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Age Guideline 7-11
About the Event
Join Nigerian author Lola Shoneyin to hear a reading of Iyaji the Housegirl, one of a series of stories Lola has written about children in Northern Nigeria. As part of this exciting event from Ake Arts and Book Festival, Lola will also be chatting to illustrator KR Onimole, about how they work together on their books and bring the stories to life.
Be Prepared
To follow along with the story, you can download the PDF of Iyaji the Housegirl here.
Teacher Resources (Provided by School Library Association)
Our world is full of different people, different cultures, different histories, different lifestyles and every culture can help inform us of new, exciting opportunities, opening our eyes to how others live.
· Discuss any travel you have experienced and differences you’ve found. It doesn’t have to be to another country; differences in the countryside to city life are apparent in e.g. transport links, leisure activities, public facilities, green spaces, etc.
These resources list the many ways in which our young people are helped through global education and provide thought-provoking help with lessons:
· https://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/who-we-are/global-citizenship-guides/
· https://www.globalschoolsprogram.org/resources
· https://www.coe.int/en/web/north-south-centre/global-education-resources
· https://globaldimension.org.uk/
About the Authors/Illustrators
Lola Shoneyin's work includes three books of poems: So All the Time I Was Sitting on an Egg (1997), Song of a Riverbird (2002) and For the Love of Flight (2010) and three children's books: Mayowa and the Masquerades (2010), Do as You’re Told, Baji Iyaji (2020) and Iyaji, the Housegirl (2021). Her novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives was nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011 and went on to win the PEN Oakland 2011 Josephine Miles Literary Award and the Ken Saro Wiwa Prose Prize. Shoneyin is the Director of the annual Ake Arts and Book Festival which is now in its 10th year. The annual literary and cultural event that takes place in Nigeria features visual art, dance, theater, film, poetry and various exciting school programmes.
K.R. Onimole is a self-trained illustrator with a background in architecture and advertising. He is a self-taught full-time animator and illustrator and has worked on over a hundred storyboards for television commercials including Airtel, Indomie noodles and Three Crowns Milk. He has also done picture book illustrations for and with a number of Nigerian authors including Lola Soneyin, Yejide Kilanko and Sope Martins. He is based in Lagos, Nigeria.
About the Festival Partner
This event has been programmed by Ake Arts and Book Festival
Now in its 10th year, Ake Arts & Book Festival has brought over 900 artists, writers, poets, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, actors, filmmakers and thinkers together to dialogue and celebrate creativity on the African continent through panel discussions, art exhibitions, workshops, storytelling, book chats, poetry performances, a concert, stage play and unforgettable films.
