EduArt Awards For Cameroonian Literature in English

Antidote - A Poem

 By John Ngong Kum (winner, EduArt Bate Besong award for Poetry 07) 
 
I have combed the country
looking for where to rest
and forget the scarlet screams
of people scrubbing hard but never rising to smile
I have pleaded with the muse
to release and let me die
but you came with antidotes
stood them before me smiling
and challenged me to try them

True African Woman (For Professor Joyce Ashuntantang)

By Ekpe Inyang

When the name I first heard
Matched with plans of a great event
In honour of a fallen Iroko Tree
I saw in my mind’s eyes
A lady in full display of grey hair
Majestic look, pompous gait
Imperious tone to announce
Her place on the Ivory Tower
Like those we have around

Niyi Osundare - A Toast to Bate Besong

Grandiose Kick-off for the Inaugural EduArt Awards For Cameroonian Literature in English

The inaugural EduArt Literary Awards Night took place in Buea, Cameroon on July 18, 2008 under the auspices of Professor Niyi Osundare, award-winning Nigerian poet and distinguished professor of Literature at the University of New Orleans, USA.

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Niyi Osundare in Cameroon for the EduArt Awards for Literature

A few days before winning Africa's highest award for poetry, the 2008 Tchicaya Utamsi award, Niyi Osundare was in Buea, Cameroon, as a special guest for the inaugural EduArts literary awards ceremony, a celebration of  literature by English speaking Cameroonians.

Osundare landed at the Douala International airport on Wednesday 16th July 2008. On hand to welcome him was the founder and CEO of EduArt Inc USA, Dr. Joyce Ashuntantang, accompanied by a Nigerian delegation led by the Consul General of Nigeria to Cameroon in charge of the South West and Northwest provinces (English-speaking Cameroon).

Celebrating 50 Years of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart in Buea, Cameroon

One of the highlights of the EduArt awards night was the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. This part of the ceremony was presided over by Dr. Kenneth Nsor, the Consul General of Nigeria to Cameroon in charge of Southwest and Northwest provinces. After remarking on the importance of this milestone for Africa and the world at large, Dr Nsor popped champagne and invited the guests to drink to the health of the great Chinua and Achebe and African literature. It was on this joyful note that the inaugural EduArt Literary Awards night came to an end.

Prof. Niyi Osundare and Dr. Kenneth Nsor, Consul General of Nigeria to Cameroon in charge of the Southwest and Northwest provinces of Cameroon celebrating Things Fall Apart and Chinua Achebe while Prof. George Nyamdi, Head of the Department of English at the University of Buea and former presidential candidate looks on.

Half a Century of Written Anglophone Cameroon Literature

A keynote address by SHADRACH A. AMBANASOM on the occasion of the EduArt Literary Awards Night at Capitol Hotel Buea July 18, 2008

1959, the year Sankie Maimo’s play, I Am Vindicated, was published by Ibadan University Press, marked the birth of Anglophone Cameroon literature. But six years earlier, in 1953, still in Nigeria, another Cameroonian, Bernard Fonlon, had written but not yet published, a major essay ‘As I See It’, a treatise on the future and welfare of Cameroon and the role of the clergy in the building of the nation, intended to memorialize his approaching ordination as a Catholic priest. Now, from 1959 to 2008 is close to 50 years, or half a century. Fifty years in the life of many individuals, couples, institutions or organizations is a time for reflection, a time for stock taking, a period for counting their blessings or celebrating their achievements.

Francois Misse Ngoh Honored During the EduArt Awards Night

One of those honored during the 2008 awards night was legendary Cameroonian musician, Francois Misse Ngoh, who was given a certificate in recognition of his long and outstanding 38-year musical career during which he has released a record 38 albums.

Misse ngoh receiving award from Laurant Some, WWF Regional Director for the Central African Region.

Born on July 17, 1949 in the village of Mbonjo in the littoral province, Misse Ngoh was a major architect of the Makossa sound as a member of the group Los Calvinos, where he replaced Nelle Eyoum the father of modern Makossa.

The EduArts Awards Slated July 18

By Walter Wilson Nana (The Post newspaper, July 17, 2008)

The maiden EduArts Literature Awards, an initiative of Dr. Joyce Ashuntantang, Lecturer at the University of Connecticut, USA, will take place on Friday, July 18, at the Capitol Hotel, Buea.

EduArts, a non profit US based organisation, was created to promote arts as an educational tool."Some of our activities include scripting plays, shooting films for awareness, organising diversity programmes for elementary school kids and launching the English speaking Cameroon literary competitions.

EduArt Inc Literature Awards NIGHT

EduART INC USA Presents PIONEER EduART AWARDS NIGHT

An Exclusive Black Tie Event!

Wine, dine and relax with great minds

Where: Capitol Hotel, Buea, Cameroon

When: July 18th 2008 from 6pm

Highlights of the Evening:

• Key note address by Prof. Shadrack Ambanasom, leading Cameroon literary critic.
• Exquisite Cameroon cuisine
• A toast to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart @ 50
• Music legend, François Misse Ngoh
• Special guest- Prof. Niyi Osundare, award winning Nigerian Poet
• Dramatic Performance by Joyce Ashuntantang, Donatus Fai and co.
• Free Souvenirs for all guests
• Awards galore: recognizing our own!
• Book launch: Their Champaign Party will End (poems in honor of Bate Besong)