favourite_igbo_boy

The literary ecosystem in Nigeria will continue to struggle and be one of the poorest ecosystems. I do not say this from a place of spite but from sincerity. The major issue with the literary industry is that they have managed to detach themselves from contemporary culture in some ways. I'll explain. I joined the lit cult in 2023. I stayed there until 2025. What I noticed is that the system teaches you to do nothing else than anything book related. You'd not see the importance in attending events around career, creators economy, tech etc. In fact, the lit ecosystem tries to work independently and this is the issue. Tech is perhaps one of the biggest ecosystems we have. Then we also have the creators' ecosystem. Why do literary festivals and events not implement or try to cohabit with other thriving ecosystems? Look at films for instance. That ecosystem is finding its way into other ecosystems especially the creator's economy. My friend, Seyi @SeyiVortex , last year was invited as a speaker at Moonshot by Tech Cabal. He's a known film critic. He was to moderate a session on creating. Nowhere did you or would you find any literary critic, or book influencer in such a gathering. And it is not just Moonshot. Look at how film people show up at creator summits, brand events, marketing conferences. A good case in point is filmmaker & pastor Laju Iren @LajuIren who was recently invited as a speaker at Moment Conference. They understand that their work lives inside a larger cultural economy. A film critic can talk about storytelling and a brand will listen. A cinematographer can speak about visual culture and a tech company will pay attention. But a literary critic walks into the same room and the industry has not equipped them with the language to connect their work to anything beyond the book itself. That is a training problem as much as it is a structural one. I understand the pride that the literary ecosystem has. But it will continue to remain poor and underfunded unless they find a way to bridge this gap and collaborate with other thriving ecosystems. Feel free to disagree.