Okediji, Tubosun… 40 writers unveil Àtẹ́lẹwọ́ — anthology to preserve Yoruba culture

At least 40 writers from within and outside Nigeria have put together an anthology to preserve the culture and language of the Yoruba, one of the major ethnic groups in Nigeria.

The writers were brought together by Egbe Àtẹ́lẹwọ́, a Yoruba cultural advocacy group founded by Ọ̀rẹ́dọlá Ibrahim and Rasaq Malik, both graduates of the University of Ibadan.

According to the duo, the group was “founded on the 1st of June, 2017 as a response to the myriads of challenges and threats facing the preservation and survival of the Yorùbá culture and language”.

“Apart from the fact that most people nowadays cannot even read in their indigenous languages, there is also a greater concern as regards the waning presence of quality literature materials in these languages.

“And this has no doubt impeded our ability to sufficiently and originally contribute to global discussions and solutions. For instance, just as we have robotics, we also have the concept of Ṣìgìdì in the Yorùbá culture as a programmable auto-bot capable of performing all of the functions of a robot – and even more!

“But lack of preservation of our indigenous knowledge and practices – of which language and literature plays a principal role – has not afforded us enough opportunities to harness our rich heritage.”

The group aims to create a platform to document cultural values, drive dialogues among the youth and preserve Yoruba culture and literature.

“In furtherance of our stated objectives above, we are glad to inform you that we are launching a book titled ÀTẸ́LẸWỌ́ PÉLÉBÉ– an anthology.

“ÀTẸ́LẸWỌ́ PÉLÉBÉ is a collection of poems, short stories and articles written in the Yorùbá language from about 40 contributors within and outside Nigeria. The book showcases established and emerging names of writers of Yorùbá origin.”

The book was edited by the duo of Ọ̀rẹ́dọlá and Malik, and introduced by Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún – The founder of Yorubaname.com and the 2016 recipient of the Premio Ostana awards, while the foreword was written by Moyọ̀ Ọ̀kẹ́dìji, a professor of African art from the University of Texas, Austin.

The book is currently available on Okadabooks and direct PDF purchase from the authors. The hardcopy will hit the market in February.