Wana Udobang | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Other names | Wana Wana |
| Occupation(s) | Poet, broadcaster, journalist |
Wana Udobang, also known as Wana Wana, is a Nigerian writer, poet, journalist, filmmaker, and television personality. [1] Her work has appeared on the BBC, [2] Al Jazeera, Huffington Post , BellaNaija , and The Guardian , [3] She has been described as "one of the biggest champions of our new spoken word renaissance is taking a leap into the void." [4]
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Udobang graduated with a first-class degree in journalism from the University for the Creative Arts. After graduation, she worked for the BBC World Service as a freelance features producer. She also worked as a researcher at Wise Buddah Productions, Above the Title Productions, and Somethin' Else. On return to Lagos, she worked at 92.3 Inspiration FM in Lagos, Nigeria, for six years as a radio presenter and producer.
Her fiction and poetry have been published in Brittle Paper and other places online and in print. She is an alumnus of the Farafina Creative Writers Workshop held annually by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
As a performance poet, she has performed around Nigeria. Her first spoken-word album, released in 2013, was titled Dirty Laundry. [5]
In 2017, she released a second album, titled In Memory of Forgetting. The album has been described as "incredibly brave", [6] a "feminist dog whistle" [7] that revolves "almost entirely around the resilience women, their triumphs and struggles, their trauma and epiphanies. [4] Udobang describes it as "a collection of memories navigating experiences that range from places of brokenness and questioning to self renewal." [8]
In 2020, Wana was selected to participate in the 54th International Writing Program Fall Residency at the University of Iowa, courtesy of the United States Department of State. To date, 35 Nigerian literary figures have participated in the IWP Fall Residency. Notable among them are Elechi Amadi (1973), Cyprian Ekwensi (1974), Ola Rotimi (1980), Femi Osofisan (1986), Niyi Osundare (1988), Festus Iyayi (1990), Lola Shoneyin (1999), Obari Gomba (2016) and Tade Ipadeola (2019). [9]
Penny Broadhurst, is a British pop singer, songwriter, writer and spoken word artist from the north of England. She listed Kate Bush, Doctor Who, Prefab Sprout, Lloyd Cole, Belle & Sebastian, Kirsty MacColl and The Smiths among her many influences. She ceased all use of this name for creative work in late 2009 and has changed her name in private life.
Salena Godden is an English poet, author, activist, broadcaster, memoirist and essayist. Born in Hastings, UK, of Jamaican-Irish heritage, Godden based in London. Widely anthologised, she has published several books. She has also written for BBC TV and radio and has released four studio albums to date.
Jumoke Verissimo is a Nigerian poet, novelist, children's writer and critic.
Lola Shoneyin is a Nigerian poet and author who launched her debut novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, in the UK in May 2010. Shoneyin has forged a reputation as an adventurous, humorous and outspoken poet, having published three volumes of poetry. Her writing delves into themes related to female sexuality and the difficulties of domestic life in Africa. In April 2014 she was named on the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature. Lola won the PEN Award in America as well as the Ken Saro-Wiwa Award for prose in Nigeria. She was also on the list for the Orange Prize in the UK for her debut novel, The Secret of Baba Segi's Wives, in 2010. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria, where she runs the annual Aké Arts and Book Festival. In 2017, she was named African Literary Person of the Year by Brittle Paper.
Adaora Onyechere is a Nigerian broadcast journalist, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, poet and author. She is a former co-anchor of Kakaaki, a daily talk show on Africa Independent Television. She currently hosts her own show, Talk to Adaora commonly known as Talk2Adaora on Kiss 99.9 FM Abuja. She is the founder of WEWE Network Afrique, a Pan-African organization. Talk2Adaora is a project of WEWE Network Afrique. She is also the CEO of Signature Heels Media.
Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún is a Nigerian linguist, writer, translator, scholar, cultural activist and film-maker. His work and influence span the fields of education, language technology, literature, journalism, and linguistics. He is the recipient of the 2016 Premio Ostana "Special Prize" for Writings in the Mother Tongue for his work in language advocacy. He writes in Yoruba and English, and is currently the Africa editor of the Best Literary Translations anthology, published by Deep Vellum.
Bassey Ikpi is a Nigerian-born American spoken-word artist, writer, and mental health advocate. She has appeared on HBO's Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry five times and her poetry has opened shows for Grammy Award-winning artists. She's also the New York Times bestselling author of I'm Telling The Truth But I'm Lying. In 2020 she judged the Indiana Review Creative Nonfiction Prize. She also features on the OkayAfrica's 100 Women campaign 2020 honoree list, which celebrates women building infrastructure for future African generations.
