The date 27 June of the
year 1981 stands ever memorable in the world of Nigerian as well as contemporary
African literature. On this day, some of the most distinct personalities across
the domain of Nigerian literature met at Nsukku – the scenic academic haven of
the University of Nigeria. The urge for this meeting was actually because of an
invitation sent out by Prof. Chinua
Achebe. The band of literary geniuses who were present at the meeting debated
over the need to form a writers’ association in the country. It was this
meeting on the fateful day that paved the
way to create the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).
The Nsukku Conference,
as the meeting is referred to as, is a momentous event across the entire world
of African literature. The ANA, since its inception, has contributed handsomely
to the causes of Nigerian authors. The
organization stands at the forefront in promoting Nigerian literature. Rather,
it is the incessant effort and dedication of this guild that African literature
has gained prominence at the international level in the contemporary times.
There were specific
objectives behind setting up of the ANA. The primary goal was to encourage and
promote the literature of the country. Significant volume of literature of the
region remained scattered in oral format. The authors’ guild planned to
encourage the collection, recording and transcription of all oral forms of the
region’s literature. The association also fought for securing the interest and
the rights of authors in the society.
As such, the ANA has
significant contributions in popularizing the genre of modern African literature
to the larger world outside. Prior to this the larger world knew Africa only
because of its unbelievable wilderness and exotic species of wild birds and
animals. Hardly anything was known about the indigenous art and literature of
the continent. In fact, the ANA has contributed heavily in bridging the
cultural gap of the region with the larger world outside.
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