The NAFCA Honors Hollywood 2015 is pleased to announce the recipients of the prestigious NAFCA Literary Arts Award for this year. Mr. Wole Soyinka, Dr. Kole Odutola, Dr. Fumi Hancock and Mrs. Odile Koudou are well known for their work as a civil rights activist, artist, and prolific body of work includes writing poetry, memoirs, novels and plays. They will be honored on the 12th of September at the historic Orpheum Theatre of Hollywood. Mr. Soyinka will also be honored with a Lifetime Achievement award.
Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka was born on July 13, 1934 in Nigeria and educated in England. In 1986, the playwright and political activist became the first African to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. He dedicated his Nobel acceptance speech to Nelson Mandela. Soyinka has published hundreds of works, including drama, novels, essays and poetry, and colleges all over the world seek him out.
Dr. Kole Odutola
Dr. Kole Odutola’s first degree is in Botany with interest in ecology and genetics. Thereafter, he changed from the natural sciences to social sciences and finally to language teaching. His educational background also spans three continents; namely Africa, Europe and the Americas. Learning from these three continents has given him different resources from which to constantly draw.
Dr. Funmi Princess S. Hancock
Dr. Fumi Princess S. Hancock: President of Cambium Break Pictures, and the host of a Lifestyle Talk Show, The Princess in Suburbia®. Her accolades span from Africa to the US, as the most recent NAFCA African Oscar Peoples’ Choice Award Winner~ as Favorite Screenwriter, Indiefest & Accolade Global Films Merit Award Winner, and Depth of Field International Film Festival, Woman of Excellence in Films Award Winner.
Odile Koudou
Odile Koudou: African-born authors of the newly released book “The Blessing Legacy” the book, which is a memoir, on Africa’s Ivory Coast , Odile Koudou is daughter to Orega Koudou, a poor farmer.
About NAFCA Literary Arts Award: The NAFCA Literary Arts category is to recognize the finest achievements of African authors in several genres and individual contributions to creative writing thus; promoting Africa’s most celebrated writers, publishers and thinkers to the world. In addition The NAFCA Literary Arts will connect writers and readers through these prestigious awards.
About The NAFCA Honors: The NAFCA Special Honors were presented for the first time in 2011 to President Nelson Mandela. Recipients of this prestigious award in subsequent years include His Imperial Majesty Kabiyesi Alaiyeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II The Ooni of Ife, President Paul Biya, President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia, President Michel J. Martelly of Haiti, Governor Isa Yuguda (Bauchi State), Honorable Ama Muna Tutu the Cameroon minister of Arts and Culture, Dr. Folorunsho Alakija, Mr. Ben Bruce, Oscars’ award winner Louis Gossett Jr., Hollywood actors Glynn Thurman and Keith David just to name a few.
