Zim authors to be showcased in Cape Town and Jozi

amaBooks is one of the 12 independent publishing houses from across Africa that will be represented at this year’s Cape Town Book Fair (CTBF) due to grants extended by the Goethe Institute. The fair is the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, with over 220 exhibitors from 31 countries.

Ulla Wester, head of library and information services for the Goethe Institute, said: Publishers from South Africa’s neighbouring states have fantastic ideas, books and products, but they dont always have the means to travel to show their wares. The CTBF is the single most important book fair in sub-Saharan African, and yet not enough African publishers can come here, and we felt we wanted to help them and give them a chance also to show their products and to network.

German publishing houses are increasingly considering African books for translation and publication or for audio books.

The Jozi Book Fair has a smaller international presence, but is viewed as equally important by amaBooks. The organisers state that their overall purpose is to promote of a culture of reading and writing, and to provide a public and visible platform where authors, in particular emerging new writers, and publishers in particular small and emerging publishers, can interact with the public.

The creation of a common meeting space for all the partners is seen as crucial in strengthening small publishers such as amaBooks, creating an opportunity for readers to speak to authors and publishers about the kinds of stories they are interested in.

Attending these fairs give us the opportunity not only to promote Zimbabwean writing to the rest of the world but also to learn more about the publishing world and about the important technological changes that are taking place, particularly concerning print-on-demand and e-books. e-books are becoming increasingly important, they have recently outpaced hard-covered books for sales on amazon.com, said Brian Jones of amaBooks.

Three books published by them recently have already begun to attract attention internationally. Christopher Mlalazis Dancing with Life: Tales from the Township was awarded an Honourable Mention at last years Noma Awards for Publishing in Africa, and Long Time Coming: Short Writings from Zimbabwe was chosen by the New Internationalist as one of their two Best Books of 2009, as well as being recognised in many excellent reviews. Bryony Rheams debut novel This September Sun has featured in launches, readings and literary discussions in Bulawayo, Harare and Lusaka, and interviews, reviews and articles about the book have been published in several magazines, literary journals and websites. – More information about amaBooks and their publications is available through Some of the amaBooks titles on show.