PRESS 2020
ALAN PATON LITERARY FESTIVAL
6-8 March 2020
Eden Lassie
The tranquil and breathtakingly beautiful Eden Lassie, Tala Valley, South Africa, served as the perfect backdrop to get Lost in a Quatrain at The Alan Paton Literary Festival. It was indeed an honour to be invited as a guest speaker and to do a poetry reading at this event.
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One of the highlights of the event was meeting award winning author, Dr Marguerite Poland.
Much to my surprise and euphoria, she contacted me a couple of weeks later with the following review of my debut book, Lost in a Quatrain:
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"Dear Adiela. I am so deeply touched by your gift and moved by many of your poems. You are a Tiger Butterfly and this grandma has often been sore! Wise words, deep thoughts, lovely images and through it all shines a loving and perceptive woman. Thank you for sharing your work with me. I shall return to it with pleasure and sometimes tears. Love from Marguerite Poland."​
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(more in my blog post on the festival)
COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Midnight 26 March 2020
South Africa Goes Into Lockdown
STAY HOME, STAY SAFE
POEM CONTEST WINNER
April 2020
My poem 'VIRUS' wins the
Poetry In My MindPoem Contest
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION
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June 2020
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'A City As A Writer's Workplace'
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Honoured to be one of the 100 writers chosen to be part of an International online exhibition, “A City as a Writer's Workplace”, which brought together a hundred photographs and texts from writers all around the world showcasing some of their favourite places to write in any UNESCO City of Literature.
I chose a photograph I had taken at a hotel, overlooking the Indian Ocean, in the Durban UNESCO City of Literature, where I was, for the most part, raised and schooled.
The exhibition is organized by the “Ulyanovsk UNESCO City of Literature”
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LOCKDOWN GIVEAWAY
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July 2020
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As a way of reaching out to people that are in isolation, and in an effort to make a difference during the extended lockdown due to the covid-19 pandemic, I have made Lost in a Quatrain FREE for the entire month. Download on Smashwords.
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COMMISSIONED
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August 2020
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My poem, 'Turn Back Time', was commissioned for Avbob's 'I Wish I'd Said' Volume 3 launching this month
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FINALIST BADGE
TOP 100
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August 2020
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GBC AWARDS
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Lost in a Quatrain makes it through another round to be in the Top 100 Finalists in the Global Book Community Awards 2020
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'MOST PROMISING LITERARY INFLUENCER'
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12 September 2020
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GBC AWARDS
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Adiela Akoo honoured to be among the top 7 'Most Promising Literary Influencers' in the Global Book Community Awards 2020
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MILESTONES
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2020
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Adiela Akoo one of the 1000 poets,
from 139 nations, selected
to be a part of the world's largest
poetry anthology for peace,
'Songs of Peace',
with her poem 'How Long?'.
Anthology compiled and published
by The League of Poets
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INTERVIEW WITH TOM MCLAREN
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8 November 2020
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Enjoyed chatting about life, acting and superpowers with author, model, and Hollywood actor, Tom McLaren. Catch 'Adiela Akoo in conversation with Tom McLaren' on my blog
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(Pls refresh the page if the video says 'unavailable')
MADIBALAND WORLD LITERARY FESTIVAL
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26 November 2020
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18:00 - 19:00
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Highly honoured to share space with phenomenal writers and read from Lost in a Quatrain at the Madibaland World Literary Festival
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