Book enthusiasts in KwaZulu-Natal are up for a treat as South African award-winning authors debut a book festival.
The iLembe Book Festival is the brainchild of dynamic authors including and the organising committee consisting of Hlomu series writer Dudu Busani-Dube, The Maidens & The Bear writer Ayanda Xaba, and Nozizwe Cynthia Jele, who penned Happiness is a four-letter word.
The three days special event for lectiophiles will debut at Luthuli Museum in Groutville, KwaDukuza themed Our Time, Our Stories, Our Voices.
The event is aimed at promoting literature under iLembe District Municipality and help improve reading culture in schools and communities.
Upskilling writers
The festival will kick off with creative writing workshops on February 1 and 2, aimed at upskilling local aspiring authors. The team will then visit primary and secondary schools in the area for book drop offs to encourage reading and writing.
The main event will then take place on February 3, 2024 comprising of book discussions, poetry sessions, and one-on-one author sessions, among other activities.
Busani-Dube said the area deserved a chance in exploring reading and writing culture to explore the creativity of their brain.
“There isn’t a book festival in the region, and it is our responsibility as storytellers to promote a reading culture to communities, many of which are marginalised.
Broadening horizons
“Reading opens one’s mind to different things and different worlds and expands horizons. In order to create a culture of reading among children, we need to make books accessible to them and write stories they can relate to,” said The Zulu Wedding author.
She said the Luthuli Museum was a significant space to host the event as Chief Albert Luthuli was the first African to bag a Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent stance in the fight for liberation in 1960.
Xaba believes that reading culture should be instilled at a young age by being read to and seeing adults do it all the time.
[irp posts=”153533″ ]“Children imitate what adults do, so as adults we should be seen reading, as well as reading to our children from a young age. Reading broadens the mind and allows children to learn, escape from life and entertained. It boosts their creativity and is a television in their mind,” said Xaba.
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2011 and the 2011 M-Net Literary Award in Film Category winner, Jele, said children were great imitators and need adults to be seen showing passion for books.
She said children also needed to have their own reading books to improve language and skills.
“Reading also opens your mind, makes you more aware of the world and its people, and perhaps makes you a little more empathetic.
“With the theme Our Time, Our Stories, Our Voices, we hope to re-enforce the relevancy of owning our stories and voices and embracing and celebrating the diversity of those stories and voices,” said Jele.[irp posts=”152872″ ]
The event will have special book stalls for book sales, including self-published authors to allow them space have a bigger space to show off their writing skills.
Stalls are also open for food, arts and craft vendors on February 3.
She said next year would mark 30 years of democracy and this has effectively shown a shift on who gets to tell local stories and it was time to celebrate African languages.
