One City, One Library

One initiative for this is the One City, One Library campaign that the group has started to improve Guinea’s literacy. The campaign kicked off in October 2016 at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. to collect books and money to build a library in each of the 35 major cities in Guinea.

With the money and books collected so far, the first step has been to renovate a dilapidated youth center in Nongo so that it can serve as a library. Bamba said the campaign will continue even after April 2018, till the goal has been reached.

In 2008, Conakry had its first book fair. Called 72 Hours of the Book, the book fair is held for three days in Conakry in each April. It has become an annual fixture, creating interactions between writers, readers and booksellers.

In addition, there are cultural and people-to-people interactions. In June, Bamba brought three Canadians - a mathematician and two authors from Quebec - who taught maths and literature at a local school. “They speak French and came to discover Guinea and participate in the World Book Capital events,” Bamba said. “They taught in a high school and encouraged the young people to receive an education and explore the world. So it was a good exchange.”

The World Book Capital event has also drawn the attention of the international community. Guinea held a presidential election in 2010, and Alpha Conde became the president. Conde, who was re-elected in 2015, is also the current chairperson of the African Union.

Bertrand Cochery, the French Ambassador to Guinea, took part in a promotional video for the World Book Capital event, saying while politics and elections had been a major agenda, it was time to move away from voters to readers.

“All countries want their populations to become a population of readers,” Cochery said. “I think the voters will be very good readers. And it’s important to be a good reader in order to be a good voter.”

Ugandan award-winning author Mildred Barya said she grew up on Guinean writer Camara Laye’s semi-autobiographical L’enfant Noir (The African Child). She hailed the event as an exciting opportunity to reach out across borders. “I think it is exciting for [both] Guineans and non-guineans because it offers an opportunity to showcase not only Guinean literature, but also literature from other countries,” she said. “Books migrate more easily than humans and have a higher chance of being received warmly as non-residents or even permanent residents with the freedom to travel and share. Books never become refugees in a country of their non-origin.”

To have Guinea as a center of literary exchanges and interactions, she said, would revive reading while promoting literacy. “It’s also a gesture of hope that literature can and does go beyond the failures of politicians to connect borders and people.” Comments to glj@chinafrica.cn