Helping children in the townships develop a love for the written word
BENOIT KNOX is an “alternative” publisher. His company BK Publishing, which produces Supernova magazine for children, has launched a social entrepreneurship project in townships selling a storybook to children.
What made you go into publishing on your own?
I read for a publishing degree at the University of Pretoria. It was at a time when educational publishers were trying to recover from the post-apartheid turmoil and large traditional publishers were struggling to make their old-fashioned models relevant to a new South African audience.
We had a lot of guest lecturers coming to speak to us about the state of publishing. I didn’t like what they were saying. I certainly didn’t want to work for the companies these people represented. It was all so negative.
What made you things differently?
There was a misconception out there that black people don’t read. No one knew how to publish for a wider audience. In our final year we worked on a project towards our degrees. I went into townships to do research, and I found that access to books in township schools is limited to libraries and classrooms.
The books donated are often from other countries and not relevant to contemporary SA children. I also saw how well children responded to books. I decided to create a book that I believed could sell. How did you do this? My team and I got writers to contribute stories and then had the book illustrated and printed. We then went into schools to talk about the book, Metz and Bop and the Big Library Theft, and advised them we’d be back in two weeks to sell copies at R20 each.
We sold 5 000 books that way!
see Is the project a difficult one to run? The project has not been without its problems and we are battling to fund new books. It takes a lot of energy to keep it going.
How do you see the future of book publishing?
I think that printed books and magazines still have many years ahead. They remain artifacts, things people want to collect.
Digital products are too easy to delete and while cellphones are probably the future, there is still a long way before it becomes mainstream.
I also don’t think that we should be so trusting of the internet. The role of the publisher is to check facts and quality. It is very much needed.
We need to keep on producing quality goods because people out there will see their value and be interested. Describe Supernova. It is an educational magazine for children between the ages of nine and 14. It is published every second month and aims to make children aware of issues that affect them, their community and environment. We want to equip them with the tools and inspiration to become active and responsible world citizens. It is fun and informative and enhances what the children are learning at school.