Book O'Clock

Hello bookies, We are excited to finally unveil our new, fully-packed and integrated website: / which aptly represents the Book O'Clock brand in all its multifacetedness. Over the years, we have employed multiple media in conveying our projects, while it has been effective, we have realized that we've turned our audience into treasure hunters who have to travel around and across media platforms to find information about our work. That ends now! With /, you get all you need to know/follow about us. Whether it is discovering the mission and vision of our brand, the brilliant minds behind Book O'Clock, our impact over the years, our partners and sponsors who have contributed to our projects, or learning more about the projects themselves: @soba_fest , @bookclockreview , @bookoclock_udus , Book O'Clock Prize, Queen Amina Prize, Atipo Book Review Prize, Sembene Across Africa, Literature & Film, Schools Outreach,and how you can come in as a participant, a volunteer, a partner or a sponsor. Visit / now! Share your feedback too (hopefully, positive!🤗🤗) One last thing, bookmark our URL and ensure to always visit. There is going to be new information almost every day, especially as we are delighted to resume our literary journalism with @bookclockreview . So keep tabs to follow the latest news in the African literary scene and read thought-provoking essays, reflections and conversations on African literature. Every time remains book o'clock and we are glad that you continue to read with us.💕 Web design: @probuenoafriltd #bookoclock #everytimeisbookoclock

Happy August, everyone! We are excited to share a new feature on Brittle Paper — one of the most notable literary magazines in Africa. An excerpt reads: "This year’s competition focused on mental health and was open to school children and teens in the northern Nigerian city of Sokoto. Maria Saad Liman, a student at Government Girls College Sokoto, won first place. Fatima Bello Yahya of Brilliant Footsteps International Academy won second, while Ochidi Favour of Royal Comprehensive School came in third. They received N50,000, N30,000, and N20,000, respectively, in addition to books. Collections of books were also donated to the libraries of their respective schools..." Read in full here: /2024/07/sokotos-school-children-and-teens-shine-in-book-oclocks-literary-competition/ (link in bio). Thank you so much, @brittlepaper for the feature. #bookoclockanniversaryprize2024 #secondaryschoolcompetition #brittlepaper #secondaryschools #SokotoState

We are excited to announce that applications to join the Book O'Clock Community is now open. Book O'Clock Community is a community of creatives who are interested in using arts and literature as tools for social advocacy. It is open to poets, writers, artists, filmmakers and other categories of creatives who use their craft or are interested in using it to engage local, national and global issues. Benefits of joing Book O'Clock Community include: — Volunteer opportunities across all Book O'Clock projects — Access to all Book O'Clock events and opportunities — Access to ongoing general arts, literature and leadership opportunities — Networking with like-minds — Support in your independent arts and cultural initiative/idea The Book O'Clock Community is open to all creatives and changemakers in Sokoto and northern Nigeria. Others from neither, but with a strong application can as well apply and stand a chance of being a part of our projects. Apply here: https://bit.ly/join_bookoclock_community. Spread the word! #bookcommunity #bookstagram #bookoclock #everytimeisbookoclock

Happy International Book Day and Book O’Clock’s Sixth Anniversary! We are celebrating today by relishing our founder and director, @emelife_uc ’s representation at the 2026 @bolognachildrensbookfair , the biggest children’s literature fair in Europe. Emelife got to connect with other African book professionals and consolidated their call for more global attention on the African children’s book industry. He also presented our concurrent project, #TheChildinAfricanLiterature, by curating interviews and having professional conversations on building and strengthening a transnational/transcontinental audience for African children’s books. Exciting days ahead! Look out for the outputs. In the meantime, join us in relishing our favourite moments from the fair. Happy World Book Day, and thank you for witnessing and supporting Book O’Clock these past six years! Cheers to more! As always, read a book! Read African literature! #worldbookday #bolognachildrensbookfair #bookoclock #everytimeisbookoclock

🚨Exciting News: Open Arts Fund Winners 🏆 We’re delighted to officially announce the recipients of the Open Arts Fund! Selected from a competitive pool of 53 proposals across Nigeria, these projects stood out for their creativity and originality. At Open Arts we believe creativity can change the world.. You will always find us supporting spaces where imagination leads. Congratulations once more to all the recipients. 🎉 #openarts #openartsfund #winners #artistfund #kaduna

