THE second Johannesburg book expo the, Jozi Book Fair, which took place at Museum Africa in Johannesburg at the weekend, attracted an increased number of exhibitors.
But the low turnout of visitors to the exhibition, which took place from Saturday to Monday, was disappointing.
Why has this noble idea failed to attract the masses, especially from the townships, which are clearly fertile ground for potential bookworms?
Granted, some of the books are way out of the reach of ordinary people who have to decide between buying a loaf of bread or a book.
Well, books cannot compete with the stomach, that fact we know. The point is that the crowd was not even there to "have a look" at the wares.
The book fair is organised annually by Khanya College and is aimed at stimulating a culture of reading.
The fair, which attracts mainly non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are active in literature, and small emerging commercial publishers, is struggling to fulfil its main purpose - that of luring the formerly marginalised to the book market.
Last year, at its debut, the fair saw about 1000 visitors, who paid an entrance fee of R10, and 40 exhibitors who showcased their books. The books ranged from novels, journals to books in the genre of politics, motivation, spirituality and even anarchy.
This year most of the visitors who steadily filed in and out of the doors of Museum Africa were mainly those that already read books - middle-class visitors, with a disappointing absence of working class bookworms, who are really the market the fair wants to attract.
What are the organisers not doing right?
That's easy to ask but the answer is difficult to pinpoint. It certainly cannot be explained by the perennial working class headache: public transport problems.
Museum Africa, situated conveniently in the heart of Newtown, is accessible from the M1 South and the M1 North, by public transport from the nearby Bree Taxi Rank. This seems to be the ideal location for a book fair aimed at attracting the masses.
Exhibitors talked to agreed that the scope of the Jozi Book Fair, which aims to mainstream small emerging publishers, is a noble idea with the potential to change the disturbing patterns of the reading culture in the country.
Most exhibitors' beef was the marketing of the fair, which seems to be running on a shoestring budget.
Driving around the townships, or even around the city, it was difficult to see a sign that gave a hint of a book fair taking place in this major city - and this was one of the complaints of the exhibitors.
They appeared to be correct. The only banners I saw advertising the fair were the two at the entrance to Museum Africa, though there was talk of others displayed somewhere else in the city.
None of the exhibitors, except the organisers themselves, seemed to have seen such banners. If indeed they were there, they were hidden in some obscure part of the city, defeating the whole purpose of visibility.
But, on an encouraging note for the organisers, the fair this year attracted about 60 exhibitors - an increase of 20 more compared with last year from both the local book industry and international ones.
Prominent guest authors from abroad, including Lindsey Collen, graced the fair this year. Collen, a political activist and Commonwealth Writers' Prize winner, has also worked as a teacher, nurses' assistant, community worker and potato harvester.
The discussions in some of the sessions were quite engaging. For example, Pumla Dineo Gqola's launch of her book What is Slavery to Me?: Postcolonial Memory and the Post Apartheid Imagination and Ntsiki Mazwai's Wena, a poetry anthology were interesting.
Mazwai's launch, resembled a kwaito gig, since mostly her peers came in large numbers to fill the auditorium, a clear sign that the book, which deals with youth identity crisis, particularly the emergence of a middle-class youth culture derisively known as coconut culture, is almost certainly likely to do well on the market.
Also, though in Gqola's session, the crowd was small, they were vocal and engaged the author intelligently about the subject of her book - slavery.
Book fair fails to woo fans
THE second Johannesburg book expo the, Jozi Book Fair, which took place at Museum Africa in Johannesburg at the weekend, attracted an increased number of exhibitors.
But the low turnout of visitors to the exhibition, which took place from Saturday to Monday, was disappointing.
Why has this noble idea failed to attract the masses, especially from the townships, which are clearly fertile ground for potential bookworms?
Granted, some of the books are way out of the reach of ordinary people who have to decide between buying a loaf of bread or a book.
Well, books cannot compete with the stomach, that fact we know. The point is that the crowd was not even there to "have a look" at the wares.
The book fair is organised annually by Khanya College and is aimed at stimulating a culture of reading.
The fair, which attracts mainly non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are active in literature, and small emerging commercial publishers, is struggling to fulfil its main purpose - that of luring the formerly marginalised to the book market.
Last year, at its debut, the fair saw about 1000 visitors, who paid an entrance fee of R10, and 40 exhibitors who showcased their books. The books ranged from novels, journals to books in the genre of politics, motivation, spirituality and even anarchy.
This year most of the visitors who steadily filed in and out of the doors of Museum Africa were mainly those that already read books - middle-class visitors, with a disappointing absence of working class bookworms, who are really the market the fair wants to attract.
What are the organisers not doing right?
That's easy to ask but the answer is difficult to pinpoint. It certainly cannot be explained by the perennial working class headache: public transport problems.
Museum Africa, situated conveniently in the heart of Newtown, is accessible from the M1 South and the M1 North, by public transport from the nearby Bree Taxi Rank. This seems to be the ideal location for a book fair aimed at attracting the masses.
Exhibitors talked to agreed that the scope of the Jozi Book Fair, which aims to mainstream small emerging publishers, is a noble idea with the potential to change the disturbing patterns of the reading culture in the country.
Most exhibitors' beef was the marketing of the fair, which seems to be running on a shoestring budget.
Driving around the townships, or even around the city, it was difficult to see a sign that gave a hint of a book fair taking place in this major city - and this was one of the complaints of the exhibitors.
They appeared to be correct. The only banners I saw advertising the fair were the two at the entrance to Museum Africa, though there was talk of others displayed somewhere else in the city.
None of the exhibitors, except the organisers themselves, seemed to have seen such banners. If indeed they were there, they were hidden in some obscure part of the city, defeating the whole purpose of visibility.
But, on an encouraging note for the organisers, the fair this year attracted about 60 exhibitors - an increase of 20 more compared with last year from both the local book industry and international ones.
Prominent guest authors from abroad, including Lindsey Collen, graced the fair this year. Collen, a political activist and Commonwealth Writers' Prize winner, has also worked as a teacher, nurses' assistant, community worker and potato harvester.
The discussions in some of the sessions were quite engaging. For example, Pumla Dineo Gqola's launch of her book What is Slavery to Me?: Postcolonial Memory and the Post Apartheid Imagination and Ntsiki Mazwai's Wena, a poetry anthology were interesting.
Mazwai's launch, resembled a kwaito gig, since mostly her peers came in large numbers to fill the auditorium, a clear sign that the book, which deals with youth identity crisis, particularly the emergence of a middle-class youth culture derisively known as coconut culture, is almost certainly likely to do well on the market.
Also, though in Gqola's session, the crowd was small, they were vocal and engaged the author intelligently about the subject of her book - slavery.
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