The Book Buzz Foundation is bringing a new literary festival to the capital this October. The Abuja Festival of Literature & Ideas (AFLI) runs October 9–10, 2026, at The Nordic, Plot 795, off Shehu Yar’adua Way, Cadastral Zone B04, Jabi, Abuja, co-funded by the European Union and backed by a roster of sponsors including Sterling, the Embassy of Sweden in Abuja, the Embajada de España en Nigeria, AECID, the Embassy of Italy in Abuja, Spine & Label, and Nordic Hotels.

The festival is the fulfilment of a long-held dream for Lola Shoneyin, Book Buzz Foundation’s director and founder of the Ake Arts and Book Festival, who first conceived the idea 14 years ago while curating Infusion, a monthly Abuja gathering for music, art, and culture, says Guardian. “Abuja deserves to be part of the global conversations around literature, ideas and culture,” Shoneyin said of the new festival, which she sees as part of a broader ambition to establish the capital as a destination for intellectual exchange while strengthening cultural ties between Nigeria, Europe, and the wider world.

That ambition shows up in a guest list spanning literature, journalism, academia, and public life. Among the confirmed names are Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, novelist and lawyer Richard Ali, author and former Kaduna State First Lady Hadiza Isma El-Rufai, and Oxford academic Simukai Chigudu, who will discuss his memoir Chasing Freedom, a personal exploration of family, colonialism, race, migration, and what freedom means after empire. The programme also brings in a strong international contingent, credited in large part to the participating European missions: Sergio Jaramillo, Colombia’s former High Commissioner for Peace and one of the architects of the country’s peace process, will lead a session called How Divided Societies Learn to Dialogue, examining what becomes possible when people on opposite sides of a conflict find ways to listen, negotiate, and rebuild trust. He’s joined by astrophysicist and science communicator Prof Roberto Trotta and Spanish filmmaker Stéphane M. Grueso, alongside Nigerian writers, broadcasters, and public figures including Abdulkareem Baba Aminu, Fatima Bala, Edify Yakusak, Khadija Yusra Sanusi, and Nkereuwem Albert, among others.

Tickets for AFLI 2026 are available now at bookbuzzfoundation.org, alongside the full guest list and further festival details.