Chinua AchebeLiterary Festival is an annual literary event held in honour of Nigerian writer and literary critic — Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, in commemoration and celebration of his works and immense contributions in the literary field. Chinua Achebe lived between 16 November 1930 to 21 March 2013, when he died in Massachusetts, United States. The literary festival was initiated in 2016, three years after Achebe's death, by award-winning Nigerian writer, journalist and Igbo-language activist, Izunna Okafor, who is also Anambra State's Coordinator of Society of Young Nigerian Writers, the literary body that organizes the event. Since its inception, the event has been holding annually on Chinua Achebe's date of birth at the Prof. Kenneth Dike Central E-Library, Awka the capital city of Anambra State Achebe's home state. Prior to the event each year, the organizers would open and publicize a "Call For Submissions" on various online literary platforms and magazines, for writers to write and submit poems and essays in honour of Achebe, which they thereafter publish as an anthology, known as the "Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology". The annual anthology is usually published and unveiled on day of the literary festival, and has attracted and featured works of writers from different countries of the world, including Zimbabwe's Mbizo Chirasha For the first three years of the literary event in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the organizers consecutively called for submissions and consequently published three anthologies. However, in the 2019 edition of the event, there was no call for submissions; rather, the three previously published anthologies were collated and published together as a single anthology, entitled Arrows of Words Over the years, Chinua Achebe Literary Festival has attracted the participation of many literary enthusiasts and dignitaries, including the ExecutiveGovernor of Anambra StateWillie Obiano, MD/CEO of National Light newspaper, Chuka Nnabuife; Odili Ujubuońu ; Uzor Maxim Uzoatu ; Ositadimma Amakeze ; Okeke Chika Jerry ; Mr. Isidore Emeka Uzoatu. :Category: Literary festivals in Nigeria
