The PRISENDA Writers Residency Initiative (PWRI) has announced the maiden edition of her bimonthly event scheduled for Saturday, January 16th 2021. From 4 pm Nigeria time, the guest writer – Jumoke Verissimo, is a Nigerian poet and writer currently resident in Edmonton, Canada. The 2020 winner of the Aidoo-Snyder Prize for Best Creative Work will be on hand to discuss the event theme in relation to her debut novel, A Small Silence.
Themed: “The Power of Solitude in an Era of Lockdowns”, the PRISENDA Conversation Series is conceived to serve as a watering-hole for readers, writers and lovers of books and intellectual discourses, who come together to immerse themselves in interesting conversations and exchange of ideas that are intended to help shape and instill ability for critical thinking. Taking place once in two months, it is believed engagements at this level will stimulate social reforms, contribute significantly to nation building and promote literacy campaign, which are all central to the vision of the PWRI.
The founder of PWRI, Titi Horsfall, said the theme is inspired by the current circumstances in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak and its direct implication on writers’ creative outputs. Speaking further on the event scope, Horsfall revealed that “the conversation will have a three-pronged approach: (i) a general overview of what solitude means to writers and other creatives; (ii) the resonance of the theme with the guest writer’s novel – A Small Silence, highlighting the roles of solitude and its effects in the life of the protagonist/main character in the novel, and (iii) discussion in the background of the phases of lockdown occasioned by the pandemic.” She also made it known that, in the course of the conversation, relevant questions would be asked about how this sort of ‘compelled solitude’ differs from the self-imposed loneliness writers and creatives believe is a catalyst to the creative process.
This first outing of the conversation series is an online event. To participate, kindly register here.
Prisenda Writers Residency Initiative is an Abuja-based charity organization that seeks to promote literacy. The vision is to inspire great thinkers that will affect their generation and the world for good. To achieve this vision, the organisation has established enriching programmes that include but not limited to the following: book reading, library outreach, conversation series, and residencies for budding and established writers, competitions and prizes, Prisenda radio book club, calls for anthology, etcetera.
Jumoke Verissimo is a Nigerian poet and writer. Her first book, I Am Memory, has won some literary awards in Nigeria. Some of her poems are in translation in Italian, Norwegian, French, Japanese, Chinese, and Macedonian. She has worked as an editor, sub-editor, copywriter and a freelance journalist for major newspapers such as The Guardian and NEXT. Verissimo currently lives in Canada with her daughter, where she is studying for a PhD in English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. Her debut novelA Small Silence(2020) is the2020 Winner of the Aidoo-Snyder Prize for Best Creative Work.