A Global Convergence of World Illustrators

Lagos International Festival of Illustrations (LIFI) 2025:

Lagos, Nigeria // 8 September 2025

The Book Buzz Foundation, through its BookStorm initiative, is proud to announce the Lagos International Festival of Illustrations (LIFI 2025), taking place from 18 to 20 September 2025 at OUIDA, Lagos State.

This three-day event promises to be a vibrant celebration of illustration as a vital art form in shaping the future of storytelling, artistic expression, and visual communication. One of our principal aims is to foster international exchange, so LIFI 2025 is bringing nine distinguished illustrators from around the world to work with 45 talented Nigerian illustrators in hands-on workshops, panel discussions, live demonstrations, and portfolio clinics.

Thanks to invaluable collaborations, the festival will feature a stellar lineup of nine distinguished illustrators from across the globe. From Spain, in partnership with the Embassy of Spain, we welcome Emma Sayeras, Miriam Persand, and Marta Cartu. Representing Slovenia, in collaboration with the Society of Illustrators in Ljubljana, are Maša P. Žmitek, Eva Mlinar, and Matej De Cecco. From Latin America, we are excited to host Gina Rosas Moncada, Caio Zero, and Geraldine de Leon, bringing a rich diversity of perspectives and artistic traditions to LIFI 2025.

The festival is organised by the Book Buzz Foundation, a pioneering not-for-profit organisation committed to nurturing literacy, creativity and building platforms for creative expression. The festival has been described by Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State as “an important opportunity to ignite creativity and enhance visual storytelling”. He further expressed hope that this new forum would establish Lagos as a global creative hub.

Founded in 2012 by award-winning writer and cultural activist Lola Shoneyin, the Book Buzz Foundation continues to champion literary advocacy and international collaboration. It is on track to achieve the BookStorm goal of publishing 100 children’s books by the end of 2027, transforming Nigerian children’s literature.