Nigeria

4 January 1962

My dear Langston,

Bon ante! This is to ask you on behalf of Mbari in Ibadan to be one of the three judges of their literary contest which congress is sponsoring. I am one judge myself. The idea is to have the MSS elected by local persons in East and Central West and South Africa before we get them. Only English MSS.

Could you please help us, and can I have your reply in quick time so that we are able to put our notices in the African poems!

In haste.

Yours very sincerely,

Zeke

New York

Dear Zeke,

I'm just back from Nigeria to find your letter among a mountain of mail. Of course, I'll be happy to be a judge for the Mbari literary Contest.

With cordial regards,

Hastily but Sincerely,

Langston Hughes

Paris

25 January 1962

Dear Richard,

Thanks for your letter in which you indicate your project and future plans. We shall consider this and I shall let you know in due time whether we can undertake to sponsor you for a whole year or for part of a year.

We are having a writers’ conference at Makerere, Uganda. This is scheduled for the first week of August. Is it possible, in any case, for you to attend this conference? You will be the guest of Mbari Writers’ and Artists’ Club in Ibadan, who are calling the conference under our sponsorship. Have you ever received any literature or information about Mbari? In case you have not, I am asking Mr Ulli Beier to send you a few things. We plan to have 22 writers at this conference from different parts of Africa, for the main purpose of giving them an opportunity to meet and know one another. I am working out a programme and if you think you would like to go to Makerere, I shall let you know what exactly we plan to do for that week. It would be very good to have someone from South Africa direct as well as exiles. I am also inviting Alex la Guma.

Best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Zeke

P.S. Whatever you decide to do, when you write to me, would you also at the same time write to Ulli Beier, P. O. Box 68, Oshogbo, Nigeria.