The Aké Arts and Book Festival is a literary and artistic event held annually in Nigeria. It was founded in 2013 by Lola Shoneyin, a Nigerian writer and poet, in Abeokuta. It features new and established writers from across the world, and its primary focus has been to promote, develop, and celebrate the creativity of African writers, poets, and artists. The Aké Arts and Book Festival has been described as the African continent's biggest annual gathering of literary writers, editors, critics, and readers. The festival has an official website and a dedicated magazine, known as the Aké Review.
Victor Ehikhamenor is a Nigerian visual artist, writer, and photographer known for his expansive works that engage with multinational cultural heritage and postcolonial socioeconomics of contemporary black lives. In 2017, he was selected to represent Nigeria at the Venice Biennale, the first time Nigeria would be represented in the event. His work has been described as representing "a symbol of resistance" to colonialism.
Bantu is a 13-piece band based in Lagos, Nigeria. Their music is a fusion of Afrofunk, Afrobeat, highlife and Yoruba music. The group features multi-instrumentalists and singers who perform as a collective.
Peju Alatise is a Nigerian artist, poet, writer, and a fellow at the National Museum of African Art, part of the Smithsonian Institution. Alatise received formal training as an architect at Ladoke Akintola University in Oyo State, Nigeria. She then went on to work for 20 years as a studio artist.
Dike Chukwumerije is a Nigerian spoken word and performance poetry artist and author. He has eight published books, including the novel Urichindere, which won the 2013 Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize for Prose Fiction and a poetry theatre production made in Nigeria. In October 2018, he traveled to nine Nigerian cities: Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Benin, Ile-Ife, Maiduguri, Yola, Bonny, and Jos.
OluTimehin Kukoyi is a Nigerian writer, essayist and public intellectual. Her work concentrates on questions of gender, sexuality, urbanism and feminism. She also writes fiction.
Kaduna Book and Arts Festival, also known as KABAFEST, is an annual literary, cultural, and art event in Kaduna State, Nigeria that took place for the first time in July, 2017. It was organized by Book Buzz Foundation, who also organizes the annual Aké Arts and Book Festival, in collaboration with the Kaduna State Government and the Gusau Institute. It was also the first book festival that occurs annually in northern Nigeria.
Natalia Molebatsi is a South African writer, poet, performer, editor, and cultural organizer.
Dami Ajayi is a Nigerian writer, poet and medical doctor who co-founded Saraba, a Nigerian literary magazine in 2008.
Adenrele Sonariwo is a Nigerian entrepreneur and art curator. She is the founder of the Rele Art Gallery on Military Street, Onikan, Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria as well as the Rele Art Gallery on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Rele Gallery is the first African contemporary art gallery to establish an outpost in Los Angeles. Sonariwo was the lead curator of the first Nigerian pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017. Alongside the Rele Art Gallery, Sonariwo is also the founding director of the Rele Arts Foundation. The foundation's projects include the annual young Contemporaries programme, which offers grants, mentorship, residences and training to a small group of emerging artists, an opportunity that results in an exhibition hosted at the gallery.
Efe Paul Azino born in Lagos is a Nigerian writer, performance artist and poet, regarded "as one of Nigeria's leading performance poets." He has also been regarded as one who has "played a pivotal part in lifting the words from the page and giving them life" in the Nigerian spoken word performance space.
Agberos International is the 5th studio album by BANTU. The album was composed and written by all 13 members of the band. It was recorded live in Lagos, Nigeria, over six years. The title of the album Agberos International was inspired by Lagos public bus conductors known as agberos who attract customers to board their vehicles through their wild gesticulations and loud voices. The album was released on 7 July 2017 by Soledad Productions. The subject matter on Agberos International is centered around the Niger Delta crisis, oppressive Western policies and the blind African ruling class.
The Lagos International Poetry Festival, also often called LIPFest, is an annual festival of poetry which takes place in Lagos, Nigeria. Referred to as "an annual haven for Nigerian and international creatives, especially poets,” LIPFest was founded by Efe Paul Azino, a Nigerian spoken word artist and poet, to bring together an international array of poets, writers, artists, and public intellectuals to Lagos for a week of readings and performances, panel discussions, workshops, community outreaches, and a celebration of the art of poetry in general.
| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
  | This article about a Nigerian writer or poet is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
