Bids for 2029 and 2031 ISOLA conferences

The Executive Council of the International Society for the Oral Literatures of Africa (ISOLA) hereby calls for bids for the hosting of the 17th and 18th conferences of the Society to be held in 2029 and 2031, respectively.

Previous conferences were held in London, UK (1991); Legon, Ghana (1995); Cape Town, South Africa (1998); Chambéry, France (2002); Banjul, The Gambia (2004); St Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago (2006); Lecce, Italy (2008); Mombasa, Kenya (2010); Thohoyandou, South Africa (2012); Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire (2014); Gainesville, USA (2016); Ibadan, Nigeria (July, 2018); Nairobi, Kenya (July, 2021); Paris, France (2023), Abuja, Nigeria (2025).

The next conference will be held in Agadir, Morocco (2027).

1. The bid brief:

Institutions interested in hosting the 2029 and 2031 conferences should forward a bid document expressing their interest in which they give

a. background information of the bidding institution(s);

b. indicate the capacity of the institution(s) to host an academic conference of between 100 to 150 participants;

c. an indication of the preferable conference dates;

d. background information on the host city and its climate;

e. an indication of how they intend funding the conference. (A detailed schedule should include the travel and accommodation costs for two keynote speakers, clerical student assistance for six (6) months before the conference; internet support and telecommunications costs; subsidy for printing costs.)

2. The bid selection process:

a.Date to be confirmed: Due date for the submission of bids.

b. Individual ISOLA members will be invited to express themselves on the competing bids (via the ISOLA listserv)

c. Bidding institutions or their representatives will make their pitches (allowance: 10 minutes each) at the General Council meeting to be held during the 16th ISOLA conference (Agadir, Morocco).

d. Date to be confirmed: Final decisions on the 2029 & 2031 host institutions.

3. Submission of bid document:

Detailed bids should be e-mailed to:

a. the Secretary of ISOLA, Abidemi Bolarinwa (aobolarinwa@yahoo.com);

b. the President, Akitunde Akinyemi (akinyemi@ufl.edu);

c. the Vice-President and conference committee chairperson, Rose Opondo (rosopondo@gmail.com);

PLEASE NOTE:

• Please indicate clearly for which conference you are bidding.

• In (date to be confirmed) the Executive Council will negotiate a comprehensive agreement with the winning bidding institution for 2029/2031.

• ALL bid documents should be made available in both English and French.