ZIBF readies for bigger comeback

By Edmore Zvinonzwa

The Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) is readying itself for a full comeback next

year with a special two-day event in Harare that started today and ends tomorrow.

The Book Fair, whose last public event was in 2019, went into a two-year hiatus

occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Writer and chair of the Executive Board of the ZIBF, Memory Chirere said this year’s

event, which is running under the theme “Book industry: the dynamics within” will not

have the traditional indaba and several other meetings and workshops.

He said: “This two-day exhibition came as a result of a request from our members and

key exhibitors who, like us, felt that while we cannot afford a full book fair, we still need

to showcase a few items and ideas from the book industry as part of our plans to make

a build-up to a full book fair in 2023.

“We are hoping that the build-up exercise should start now; with a line-up of various

symposia on issues bedeviling the book industry in Zimbabwe. That is why our theme

this year is “Book industry: the dynamics within,” he said, indicating also that there will

be 13 local exhibitors at this year’s event. These exhibitors, the ZIBF Executive Board

chair said these exhibitors have been helping the book industry during the Covid-19

pandemic.

However, there will only be one workshop - the Librarians’ Workshop - tomorrow, which

is taking place out of the librarians’ own initiative. There is no indaba

Chirere, who also lectures at the University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Language,

Literature and Culture, said this event was an opportunity to send a message that they

still had a critical mass which is prepared to stage a comeback, adding that the

opportunity to dialogue formally and informally among stakeholders of the Book Fair,

including their traditional funding partners and new ones in order to start working

towards a successful comeback.

“All our members need to refocus and return to the fold because there is strength in

unity.

They needed to, Chirere said, engage the government, since they worked together in

the formulation of ZIBF.

“We need to engage government once more because they took part in the very

formulation of the ZIBF itself. Through relevant ministries, government provides the

base on which we stand through the schools, the teachers, the parents and for policies

that have a bearing on the book sector,” said Chirere.

The ZIBF was birthed in 1983 to create a platform for selling books, buying publishing,

translation and distribution rights, scout for literary talent as well as promote cultural

exchange in literature on a global level, among other objectives.

It grew to become the biggest and best in Africa, attracting thousands of book

enthusiasts, as well as writers and publishers, from across Africa and beyond,

especially in the 1990s.

The general economic situation, which started registering significant decline from

around 2000 and fall in the number of foreign exhibitors and visitors to the event led to a

decline in ZIBF activities.

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