The Zimbabwe International Book Fair, \”a week of book deals and literary debate . . . unmatched anywhere else south of the Sahara,\” has just wrapped up in Harare:
Last weekend, an Angolan publisher spoke on \”The Challenge of Publishing in a War-Torn Country\” and a Botswanan publishing manager explored \”The Risk of Producing Books in Indigenous Languages.\” During the week, writers could choose among workshops like \”Copyright Control: Can Africa Achieve It?\” and \”What Influences Does Religion Have in Writing for the Future?\” In hotel corridors and downtown cafes, scholars continued their discussions and debates in French, Portuguese and English.
In the gardens, amid row after row of bookstalls, eager publishers displayed even greater range, with works in adopted tongues and indigenous ones, like Yoruba and Tigrinya, Zulu and Afrikaans and Zimbabwe\’s languages, Ndebele and Shona . . . Librarians learn how to make their little budgets go a long way and can win small book-buying prizes. [More from the New York Times (registration required).]
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