South African Book Fair – Moving boldly forward.

South Africa’s Deputy President, His Excellency, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, lauded the South African Book Development Council (SABDC) for their efforts in developing a reading nation through their considered positioning of the South African Book Fair this year.

“We are hoping that out of this Book Fair we will be able to improve the reading culture in our country,” he said whilst attending the Fair in Johannesburg in September.

“If we want to develop our children to be active participants in economic growth – we must encourage children as young as 6 years old to read,” he added, emphasizing the importance of reading as both a lifestyle and family exercise.

It was a coup d’etat for the SABDC that the Deputy President attended the Fair and took the time to walk through the entire exhibition at Museum Africa, stopping to chat to both new and established publishing houses, booksellers, writers and practitioners.

“The industry has been undervalued for too long. It has a critical role to play in the development and economic transformation of South Africa. Government and industry alike share in this lack of perception of value. In making ourselves visible and engaging with all South Africans, we are able to change the narrative of our industry and how it relates to government and South Africa,” says Elitha van der Sandt, CEO of the SABDC.

The 2017 Fair was opened by the Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, Hon. Ms. Makhotso Sotyu and guest of honour Prof. Zakes Mda, who set the tone for a revolutionary sentiment to resonate throughout the duration of the event. Both were unequivocal in their support for the development of African publishing, particularly in relation to the importance of writing in indigenous languages.

Representing industry bodies such as the Publishing and Bookselling Associations of South Africa, it is the Council’s mandate to increase access to books, both in terms of creating a reading culture, and in effect contributing to a more diverse and representative industry. It furthermore aims to ensure that the book sector is a national priority.

“The Council’s point of departure in the envisioning of SABF 2017 was the belief that the book industry remains rather sharply disconnected from a large part of the South African population. Concurrent with that belief was its finding, reached through its research, that South Africans, including government, were unfortunately not very embracing of the industry. It is fair to say that perceptions of the book industry in South Africa are neutral at best and downright negative at times,” says van der Sandt,.

“For the new model of the SABF to be successful and to thrive in years to come, changing these perceptions has been treated as paramount by the SABDC. The Fair’s implementation, therefore, was based on this revised vision; and the choice of every element including location, venues, themes, creative design and marketing, authors, speakers and programmes linked back to it.”

The creative elements of the Fair were very strong. The goal was to create a modern aesthetic that went well beyond gimmick and elevated African design as both an art form and a conduit for expression. The designs were vibrant and bold. Each participating author had their portrait illustrated in bright colours. They were quite simply, beautiful and served a unifying purpose for the participants.

The SABF’s literary programme was filled with new and vibrant voices from the continent. Of the 116 Authors that took part in 72 literary sessions, 70% were black. The audience was 80% black. The dialogues were insightful, philosophical and based squarely in the African narrative.

The diverse audience had access to 76 exhibitors at the Fair including new and established publishing houses, a research lane with the university presses present, new and established booksellers.

“The exhibition is the only opportunity industry has to present itself to the country, and the chief event for people to get to know and learn about books and the industry that produces them. This is key to the book industry’s positive engagement and interaction with the country at large. The 2017 exhibition was critical in giving the Deputy President and other visiting politicians a sense of the industry,” says van der Sandt.

As the organisers work hard towards increasing the engagement with government and new audiences, the SABDC encourages the industry to use the opportunities in terms of showcasing what they are doing and how they are moving to diversity in terms of representation and product.

The fair is a unique opportunity to share industry challenges with government, where open debate can take place around lack of movement on a book policy, why indigenous language publishing is an unfunded mandate, and how the book serves our society and country.

“We need to discuss what transformation in the book sector actually means, what government requires from the industry, what the public deem appropriate and what industry is offering? These are difficult conversations, but the SABF is the place to discuss our collective action for a book industry that meets the needs of a diverse South Africa. says van der Sandt.
A key thread in the implementation of the SABF, is increasing opportunity and access to mainstream industry for SMMEs and entrepreneurs. The SABDC, in association with the Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA) and the Fibre Processing & Manufacturing Seta (FP&M Seta), introduced an Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) through very welcome exhibitor subsidies. The FP& M Seta is the main funder of the SABF.
“The FP&M SETA is proud to be involved with the South African Book Fair and in the facilitation of the Enterprise Development Programme. We are committed to uplifting SMMEs in the publishing sector in order to grow small businesses and ensure the sustainability of their businesses for the future. This programme will open up a host of opportunities for job creation, expose small, local businesses to international opportunities and represent South African publishing on a global scale.” Says the CEO of the FP&M Seta, Felleng Yende, about the Seta’s involvement in the Fair.
Sixty-five SMME`s and entrepreneurs were given an opportunity to exhibit and participate at the SABF. Included were publishers, new writers, illustrators, booksellers and an experienced cadre of indigenous language editors. These exhibitors were drawn from all provinces.
The numbers are always important and the SABDC reports that an estimated 3 000 visitors attended the Fair. Although this was a smaller number than the SABDC would have liked, the successful reaching to and incorporation into the Fair of a more representative and new audience offset the limited number of visitors. The audience engaging with SABF 2017 was predominantly black and also younger than has been the norm.

The repositioned Fair aims to connect with South African’s from every demographic and will continue to engage with the industry bodies and businesses in the lead up to the 2018 Fair which will take place again in Newtown from 7-9 September.

In 2016 the SABDC set out to revisit the concept and relevance of a national book fair in South Africa. It acknowledged more traditional views of what such a fair should be, while at the same time starting on a new journey  that of responding to mounting calls for a more reflective and representative showcase of South African (and African) literature and culture. As part of this journey, the SABDC also committed to creating greater access to the event for all South Africans; and dedicated itself to engaging audiences who ordinarily do not form part of mainstream book-industry events.

This trajectory will continue in 2018.

“We believe that the Fair was extremely successful in charting a new course for the South African book industry. It was successful in laying the strategic foundation for an inclusive, mainstream event that in all respects mirrors South Africa and Africa. The SABDC will build on this strategic foundation moving forward, through continuous engagement with mainstream industry and with the rest of the country, in order to craft a national book fair that everyone is proud of. We envision the industry, government and people from all walks of life embracing the concept and reality of a book-producing sector that embodies and brings diverse voices to all citizens through the medium of the book,” concludes Nikki Crowster, Chairperson of the SABF Steering Committee, SABDC Member and the President Elect for Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA).