12 Apr 2018

Gaborone Book Festival (GBF) Trust co-founder, Kenanao Phele says in an effort to expose local writers and cultivate a spirit of reading among Batswana, they will host a book festival from September 21-22.

Briefing the media at the launch of the Trust on April 10, Kenanao said their love for books and the fact that local writers were under-marketed inspired them to form the Book Festival Trust to attract people of all races, genders and background and foster a love  for reading.

With the main objective being to bring readers, writers, publishers and thinkers together for a discussion, the festival also aims to promote not only Botswana but African literature.

Kenanao noted that time was nigh to tell, capture and embrace local stories and create a sustainable yet creative platform where authors, readers and thinkers can fully engage and discuss.

“The book festival is expected to last a period of three days during which one day will be exclusive for published writers where they will engage with each other through workshop and seminars. 

The other days will be exclusive for the school programmes where authors will engage with students by reading to them and giving motivational talks,” she said.

For her part,the other trust co-founder, Keikantse Phele mentioned that inspiring students and learners was also a big component of the trust .

She added that the GBF volunteers had on February 1, which is a World Read Aloud Day, visited Camp Primary School and engaged with over 600 learners in a Read Aloud Drive.

She said the purpose of the initiative was to build their listening comprehension skills as well as their confidence.

Furthermore, she added that the trust would hold its first Book Night of the year at the University of Botswana Auditorium on April 23, with the aim to feature and celebrate Batswana authors.

Authors include Kagiso Madibana, Modirwa Kekwaletswe, Lauri Kubuetsile and Thabo Katholo who will converse with the audience.

Apart from the annual Book festival and Book Night, another platform through which the trust intends to push its mandate is the monthly reviews which would be in a form of a book club that would bring people together to discuss and review books that have been read.

Thus, she called on partners to come aboard and support the initiative to help the Trust realise its mandate. ENDS