Book Festival represents Africa in all its diversity
Lessons in what writers can do if properly supported
I WAS recently invited to the African Book Festival, from August 26-28 in Berlin by Stefanie Hirsbrunner, one of the organisers and a publisher.
I met Stephanie in 2021 when she was visiting South Africa and we had a long chat about what the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is doing in the language space.
I shared with her in detail our project of intellectualising African languages, with a particular emphasis on South Africa’s previously marginalised official languages. I shared with her how literature development is central to this project. Both of us agreed that this is a mammoth task that needs collaboration.
We also agreed that there was a dire need for African writers to be developed and given international recognition and exposure.
She promised that she would do her part in supporting this vision, but she wanted to first invite me to their annual event – the African Book Festival that she and her colleagues organise, so that I could see for myself what African writers can do if they are properly supported.
I want to share with you some of the lessons learnt from this extraordinary literary experience. First, I was in awe at the amount of talent South Africa has in the literary creative space.
The theme of the festival was “Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.”
The programme was packed with music entertainment, including South Africa’s Bongeziwe Mabandla, known as the “enigmatic spirit of African soul”.
The festival included book reviews, readings, panel discussions, poetry and comedy. The South African contingent of writers included Fred Khumalo,
Niq Mhlongo, Lidudumalingani Mqombothi, Nozizwe Cynthia Jele, Athabile Masola, Bongani Kona, Buhle Ngaba, Dudu Busani-Dube, Goitseone Montsho, JJ Bola, Lerato Bogoathle, Mane Mohalle, Mphuthumi Ntabeni, Nomonde Buthelezi, Saneliswa Nyaba, Siuenhlanhla Buthelezi and Xabiso Vili.
I was blown away by the contributions of these writers in their panel discussions. The wealth of knowledge they possess and the depth of African histories they have in their repertoires is amazing. They traversed all themes, including African spirituality, history, politics, romance, mental health, socio-cultural complexities and dayto-day South African lives.
Secondly, the festival was graced by the presence of His Excellency the ambassador of South Africa to Germany, Phumelele Stone Sizani, who officiated over the opening.
The festival was curated by our very own young writer, film-maker and photographer, Mqombothi. The keynotes were by the curator Lidudumalingani himself, and the headliner of the festival was Margaret Busby.
Margaret is a well-known cultural figure, a writer, editor, broadcaster and literary critic. She is a long-time campaigner for diversity in publishing.
She is the editor of the ground-breaking Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present (1992) and New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent (2019), each compiling writing of more than 200 black women worldwide.
The main aim of the festival was to profile African writers, with a specific emphasis on South African writers. In her opening address, Busby underscored the importance of promoting the African voice and the exploration of diversified publishing space.
The festival lived up to its expectations. It delivered quality reviews, panel discussions and great comedy.
Coming back to the lessons learnt – this is a bit of a sore point for me – and the need to support writers’ literary work. The amount of talent that exists in the country is amazing. We must make resources available to them so they can thrive.
It is not about monetary value, but tools of the trade, such as supporting reading and writing clubs with technological gadgets, having conducive creative spaces where they can sit and write, sponsored developmental courses where they can share their expertise with other aspirant writers.
Importantly, universities should play their role in supporting these writers by conferring doctoral degrees on those who are deserving.
Listening to these writers in their respective panels, there is a lot of despair about the way they are treated and how they yearn for support from all sectors, especially the ministries of
Arts, Culture and Sports; Basic Education; and Higher Education and Training.
This is not an attack on the government and its structures, but it is a serious indictment on the government as a whole.
I guess it has become a cliché to say we have enabling policies and relevant scriptures to do a lot of good things – but 29 years on we still lag behind other governments. We must learn to put our money where our mouths are.
Merely looking at the overall festival attendance and the manner in which the German government supported the event – not only in words but in deeds – shows that there is a lot that we can learn from them. They take the arts seriously.
Lastly, as the higher education sector is currently tackling this issue of intellectualising African languages, and I cannot over-emphasise the importance of literature development. It is therefore imperative that all 26 institutions of higher learning finalise their language policies to take this particular strand seriously.
The currency of these languages has always been an excuse, but if these languages can be promoted in schools, colleges and universities, a lot can be achieved in elevating their status.
UKZN has pioneered initiatives to further the intellectualisation of African languages since 2006 and has trained and published many young and upcoming writers in various strands – a project that is still ongoing.
This is even more significant as it will help improve the currency of these African languages.