The Zimbabwe International Book Fair was held for the first time in 1983 in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. It was founded by David Martin (late), Phylis Johnson and Charles Mungoshi (late). Until the opening of the Cape Town Book Fair in 2006 it was one of the main book fairs of Africa.
History
editSince 1991 the fair was organized by Trish Mbanga (until at least 1997) and under her leadership grew to be an important meeting point for publishers, writers, poets and translators.[1] The largest book fair of Africa is the Cairo International Book Fair, which focuses on the Arab world and largely on the readers.[2]
In 1997, the Zimbabwe International Book Fair was honoured with the principal Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands. The jury praised the book fair's networking function in combination with its modern and practical approach.[1]
After President Robert Mugabe in August 1995 expressed a virulent attack on homosexuals at the fair, voices arose to move the fair to Johannesburg in South Africa. The Cape Town Book Fair was subsequently established in June 2006, in cooperation with the German Frankfurt Book Fair. Earlier, an "International South African Education, Training, School Supplies and Book Market Exhibition" had also been organized in Johannesburg.[3][4][5]
References
edit- ^ a b Prince Claus Fund, profile
- ^ Agence France Presse (29 January 2008) "Censorship trims fare at Cairo International Book Fair" Archived 7 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine<, The Daily Star.
- ^ IGLHRC (8 January 1995) "Zimbabwe: Gay and Lesbian Group Barred from Book Fair; President Threatens Gay Group".[permanent dead link]
- ^ Kubatana (4 February 2005) "Cape Town Book Fair to eclipse Zimbabwe", African Review of Books Archived 12 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Monster Sand Critics, Robert Mugabe biography. Archived 12 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine