Well Done, ZIBF

The Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) Board has announced plans for 2014, and their theme looks great. It's kind of book fair I would love to attend. The focus of the theme is on literature and art in indigenous African languages. Below is the full text of a letter to stakeholders by Executive Board chairperson Musaemura Zimunya.




Dear Stakeholders
The Executive Board of The Zimbabwe International Book Fair Association with the approval of General Council has identified the following as our Theme for ZIBF 2014: Indigenous Languages, Literature, Art and Knowledge Systems of Africa.
 In arriving at this Theme, we were guided by a few factors, among which are:
ü   The overwhelming submissions on the subject of African languages, literatures, heritages and knowledge systems whose majority were unfortunate to be turned down for lack of space in the just ended ZIBF 2013 Indaba Conference Programme;

ü   The enlightening presentations in the ZIBF 2013 Indaba on patterns and benefits of the use of African medicines and the dangers of losing valuable health practices due to prejudice and official neglect and the timely movement to beneficiate African heritages through the tourism economy;
ü   The compelling indications from the ZIBF 2013 Writers Workshop regarding the urgency to recognize African languages, literatures and art forms as creative media and repositories of knowledge systems deserving as much attention as languages and literatures conveyed in English and other Western languages;
ü   The necessity to recognize and celebrate the vast literary and academic productions and publications in and about African languages in Zimbabwe and other countries across the African continent;
ü    Sending a message of support and encouragement to authors, readers, researchers and publishers in these language media that their efforts play a vital role in intellectual growth, national and African continental development;

ü    Embracing the hitherto marginalized languages of Zimbabwe that are now legally recognized under our new Zimbabwean constitution which have a potential to transform our understanding of our national identity and the importance of tolerance of ethnic diversity; and
ü    The vast potential for creating a truly festive atmosphere through the participation of African folk artists, readers folk artists and performers as part of the activities of our 2014 Book Fair.
We would like to advise all interested presenters and participants to expect our substantial Call for Abstracts by the end of January, 2014.

We plan to run our traditional Book Fair events such as The Young Person’s Indaba, Traders Day, The Exhibitions, Live Literature, Writers’ Workshop, Children’s Reading Tent and Meet the Author and hereby advise you to make a note of the following important dates:-


·         The Bulawayo Book Fair             28 – 29 March 2014


·         The Masvingo Book Fair             30 – 31 May 2014


·         The Harare Book Fair                  28 July – 2 August 2014


·         The Mutare Book Fair                 26 – 27 September 2014


·         The Gweru Book Fair                   24 – 25 October 2014


 Your continued support is fully appreciated.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Sincerely


Musa Zimunya
Chair, Executive Board, ZIBF
Website: www.zibfa.org.zw

      Telephone: +263 4 702104, 702108, 705729,  707352

       Tel/Fax: +263 4 702129

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FREEDOM, a poem on South Africa by Afzal Moolla

Freedom The shackles have been cast off. Chains broken. People once squashed, under the jackboot of Apartheid, are free. Free at last! Freedom came on the 27th day in that April, 1994. Freedom from prejudice. From institutionalised racism. From being relegated to second-class citizenship. Freedom came and we danced. We cried. We ululated as we elected our revered Mandela. President Nelson Mandela. Our very own beloved 'Madiba'. Black and white and brown and those in-between, All hues of this rainbow nation, rejoiced as we breathed in the air of freedom and democracy. Today we pause. We remember. We salute. The brave ones whose sacrifices made this day possible, on that 27th day of April, 18 years ago. Today we dance. We sing. We ululate. We cry. Tears of joy and tears of loss. Of remembrance and of forgiveness. Of reconciliation and of memories. Today we pause. We acknowledge the tasks ahead. The hungry. The naked. The destitut
Read more

Abuja Writers' Forum Call for Submissions

Wordsbody has announced the following call for submissions: CAVALCADE literary journal, devoted to publishing original stories, poems,one-act plays, reviews, critical essays and art from an African perspective,will debut in October 2008 with a special edition. The tri-annual journal, a project of the Abuja Writers' Forum (AWF), is now seeking submissions for the second and third editions. Deadline: October 30, 2008 See more details here: Contribute to Cavalcade.
Read more

Importance of African Languages in African Literature

Once in a while, I check  the search engines terms that are driving the most traffic to my blog, Wealth of Ideas, and the searches are often revealing of what kinds of information people are looking for  at any time. Today, of the several interesting ones,  "the importance of African languages in African literature" stood out. It's a topic I too am passionate about. I have written about it before in a post entitled " Language in African Literature ", but even this doesn't begin to cover the most important facts about the issue. Perhaps one day I will write treatise on the topic of language in African literature, and mini posts like this are my way of mapping a project description. But now let's go to some serious stuff on African languages in African Literature. Let me start by saying that I am annoyed by glossaries. Their intent seems to be to appeal to a foreign audience, or, most importantly, to any speakers for whom the glossaried language is forei
Read more