Chuma Nwokolo is an author and advocate. He is
publisher of African Writing magazine. Called to
the Bar in 1984, he published his first novel, The
Extortionist (Macmillan Pacesetters) in 1983.
Dangerous Inheritance (Macmillan Pacesetters)
followed in 1988. He has a passion for the short
story and his African Tales at Jailpoint
(Villagerhouse) appeared in 1999. His other books
include the novelised anthology, One More Tale
for the Road (2003) as well as the poetry
anthology, Memories of Stone (2006). His
anthology of stories, The Ghost of Sani Abacha
was published in 2012 while the novel Extinction
of Menai is due in 2013.

Well, I believe it is not exaggerative to opine that the literary evening was the best meeting I have ever attended in recent times. I was so thrilled and stupendously marveled at his pen acumen. And as he read those lines from his books of short stories, I watched very closely without a distractive blink.
He was so good that a seed of jealousy was already germinating in me. However, I never stopped listening to his literary advice.
Here are five of the new and important lessons I caught from the meeting :

1. About writers block : Writers block can be a symptom that emanates from having too much writing ideas but not utilized as they come. Soon, the head is accumulated with more than it can process at a time. At this point, the writer might experience inability to orchestrate his words into a nice write up.

2. About being a good writer : You cannot become a good writer if you don't enjoy reading other people's writeups.

3. About story writing : Don't write the title of your story before writing the story itself. Perhaps, it works for few people but it doesn't for many writers especially him ( Chuma Nwokolo).

4. About inspiration : Inspiration for writing can come from different sources depending on the writer. His inspiration comes from absurd changes in the environment.

5. About writing : Write as much as possible and one day, you'll notice your creativity has improved beyond comprehension. It sure worked for him.

About : There is a growing interest in literature
published and discussed within African
countries. Saraba Magazine, a leading literary
publishing outfit based in Nigeria, has been
at the forefront of this conversation by
championing the work of emerging writers.
The Saraba Manuscript Project will
consolidate this mission.
Nigerian writers resident in Nigeria or
elsewhere in the world are invited to submit
completed fiction or non-fiction manuscripts.
Please note that each writer is expected to
submit only one manuscript for either the
fiction or non-fiction category. The contest
will produce a shortlist of ten writers, five in
each category. All shortlisted manuscripts
will initially be published as e-books and
audio-books. In addition, Saraba Literary
Trust will look to partner with one of the
foremost literary publishers in Nigeria to
publish the winning manuscripts from each
category.

Guidelines : The Manuscript Project will target
Nigerian writers, who are at least 18
years of age.
Nigerians living abroad are welcome
to enter for the prize.
Fiction is broadly defined, but we are
looking for work with literary merit—
the story, simply, must be good and
well written.
Non-fiction will be judged based on
innovation in form. We want to see
projects that test the boundaries of
literary nonfiction. Submissions to the
prize might span memoir, biography,
or history.
Each manuscript should range
between 20,000 and 40,000 words.
All submissions must reach us by
December 15, 2015.
Only electronic submissions uploaded
to our online submission manager will
be accepted. The online submission
manager manager will be open during
the submission window only (August 3
– December 15, 2015).
Submissions should follow these
formatting guidelines: twelve-point
font (including chapter titles), double-
spaced text, numbered pages.
Note that we only accept PDF or Word
files (.doc and .docx).
When submitting, select “Saraba
Manuscript Prize” as the submission
category.
Include the title of your manuscript in
the first page.
Please include the following in the
submission form: a cover letter
containing a biographical statement
and brief description of your
manuscript. Include details of previous
publications, such as links to websites
with your work, or the full citation of
your work in a print publication.
Only one document is required to be
attached.
We will not accept multiple
submissions.

Deadline : December 15, 2015

Prizes : The prize includes an award of N100,000 to
the winning manuscripts in the fiction and
the non-fiction categories. All shortlisted
entrants will receive a publishing deal from
Saraba, including N100,000 advance against
royalties.

For more information, visit http://manuscript.sarabamag.com/

About competition : There are 2 categories for the
competition:
Under 9 years old
9 - 11 years old

Theme : Rachel would like your poems to be
written on the theme of Light.
The poem can be about anything to
do with light. It can be about the sun
or the stars, about a fire, a candle, a
firefly, a light bulb or maybe even a
lamppost.
Before you begin, have a think about
where light comes from, what it can
do, how it makes you feel and the
ways it can be useful. You may want
to look at some pictures and
photographs to help you.
The poems can be short or long,
funny or serious. They can come in
the form of a shape poem, a riddle, a
list poem, a personification poem or
something else - it’s up to you!
Your poem doesn’t have to rhyme.
It’s more important to choose your
words carefully and include
interesting ideas that will make your
poems really shine out.

How to submit : To submit your entry please email
your poem to:
thechildrensbookshow@gmail.com.
You must include the following
information:
your name
your age
your address and telephone
number
the name of your school.

