GAMWRITERS

After organizing a workshop on fiction writing in May earlier this year, the Writers’ Association of The Gambia (WAG) took it upon itself to train young and upcoming writers during a three-day workshop on book editing, illustration, layout and design.

The training, which took place from 1 to 3 October 2011 at the NaNA conference hall, was sponsored by the Gambia National Commission for UNESCO.

Ruth Ajola Carrol, illustrator and printer, gave a lecture on telling by drawing: illustrating the story.

The lectures received by the participants included techniques in book layout and design, developing proofreading skills, book layout and design: the age of IT, script editing: theory and practice, challenges in local book publishing (by Fodeh Baldeh, an author and publisher).

“The Writers’ Association of The Gambia is very much involved in ascertaining that knowledge production in our country increases. To this end, WAG has made it a duty to help improve the skills of emerging and aspiring writers, particularly the young ones through workshops and other related activities,” Cherno Omar Barry, General Secretary of WAG, said.

This is another way of encouraging the production of local interesting material that could help to improve the habit of reading among young students. “I would like to thank our sponsors, UNESCO through NATCOM and also encourage other institutions, both national and international, to emulate them,” he said.

In her opening remarks on the occasion, Maimuna Sidibeh, senior programme Officer NATCOM-UNESCO, told WAG more work needs to be done in promoting the reading and writing culture of the country.

“UNESCO places a lot of weight in books and thus dedicated special events and funds on books such as world book and copyright day,” she added.

“UNESCO-NATCOM appreciates WAG’s efforts in trying to bring out and promote Gambian authors as well as train upcoming or young writers.”

Mary Gomez, a young writer, said the workshop had helped her a lot and that her next book would be better.