Get your reading glasses out and your literary face on: the South African Book Fair is coming to Cape Town from 13-15 June! We chatted to the book fair’s programme director, Batya Green-Bricker, to find out a little bit more about this prestigious annual event (and to help us decide which books to delve into next!). Check out the interview, here.
How did you decide what to put in the programme for this year’s SA Book Fair?
The first step was to identify all aspects of SA’s diverse publishing landscape and to create a skeleton of themes that would showcase this diversity. I then invited publishers to suggest authors, books and discussion panels that would support this thematic skeleton.The programme evolved as the books and authors contributed to it. Ultimately, we wanted to emphasise that whatever your interest, whatever your passion, whoever you are – there is a book that can and will inspire, entertain, inform, educate or delight you.
How important is an event like this for authors, writers, publishers and, of course, readers?
Fairs are a way of making books come alive. Reading and writing are both solitary pursuits, and the opportunity for authors and writers to engage with each other – for authors to meet fans and get their feedback, for readers to meet and get a sense of the person-behind-the-pen is invaluable, and frankly, enormous fun!
What are you most looking forward to about this year’s book fair?
The serious debates about current affairs that affect us on a daily basis (we have an obsession with current affairs and the hype around Oscar’s case proves this) and also book events with fabulous and funky women – Karen Dudley, Jenny Morris, Helen Moffat, Melinda Ferguson – over food and wine.
What can first-time goers expect from the SA Book Fair?
A huge book buzz! An exhibition hall packed with everything the South African book-world has to offer, a boggling array of events, a host of international and local authors, book signings, hot debates, plenty of workshops on how to get published and writing your own story, food tasting and a splendiferous children’s zone.
Your favourite novels?
Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Viktor Frankel’s Man’s Search for Meaning, Jane Austen’s timeless classic Pride and Prejudice, Tsitsi Dangarembga’s groundbreaking Nervous Conditions and Daniel Silva’s thrillers.
Who are your favourite SA novelists?
I am a huge fan of Rayda Jacobs. She writes honestly and beautifully about the complexities of Muslim and female identity in sheltered communities –Confessions of a Gambler is one of my best books of all time. I adore Chris van Wyk for his humour and human touch and Deon Meyer for his page-turning thrillers, to name just a few.
A favourite quote from an author?
There are many, but a recent one from the inimitable Pieter Dirk Uys (who will be at the bookfair) that resonated with me:“Just because people don’t exist, doesn’t mean they are not real.” I think this captures the magic of imagination and the power of the world that books and writing can create.
To find out more, head to the South African Book Fair website.
