Since 2015, LIPFest has brought writers, poets, thinkers, artists, and public intellectuals together for four days of readings, performances, workshops, panel discussions, and a celebration of creativity.
By Sybil Fekurumoh
The Lagos International Poetry Festival (LIPFest) has announced its 2023 edition, scheduled to take place from Thursday, October 26th to Sunday, October 29th. The theme of this year’s festival is “Sanctuary,” and the four-day event is designed to hold a space for stillness and renewal.
As hyper-capitalism has caused human attention to split in many directions, it has become increasingly harder to maintain private and public spaces for deep thinking, which is crucial for human development. It is on this basis that LIPFest draws on the psycho-spiritual resources of art, poetry, literature, and culture, to call individuals back to solitude and a re-connection to self and truth.
Since 2015, LIPFest has brought writers, poets, thinkers, artists, and public intellectuals together for four days of readings, performances, workshops, panel discussions, and a celebration of creativity. The festival has established itself as one of Africa’s key cultural highlights, with an interest in creating and sustaining safe spaces for creatives to connect and exchange ideas.
(Read also: Durban Filmmart Announces 2023 Jumpstart Projects)
This year’s festival will take place at the Alliance Française, Mike Adenuga Center, 9, Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. There will be a line-up of prominent artists, poets, writers, activists, healers, and thinkers, who are dedicated to creating an immersive sanctuary for reflection and wellness. The festival will offer a diverse range of artistic experiences, including performances, and readings, panel discussions and workshops, film screenings, and exhibitions. Visitors can also look forward to yoga and wellness sessions, a movement therapy space, a game room, and an on-site private oasis for writing and reflection.
(Read also: Sokoto Book and Arts Festival to Return For Third Edition in 2023)
The festival was imagined as a vehicle for enabling emerging poets to create and craft their art, with a daring cultural force and vision, through its annual workshops and school outreaches. It has continued to invest in the development of the local literary and cultural scene. LIPFest believes in facilitating pan-African, pan-diasporic, and international connections between poets and writers from different universes of experience, as this is important in deepening artistic consciousness.
LIPFest is open to collaborations and exchanges.
For further information on the guest lineup and festival programme, please visit www.lagospoetryfestival.com or contact info@lagospoetryfestival.com.
Connect on Instagram and Twitter @Lagospoetryfest.