2025:Program/AfroCreatives WikiProject+literature: Digitizing African literature
Session title: AfroCreatives WikiProject+literature: Digitizing African literature
- Session type: Lightning talk
- Track: Lightning Talk Showcase
- Language: en
đ„ Session Recording: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AfroCreatives_WikiProject-literature-Digitizing_African_literature-Day_2-Nairobi-_Lightning_Talk.webm đ„
The session aims to start a conversation about the African literature gap on Wikipedia prior to launching aAfroCreatives WikiProject+literature pilot in several countries in 2025 and in anticipation of a broader pan-African ACWP+literature campaign in 2026.
Description
Despite the continentâs rich literary history, and the surge in African literary works published and their growing global consumption over the past decade, African literature is an underrepresented African topic on Wikipedia. For example, 19 African countries donât have national literature gateway articles on English Wikipedia, while many have minimal to zero edits. . The âAfrican Literatureâ gateway page has had just a few editors contributing a couple dozen minor edits throughout 2024. This gap is emblematic of a wider underrepresentation that extends to notable authors, prizes, publishing houses, and more and other Wikipedia editions. The session aims to build awareness among the community of this gap in advance of an ACWP+literature pilot in three African countries in the 4th quarter of 2025âa francophone and anglophone country in Sub-Saharan Africa and an Arabophone country in North Africaân before launching a global campaign in 2026.
- How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 â Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?
The session would serve several purposes: Generate knowledge about the AfroCreatives WikiProject and its work within Africa and the African Wikimedia community surrounding the African cultural and creative industries; share top-line findings about the African literature gap on Wikipedia, and the ACWP+literature campaign and learn from diaspora attendees how African literature stakeholders outside Africa could be part of the effort.
- What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
Everyone can participate in this session
Resources
Speakers
- Ceslause Ogbonnaya
- Ceslause joined the Wikimedia movement in 2018 and has been actively involved in the Igbo Wikimedians User Group. He joined Wiki In Africa, a South African NGO in 2021 where he was the Project manager for Wiki Loves Africa Intâl media contest and WikiAfrica Hour vodcast.
- He wass Wikimedian-In-Residence at Africa No Filter, leading the African Unionâs and Wikimedia Foundationâs partnership project, Africa Knowledge Initiative, aimed at leveraging three AU holidays (Africa Youth Day, Wangari Maathai Day, Africa Day), Wikipedia and its sister projects to close the digital divide about Africans and Africa.
- He currently is the Wikimedian-In-Residence leading the AfroCreatives WikiProject, leading the effort to close the gap that exists on the digital space about African film and TV and African literature using Wikipedia and its sister projects.