibility of more to come, this could mark an upsurge of similar literary events in the country dedicated to the languages of our forefathers.
For us at Ayamba LitCast, this is timely and groundbreaking for literature and humanity at large, but especially, for the literary community here in Kaduna. We are extremely proud and excited to be associated with this conversation. We can’t wait.
To attend HIBAF 2021, follow the link here and register. You can also follow them on social media as @hausabaf on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
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