The 2024 Lagos International Poetry Festival or LIPFest 2024 is set for October 24th – October 27th. The theme of this year’s festival is “The Science of Things” with hopes to bring tribute to “the twin forces of poetry and science as key drivers of human progress.”

This theme connects with recent scientific developments that have occurred. The uncertainty of what new science like AI means for the future is one of these important developments. Being aware of scientific discoveries and their impacts on everyone’s lives is important and is present in recent poetry and other forms of art.

Here’s the statement that Lagos Poetry Fest posted on their Instagram account when announcing information about LIPFest 2024:

We must rely more dispassionately on the confluence of inquiry and imagination, language and experiment, to guide us into more sustainable ways of living. This implies a continued resistance to forces that seek to co-opt art and science into instruments for advancing political agendas and narrow economic interests.

The four days of the festival will include various panels, performances, workshops, film screenings, exhibitions, and more. The founder of this festival, Efe Paul Azino, is one of Nigeria’s best known poets and performance artist. LIPFest is West Africa’s first international poetry festival and each year its popularity grows.

They are currently “drawing a selection of poets, scientists, writers, thinkers, artists, and musicians from across the world, for this special 10th anniversary edition.” A full lineup of the festival will be announced in September.

This year’s festival will be held at the Alliance Française Lagos | Mike Adenuga Centre in Lagos. The doors will open for the festival at 10am on each of the four days of events.

Stay tuned for more information!