The inaugural iLembe Book Festival will take place in Kwa-Zulu Natal next year under the theme Our Time, Our Stories, Our Voices.
The book festival – the brainchild of dynamic, award-winning South African authors – will take place at the Luthuli Museum in Groutville, KwaDukuza, part of the iLembe District Municipality, from Thursday, February 1, to Saturday, February 3, 2024.
Forming part of next year’s festival’s organising committee are Commonwealth Writers’ Prize winner Nozizwe Cynthia Jele, the acclaimed Hlomu series author and journalist Dudu Busani-Dube, and Scarred writer Ayanda Xaba.
Busani-Dube was determined to bring her love of books and reading to the iLembe area: “There isn’t a book festival in the region, and it is our responsibility as storytellers to promote a reading culture to communities, many of which are marginalised. Reading opens one’s mind to different things and different worlds and expands horizons. In order to create a culture of reading among children, we need to make books accessible to them and write stories they can relate to.”
Says Jele: “As a book lover, I wanted to tap into our knowledge of writing to nurture emerging local talent through writing workshops. Children are great imitators; one way to instil a reading culture is (as adults) to be seen reading and showing a passion for books. Another is buying children books and reading to them. On a practical level, reading helps build one’s language skills. Reading also opens your mind, makes you more aware of the world and its people, and perhaps makes you a little more empathetic.”
These are sentiments echoed by Xaba: “Children imitate what adults do, so as adults we should be seen reading, as well as reading to our children from a young age. Reading broadens the mind and allows children to learn, escape from life and be entertained. It boosts their creativity and is a television in their mind.”
Both Jele and Busani-Dube are members of the non-profit organisation, Happiness Literary Foundation (HLF) which fosters and promotes the culture of reading and writing within South Africa communities and invests in the professional development of local artists. The organisation offers several cultural and literary programmes and events for the artists and public that cover a range of global and local topics; the iLembe Book Festival is one of HLF’s programmes.
The iLembe Book Festival will incorporate the following:
Creative Writing Workshops taking place on Thursday and Friday, February 1 and 2, 2024, aimed at upskilling local aspiring authors.Visits to local primary and secondary schools to drop-off books and encourage young people to read and write. These will take place on Friday, February 2, 2024.Main book festival taking place on Saturday, February 3, 2024, comprising book discussions, one-on-one author sessions, book launches, book sales, poetry session and the children’s programme (targeting children all ages and will include a variety of events including story time and sing-along sessions).Book sales: The festival will offer a platform to an independent local bookseller to sell books at the event at discounted prices. In addition, the festival will have a special book stall for local self-published authors to allow them space to showcase their writing.Food, arts and craft vendors will be available on site on Saturday, February 3, 2024.
Busani-Dube believes that it is apt that the first festival will take place at the Luthuli Museum as it has substantial historical and cultural significance. In 1960, Chief Albert Luthuli was the first African to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent stance in the fight for liberation.
The last word to Jele: “With the theme Our Time, Our Stories, Our Voices, we hope to re-enforce the relevancy of owning our stories and voices and embracing and celebrating the diversity of those stories and voices. Year 2024 marks 30 years of democracy in our country and we have witnessed a remarkable shift in who gets to tell our stories. Consumption and publishing of African languages is to be embraced and promoted and this is what we hope to achieve with the iLembe Book Festival.”
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