FG moves to celebrate Nigerian female writers

The Minister of Women’s Affair, Pauline Tallen has said Nigerian female writers will be celebrated during the International Women’s Day event.

International Women’s Day is on Tuesday, March 8, and it is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

Tallen who made this known at the book presentation of Invoking Flora Nwapa: Nigerian Women Writers, Femininity and Spirituality in World Literature, held at the Embassy of Sweden in Abuja called for an end to women marginalisation.

The book was authored by Paula Uimonen, a professor at the Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden.

“This has invoked a new spirit in all of us. It has reawakened our spirit,” she said on the effort of the Uimonen in bringing to light the plights and successes of female writers in Nigeria.

“This year’s International Women’s Day we will include celebrating Nigeria female writers,” she said adding that the celebration will open door and encourage more people to go into the literary world.

Uimonen said the book, a monograph, benefits from the 50 years celebration of Efuru held in 2016. She documented the activities of the celebration which forms a crucial part of the book.

“I approach this study of Nigerian women writers with epistemological humility and ontological openness, in the hope of avoiding some of the pitfalls of Western scholarship in African contexts. Cognizant of the ethics and politics of social science, I hope to make a contribution to ongoing efforts to decolonize social science research, including anthropology,” she said.  

Son of Flora Nwapa commended the author for keeping the memory of his mother alive adding that the late celebrated writer wrote effortlessly, excellently combining her duties a mother, writer and minister, at a time.

He said his mother showed the spirit and excellence of Nigerian female writers who also have other vocations.