HELD ON: 22ND AND 23RD MAY, 2021SPONSOR: CENTRE FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENTHOST: AMERICAN SPACE, BAUCHII
NTRODUCTION
The dearth of writing talents in the country can be linked to poor mentorship and support of young writers. Over the years, young and upcoming writers are left to wander aimlessly in the open world of writing. Many people want to write but few people are ready to guide and support their creativities.
Therefore, Jewel Writing Workshop is a programme that was initiated by Adamu Usman Garko and organised by a team of intellectuals and vibrant minds to equip young and talented individuals with mentorship opportunities in the field of writing in addendum with providing solid connections between young writers and different highly prolific mentors/writers who are willing to share their experiences and views.
The effectiveness of Jewel Writing Workshop cannot be overemphasised, in the first edition; we successful mentored and linked fifty teenagers with Writing Associations in Gombe State. Based on the success of the programme, four teenagers went ahead to bag National Awards and other awards at the HIAFST 2021. Some of the participants have also been featured in national dailies such as dailytrust newspaper, Blueprint.ng Newspaper and other highly recognised newspapers.
WHY BAUCHI?
The emergence of young talented writers in Bauchi has become a matter of interest to intellectuals in the country. Bauchi is a state that is full of promising writers who can contribute immensely to the world of writings. Based on this, Jewel Writing Workshop as a writing initiative considered Bauchi state as the venue for her second edition creative writing workshop.
THE OPENING CEREMONY
The opening ceremony was held at American Space in Bauchi, Bauchi State. It was flagged off by the Chief Host Dr Umar Launi who gave the address of welcome and also encouraged the young writers to utilise the golden and rare opportunity given to them i.e. receiving mentorship free of charge. Also, the project coordinator, Mr Sadiq Yahaya, the project coordinator spoke on the motif, goals, objectives and what are expected of the participants during the workshop.
Lastly, the project manager (Mr Muib Shefiu) discussed the feats and achievements of the maiden edition and the convener (Mr Adamu Usman Garko) discussed opportunity for young writers.
THE WORKSHOP SESSION
Fifty participants were meritoriously selected for the workshop session and to provide hands on experience mentorship, the workshop session was divided into two; the theoretical session and the practical session. The theoretical session involved the prose/essay writing section and the poetry writing session. The poetry writing session was facilitated by multi-talented and award winning poetess, Black Rose, where she took the participants through the imaginative ways of writing poems. After the session, the participants were given break where they were provided with sumptuous meals and drinks as lunch.
The prosaic session was facilitated by the project co-ordinator, Sadiq Yahaya, where he discussed the technical and systematic ways of writing fictions, non-fictions, short stories and essays. After the session, the participants were given tea break where they were provided desserts to keep their minds on track.The practical session was moderated by Mr Muib Shefiu in conjunction with the rest of the team including the host, Dr Umar Launi in order to make sure that the participants produced worthwhile pieces that will motivate them to keep on writing. Also, some randomly selected participants were given the opportunity to present what they have written and they performed excellently well.
THE CLOSING CEREMONY
The closing ceremony took place at Sheikh Ja’afar Hall in Bauchi, Bauchi State. The closing ceremony was graced with the presence of Dr. Y. Z. Yau (the Director of CITAD), Professor Asabe, Mr Umar Gauni, Dr. Umar Launi and other dignitaries that were introduced by the project coordinator.
The ceremony commenced with an address of welcome from the convener of the programme, Adamu Usman Garko where he recounted the endless and massive supports that the initiative had been receiving from the sole sponsor of the programme, CITAD, under the auspicious leadership of Dr. Y. Z. Yau followed by the introduction to the workshop and the objectives of the initiative by the project Manager, Mr Muib Shefiu. More importantly, Mr Umar Gauni as the guest speaker was able to share with the participants and the audience his experience in the world of writing. He also highlighted the barriers that can hinder creative writings and the innovative ways of preventing them.
Most importantly, Dr. Y. Z. Yau meritoriously bagged an award of excellence titled “Literary Personality of the Year” for his endless and selfless support for the development of literary creativity. The award was presented to him by Professor Asabe and she also discussed the active roles that the awardee has been playing in the development of humanity. The participants were also given the opportunity to present their creative works written during the workshop session followed by a grand performance by their facilitators.
