The Guinea-Bissau Writers Association gathers dozens of people from different backgrounds who share the same goal: to improve the literature of a small West African country with one of the world's lowest literacy rates.
Writers Seek to Form National Identity Through Literature for Guinea-Bissau
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Layout designers are seen at the National Printing Press, in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, Dec. 19, 2017. (R. Shyrock/VOA)
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A young woman opens the meeting of the Guinea-Bissau Writers Association with a poetry reading, in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, Dec. 19, 2017. (R. Shyrock/VOA)
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The Guinea-Bissau Writers Association meets monthly to conduct readings and share progress on their works. Of their 40 members, nearly half are poets, something association President Abdulai Sila says meshes well with a rich tradition of oral literature and storytelling. Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, Dec. 19, 2017. (R. Shyrock/VOA)
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Manuel da Costa is a major in Guinea-Bissau's army, but he's also a poet and a novelist who has written about the country's notorious drug-trafficking issues in his books. Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, Dec. 18, 2017. (R. Shyrock/VOA)