Zimbabwe International Book Fair

The Zimbabwe International Book Fair was held for the first time in 1983 in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Until the opening of the Cape Town Book Fair in 2006 it was one of the main book fairs of Africa.

Zimbabwe Book Fair 2012

History

Since 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 Book Fair was honoured with the principal Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands, which was founded at this year. 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
  1. Prince Claus Fund, profile
  2. The Daily Star (29 January 2008) Censorship trims fare at Cairo International Book Fair.
  3. IGLHRC (8 January 1995) Zimbabwe: Gay and Lesbian Group Barred from Book Fair; President Threatens Gay Group
  4. Kubatana (4 February 2005) Cape Town Book Fair to eclipse Zimbabwe Archived 12 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Monster Sand Critics, Robert Mugabe biography. Archived 12 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
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