Alternatively, you can post your entry
to:
The Children's Bookshow, PO Box
72019, London NW6 9SL

Prizes : The winners for each category will
receive a signed copy of a book
by each of the 9 authors involved in
this year’s tour PLUS £150 worth of
books for their school classroom or
library.
The two runners-up in each category
will each receive a signed copy of
Rachel’s The Language of Cat and
My Life as a Goldfish.

Deadline : November 30th, 2015

Trust me, this is one of the best poems I have heard in recent times. Whilst she recited at the literary evening with Chuma Nwokolo, I just watched with utmost admiration of the sincerity in her words... Oh! It did skip my mind to tell you about the literary evening I attended yesterday. Perhaps I'll do that after showing you this poem by Kaubabs.
Enjoy :

Here they come
By Kaubabs

Blowing peppered breath
On our sore wounds
Spurring saliva
To water withered dreams

They come like saints
Albeit they are Judases
Speaking of redemption
Like he who was
washed by blood
from the cross

I am afraid to hope
For their darkness can
Shadow tomorrow
The sacred calabash
Of our future
They mind not
Its breaking

As gloom at noon
Becomes a norm
We must smile
Waiting for a tomorrow
We might never see

Guidelines :

1. The prize is open to African poets,
defined as those who were born in
Africa, or who are nationals of an
African country, or whose parents are
African.

2. The prize is open to African poets
who have not yet had a full-length
poetry book published. Self-
published poetry books, chapbooks
and pamphlets are exempt from this
stipulation.

3. Only poems written in English are
accepted. Poems translated into
English are also accepted with a
percentage of the prize going to the
translator.

4. The prize opens for submissions
from October 1st 2015 to November
30th 2015 

5. Each entrant must submit 10
poems to be eligible, no more and no
less. There is no stipulation as to
the content of submitted poems.

6. The poems may have been
previously published or won previous
awards.

7. All entries must be submitted via
email only to BUAPP@brunel.ac.uk*.
An acknowledgement will be sent.
(Please note that email enquiries
about the rules will not be
answered.)

8. Under no circumstances can
alterations be made to poems once
entered.

9. Under no circumstances will the
organisers or judges enter into
discussions with entrants who have
submitted for the prize.

10. The prize organisers reserve the
right to not award the prize if, in the
judges’ opinion, such an action is
justified. The organisers also reserve
the right to split the prize if they
decide that more than one poet is
worthy of it.

11. The judges’ decision is final and
they will not enter into any
correspondence with entrants
regarding their decisions.

Rules: Poems

12. All poems must have a title.

14. Poems must be the original work
of the entrant.

15. Poems should be single spaced.

16. There is no stipulation regarding
font type and size.

17. Poems must be emailed in a
SINGLE word document attachment
(not PDF) – with an index cover
page which contains the entrants
name, nationality, country of birth,
full address including country of
permanent residence, personal email
address and telephone number.

18. The entire submission must be
written with black ink, no colours.

19. Individual poems received as
separate file attachments and poems
sent within the body of an email will
be automatically rejected with no
notification to the poet.

20. People who have submitted
previously for the prize can re-
submit again. People who have been
previously shortlisted for the prize
can re-submit but only with new
poems and no more than twice
within a four year period.
Rules: Winner Only

21.The winner must be available via
email to reply promptly to
correspondence. The winner will be
required to provide a biography and
photograph and to be available for
media interviews, either online, by
phone or, if geographically possible,
in person.

22. It will be helpful if the winner has
or creates a social media presence
but this is in no way a condition of
winning the prize.

23. The copyright of the winner’s
poems remains with the winning
poet.

Click for more details

I must admit, Muhammad Abdullah gave me this idea through an email I got yesterday. He actually took his time to explain why he has been away from his blog where thousands of readers perhaps were anticipating his lovely daily posts. And I am about to do the same, only that mine sounds more like weightless excuses to escape the writing duty... Here is how it happened.

1. I somehow loosed my right to write about 2 weeks ago when my B.sc pursuit became choked up with test obstacles. In-course here, in-course there. I got so engraved in the library that I almost didn't have eating breaks.

2. I...I had that syndrome called writer's block. Of course I was able to squeeze out little time from my super busy schedule for writing, but instead of writing during those tiny moments, I just sat and stared at my empty page. I was just too worn out to orchestrate those words into a lovely post.

And this is a brief enumeration of what I have been up to, apart from writing tests upon tests;

1. I evolved into a campaign writer - details about this should come later.
2. A new edition of the Youth Pen Magazine was launched. If I ever told you I am a member of the editorial crew of MSSN UNILAG. Perhaps copies would be sold online or you can just walk up to UNILAG to grab yours..
3. I attended a career program which gingered me to be more proficient in my writing duties.
4. I started some poems that never got completed due to time and writers block. Don't worry, I will share after completion.
Just forgive me for leaving unannounced and for my weightless excuses. And thanks for having me back !