By Onomiguren Agbamu
The Association of South South Writers Forum (SOSOWFO) will hold its 2nd International Conference and Annual General Meeting from Thursday, 23rd to Sunday, 26th of April, 2026, in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State
The event, which was disclosed in a press release and signed by the president of the association, Chief Alaska Ekele, and the general secretary, Dr. Ofonime Inyang, said all writers, scholars, journalists, intellectuals, creative industries experts, cultural enthusiasts, and key stakeholders in the writing industry are expected to arrive at the venue.
The statement added that the conference, premised on the theme “Developing the South-South Region of Nigeria through Writing and the Creative Industries,” will have a foremost theatre and communication expert in the likes of Prof. Effiong Johnson of the Department of Theatre and Film Studies, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, as the keynote speaker.
The statement said, “Key highlights of the conference include a panel session on the conference theme, a literary competition for schools in the South-South region, followed by courtesy visits to key cultural sites in Akwa Ibom State and the environs, cultural displays, hospitality, and tourism awareness in the South-South region, and the Annual General Meeting of the organization.
They noted that the South-South Writers Forum (SOSOWFO), which is fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, emerged out of the “Kwale Conference” of June 23 through 24, 2017, chaired by our late literary luminary Prof. Sam Ukala, when leaders of writing associations and groups from the geopolitical South-South converged to explore the basis and possibility of engaging literature, writing, and the creative industries in the development agenda of the South-South and as a remediation effort against the various levels of challenges in the region.
The group advances the functional utility of writing and the literary enterprise in development intervention. The core objective of the body is to positively exploit the natural environment, the culture, ideas, philosophies, thoughts, framings of being, and notions of indigenous knowledge and systems of the region and the various creative indigenous endowments of the people for sustainable development.
“ While doing this, it endeavours to drive discourses and interactivity from a local context that connects to, explores, and accentuates a global perspective.”
They called on members to engage in writing, publishing, and mentoring aspiring and new writers through editing their works and helping them find publishers; membership drives; outreach programmes; attendance in meetings; and the award of prizes, as well as to create a developmental literary perspective that drives further understanding of the region, its people, culture, challenges, and creative universe.
They said the organization meets annually to review its activities, introspect into the future, and recalibrate for further impact in the society.
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