The Cape Town Book fair, 2008 at the CICC started today, 14th June; all the stops were pulled! It was clear that every detail had been taken into careful consideration, starting with the parking which was directed by a team of uniformed car attendants to regulate the flow, which was plenty, to the way each stall was organised and arranged to almost perfection. Every kind of book that one can imagine was on display and available to the book lovers that had come in droves to this celebration of the written word. The crowd was as diverse as only South Africa can be, everyone from young school children, to prominent political figures and everyone in between, had graced this event with their presence. The atmosphere was inviting. One could sense a camaraderie between everyone, as we had all been brought to that space because of a common love for the written word. I could almost say that there was an air of togetherness and a common cause.
It was a moving experience, especially since it was for Voxpop Africa media, the very first appearance ever at this book fair. We were ready for a lot of action.
Being the avid readers that we are, we could not wait to strike conversations with some of our favourite authors as well as the authors whose work we were yet to read.
We were prepared for quite a ride, and boy was it a ride and a half.
We started off by going to a panel discussion by four young writers, of which two were a personal favourite of ours. Of the four writers one was a woman, Zukiswa Wanner , author of Behind every successful man; Niq Mhlongo who wrote After Tears and Dog eat Dog; Thembelani Ngenelwa The day I died and Willem Anker.
Niq Mhlongo interviewed
Niq again
Thembelani Ngenelwa
Each author was asked to tell us what inspired their writing and for whom w the books were written. It was very interested to get insight to these creative young South Africans, whose writing represents the thinking of young people post 1994.
Voxpop Africa was lucky to do some one-on-one interviews with some of the panelist which we hope to make available online.
George Bizos
Apart from these remarkable young writers, we also had the privilege of interviewing the prominent human rights lawyer George Bizos, which was a very humbling experience indeed. One often times does not realise how great one considers one’s heroes to be, until one is in their presence. It was such a great opportunity for us to come into contact with this man who has played such a pivotal role in the history of our country, a man who has helped shape the destiny of this nation, one who chose to fight and defend the freedom that we now enjoy. It was an honour to have an opportunity to converse with him.
As I said, the book fair started only today and will continue for the next few days, I can’t wait to see what each day will bring.
