Following in the wake of Eugenia Abu successfully kick-starting  the First Quarter of the 2010  Literary Season of the Abuja Writers Forum, Halima Sekula takes her turn on February 27, at the Pen and Pages Bookstore, venue of the acclaimed Guest Writer Session.  Dr Sekula, an emerging female voice from the North, is the author of Honour Among Thieves (Drama), Tongues of Flame (Poetry), and The Waiting Place (Short stories).

A lecturer at the Nassarawa State University, Keffi,  Dr Sekula has scholarly articles published in various journals including her recent essay, “ Ben Okri and the Convention of Nigerian Prose Fiction” which has just appeared in Maple Tree Literary Supplement, a journal published in Canada.
The Kaduna –born and Ahmadu Bello University educated lecturer had her early writings  published in the anthology, Poetry from A. B. U, edited by Dr Muazu Maiwada. Since then she has never looked back in her dream to bring African literature to a higher height both as a teacher and a writer.
Her creative writings have attracted more than a few positive reactions. The Guardian describes her collection of short stories, Waiting Place, as successfully exploring with remarkable insight and familiarity, the place of women in a fast-moving, fast- changing society. Benjamin Kwakwe, the Ghanaian Commwonwealth  Prize for Literature  Regional Winner (1999 and 2006) describes the same collection as “ seamlessly wrestl(ing) essential truths from the seemingly banal occurrences of everyday life. From the shrewdness of an illiterate spouse, humourous intercultural exchanges, and the stinging effects of polygamy to the intricate negotiatins of married life, among others, Sekula covers new ground with her astute observations of human experiences.”
Her poetry collection, Tongues of Flame has also been described as reading “ in part like Okot p’Bitek’s Song of Lawino without its fatal lamentation. Mature, frontal and clearheaded, Sekula’s brilliant imagination shines through.”
The Guest Writer Session, which holds by 4pm on the last Saturday of every month, started in June 2008 and has been a consistent feature of the nation’s literary scene becoming a veritable platform for upcoming and established writers. The venue, Pen and Pages Bookstore, is located at White House Plaza, Plot 79, Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja. The event, as usual, will feature music, a mini visual art exhibition and performance poetry.