08/07/2006 18:05 - (SA)
Copying European book fairs does us no good
VÉRONIQUE TADJO
ALEXANDER McCall Smith of The N1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Richard E Grant, actor-writer, were the most famous authors at the first International Cape Town Book Fair. Their sessions were so full that people had to be turned away from entering the rooms where they were appearing.
They were also among the guests of honour at the prestigious Alan Paton Award.
In contrast, writers from the rest of the continent were sorely absent. Had nobody bothered to invite them?
African publishers were also strikingly absent due, no doubt, to the prohibitively high cost of the stands.
Not surprisingly, South African writers had a much better deal, with writers Antjie Krog, Zakes Mda and Ivan Vladislavic in attendance. They must have realised that it was a very local affair.
The obvious question, and this is the heart of the matter, is to know whether it is desirable to have a pan-African Cape Town Book Fair? Before answering this, one has to recall a bit of history.
The Zimbabwe International Book Fair used to be the biggest book fair on the continent. And it was a genuinely pan-African one.
International publishers attended it because they knew that anybody under the sun who had something to do with African literature would be there.
Debates on African issues took place with great passion and progressive decisions were made for the future of African literature.
The idea for the Association of African Publishers came out of there and so did the ABC collective, which seeks to find better distribution for African books abroad. The Noma Award was born there and, more recently, the 100 African Best Books of the Century list was compiled there as a challenge to exclusive western literary canons.
I don't need to tell you what happened to Zimbabwe over the years and what the ongoing crisis has done to its writers and publishers. The demise of the Zimbabwe Book Fair has paved the way for the Cape Town Book Fair. It is a sad thing to say, but it is nevertheless something we need to keep in mind.
For the Cape Town Book Fair to seek to emulate the big European ones like those in Frankfurt, London and Paris would be a pity. The world of publishing doesn't need another big, busy commercially- obsessed book fair with no discernible identity or vision.
Admittedly, McCall Smith and Grant have links with southern Africa, but were they the best choices for the inaugural edition?
They don't need the Cape Town Book Fair to push up their sales or boost their profile. Foreign publishers don't need to come all the way to South Africa to be given a mere peek of what African literature and publishing are.
The Cape Town Book Fair must put publishers and writers from African countries firmly in the foreground. That is the way to attract European or US-based publishers and make the fair truly international.
But the good news is that all is not lost. This first Cape Town Book Fair had a lot going for it in terms of the choice of venue (the convention centre) and the physical arrangements.
Moreover, attendance exceeded expectations
Which is why, in the years to come, it will be essential to concentrate more on the content of the fair - very much like the attention given to a book. It may have a good picture on the front but it is what is between the covers that we care about and remember.
Tadjo is from Côte d'Ivoire. She was a lecturer at Abidjan University until she became a full-time writer and painter. .
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