MUSING ON THE BALCONY

I was on my way to the NTA Headquarter office in Abuja for an unscheduled interview with the newly appointed General Manager of NTA Plus, Mr. Fred Jonathan when I received a call from Mallam Denjah Abdullahi with whom we had agreed to go see the Jos Repertory Theatre’s presentation of ‘No Exit’, asking if I would want to attend a literary gathering at the ActionAid office called ‘Balcony Muse’.

It did not take me much time to confirm my attendance, which I think will serve as a good prelude to the French Cultural Centre event because, while I am aware of all literary gatherings – Abuja Literary Society, ANA Abuja, Guild of Artistes and Poet, Abuja Writers Forum and Just Doodles - in the city of Abuja, I have not heard of Balcony Muse and so would want to go and see what it is all about. So I make a quick detour to Denja’ office.

A quarter of an hour later, I was sitted on an expansive balcony at the ActionAid wing of the NAIC Building from where you can for sure catch a good glimpse of some part of the capital city and get . The ambience at the balcony no doubt reminded one of the famous ‘Abe Egi’ (under the tree) at the National Theatre, a popular spot where writers, artistes and literary enthusiasts in Lagos thronged to almost on daily basis to answer the call of the muse amidst plates of amala and assorted bottles of drinks. Over the years, this spot has provided the right kind of ambience and opportunity for Lagos Writers and visitors to horn their creative talent.

In his opening address at the fun-filled 90 minutes gathering, Tunde Aremu, communications Officer pf ActionAids Nigeria, Abuja explains that Balcony Muse was conceived last year and the first edition held sometime in November 2008 “to contribute to the expansion of opportunities available in Abuja for a virile literary culture.”

The gathering, dedicated to Nigerian women in commemoration of International Women Day (March 8) and Mother’s Day (March 22) was kick-started with a reading from an article, Over Cognac written by the late May Ellen-Ezekiel which expresses the intrigues behind her departure from Quality Magazine where she was the Editor then and her life general – the expectations, failures and success stories.

Prior to his reading from the book Abuja Nunyi, Mallam Denja Abdullahi (the Secretary-General of the Association of Nigerian Authors) commended the initiation and the initiative. “Abuja is an emerging city as far as literary culture is concerned. Balcony Muse is a good addition to those already in existence and I you would agree with me that the there is the need to encourage such gathering for the betterment of our society” he said before going to read ‘Gbagyi Woman’ and ‘Zone 4’ from his collection of poems on Abuja.

More readings dedicated to the women-folk were taken and these includes Eugenia Abu’s ‘To My Little Sister’, Valente Makagatanza’s ‘Woman”, Emem’s ‘Strength of the Woman’, Helen Reid’s ‘I am a Woman’, Dr. Tonia Ekpa’s ‘Lament from Womanity’, ‘Journey of a Thousand Years’ and ‘I Got a Flower’, a tragic poem by an unknown poet read by the in-coming Country Director and Oboh, a staff of ActionAids respectively.

According to the conveners, Balcony Muse will come up quarterly with the next edition schedule for June 12 with the theme CRY FREEDOM.