The 2023 edition of the Bookville August Fiar (BAF) held in Port Harcourt was a six-day affair featuring conversations with authors such as Akbar Hussain, the author of Truth is a Flightless Bird; Yewande Omotosho gave insights into her book An Unusual Grief; Oyin Olubile brought to light aspects of her book Sanya; Affiong Ene Obong gave A Slice of Heaven; Rosemary Okafor showed us Paradise; and Peter Chika’s Condom and Other Stories was reviewed.
The event featured book swaps. It was graced by the multiple award-winning poet Dike Chukwumerije, who charged the atmosphere with the social imperatives of poets after handing the prize to the winner of the open mic competition, Agbeye Oburumu, who goes by the alias Agbeye Talks. In the words of Dike Chukwumerije, referring to the open mic winner, “this was a performer that pulled us into the performance and made us part of the performance; the work itself was strong; the performance itself was strong.”
Nwani Emmannuel Chidera, who goes by the alias Grey Martyr, was the second runner-up. He performed a thought-provoking piece on the Nsibidi. The open mic competition was judged by Dike Chukwumerije and Dominic Onesi.