In this conversation between @kayodeayobamii and @michael_imossan , they discuss Imossan’s APBF chapbook “The Smell of Absence,” writing communities, and the possible outcomes of embracing writing as self-expression. “The most difficult thing to do as a writer is to strip oneself naked before the world, to lay bare one’s fears, origin, desires and aches,” Imossan reflects but goes on to say that it is in confronting the self does he “examine where the wound bleeds to put a balm on it — thus arriving at healing, empathy and beauty.” Read the full conversation here: /interrogating-the-smell-of-absence-with-michael-imossan-557c0b01fd32 (link in bio) #kuminamoja #michaelimossan #africanpoetry #interview #thesmellofabsence

Hello world! We are excited to share that the #SOBAFest25 Slam Sultan, Naziru Suleiman, has been invited to compete with other Nigerian slam winners at the 2026 @slamofchampionsnigeria , for a spot to represent Nigeria at the World Poetry Slam Championship in Durban, South Africa. We wish him the very best as he keeps flying the flag high! Are you in Abuja, or can you travel? Then head to Transcorp Hilton on Friday, 30 January to witness the tightly-contested slam. #slampoetry #sobafest #slamofchampionsnigeria #nazirusulaiman

For our first post this year, we are excited to share the recently published conversation between @kayodeayobamii and Leana Debra Ranko. They discuss Leano's chapbook, Little Bird Say Your Prayers—a collection she describes as “a lament and a ledger — of absence, hunger, violence, and reckoning” — her writing journey, the literary scene in southern Africa, African poetry as a whole, and the weight of representation. “This [writing], what we are doing, can never be undone“, she says, inviting fellow African writers to carry honesty in the stories they tell of themselves and of their places. This conversation is part of the Book O’Clock x APBF interview series featuring dialogues with the ten poets in the 2025 #KumiNaMoja chapbook boxset. Check out previous conversations on @booko_clock . Read this here: /little-bird-say-your-prayers-a-conversation-with-leano-debra-ranko-5ea86fac926b (link in bio). #apbf #literaryjournalism #bookoclock #africanpoetry

Nigerian poets @kayodeayobamii x @panini_500bc discuss artistic visibility, grief (its language and intersections), and Abdulkareem’s Loss Is A Door in this instalment of the Book O’Clock x African Poetry Book Fund interview series. “Grief is a damned thing; it’s like a wound from a claw that never leaves the lushness of the mind. The pain pulls you back each time,” Abdulkhareem reflects. Read the whole conversation here: /walking-through-loss-as-a-door-with-abdulkareem-abdulkareem-1ba9e72494be. (link in bio) #africanpoetry #literaryjournalism #abdulkahreemabdulkahreem #poetrycommunity #bookoclock

In this instalment of the Book O’Clock x @africanpoetrybookfund interview series, Nigerian poets @timixsanni and @kayodeayobamii discuss rejection, African poetry and Sanni's debut chapbook, The Ordinary Affair Of Being Human. “Modern African poetry, currently, is strongly represented by Nigeria, and there is a need for a wider representation that captures the full spectrum of African cultures, histories, and social realities”, Sanni argues. Read the full conversation here: /poking-the-ordinary-affair-of-being-human-a-conversation-with-timi-sanni-bc6600029315 (link in bio). #africanpoetry #literaryjournalism #timisanni #poetrycommunity #bookoclock

As the year draws to a close, let’s throwback to November 18, when Book O’Clock held one of its most significant projects of 2025: the Book O’Clock Prize. The Book O’Clock Prize is an arts and literary competition among schoolchildren in Sokoto, Nigeria, to celebrate Book O’Clock’s anniversary. The Prize offers children and young people an opportunity to contribute to global conversations on social issues, participate in themed seminars and creative workshops and at the same time, earn cash prizes, books, and awards. This year, students reflected on and interrogated climate action through fiction, nonfiction and performing arts. Interested in knowing more about the 2025 prize? See attached and visit the link below for the full report: https://bit.ly/bookoclock_prize_report_2025 (Link in bio). 📷: @caliphatetimes_ng #bookoclock #bookoclockanniversaryprize2025 #everytimeisbookoclock #secondaryschool #sokoto

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates! May the joy of this season find a home in your homes. From all of us at Book O’Clock.❤️ #bookoclock #everytimeisbookoclock #merrychristmas