The announcement of a collaboration between the Madrid Book Fair and the 72 Hours of the Book of Conakry created expectations that were not realized at the Fair. But behind the trail of the new association, there is a glimpse of a promising project driven by the love of books.
At the end of 2023, the Madrid Book Fair announced a partnership with the 72 Hours of the Book of Conakry (Guinea) (see MN, 624, pp. 30-35) to set up a booth that, under the name «Books of Africa », would offer the public «the opportunity to learn about the works and publishers that publish African literature», beyond those brought to the Fair by the editors and booksellers present at the event. Its director, Eva Orúe, explained to us that the proposal had arisen from the organizers of Conakry, who wanted to invite authors from other countries. “For us it is interesting because it opens a window to a place that we have not normally looked at, despite the fact that more and more African books are published in Spain,” said Orúe. The announcement and the lack of specificity about what was going to be done allowed the imagination to fly. Will they bring the African editions or will they translate some? Will authors or editors accompany you? “They will be in charge of bringing the books and someone will attend to the public in Spanish,” added the director. We have insisted to them that we are not a professional book fair, but rather a commercial and popular one. Little else was known. We had to wait to see the proposal in person.
And June arrived, with the Retiro booths set up on those days when the rain and the scorching sun threaten, in equal measure, the public and booksellers. The first impression was somewhat discouraging. More than African literature, what the promised stand offered were travel guides to Guinea and other tourist and institutional books. There was Sansy Kaba Diakité (in the image), director of the L’Harmattan publishing house, from Guinea, and of the 72 Hours of the Book, an event equivalent to the one that took place those days in the Madrid city. We arranged an interview with him, who immediately revealed the reasons for his presence in Spain. “Ouagadougou is the African capital of cinema, Bamako of photography, Dakar is the African capital of contemporary arts, the same with Abidjan for music… We want to create an African book biennial in Conakry,” he told us. The idea arose in 2017, when we were chosen by UNESCO as the World Book Capital for one year. That’s why we are here, in Madrid, which was the first capital of the book. We are looking for support, foundations and experts to help us make Conakry the book platform in Africa. We want to be the reference in creativity, translation and education in relation to the professions of writing and books.
Influenced by his father, a teacher who after retiring opened a bookstore in Kankan, his hometown, and a library in his high school, Diakité grew up surrounded by books: “He taught me to love them. As a child I had the pleasure of reading. His love of reading led him to create an association at the university to share his readings and, later, to found his own publishing house after his studies in France.
The 72 Hours of the Book are celebrated every year starting on April 23 to coincide with World Book Day. The UNESCO nomination in 2017 was a milestone, both for the fair and for the country’s culture. «It had an extraordinary impact. We took the opportunity to diagnose the state of the book and the idea of the biennial arose,” he explains. “In addition, we participate in all the major book fairs and salons in the world, from Frankfurt to Los Angeles and, from there, to Djibouti,” he added.
One of the challenges of books in Africa is distribution. The editor highlights geographical and language barriers. “Books published in Guinea do not reach Nigeria or Burkina Faso,” he said. The biennial will help solve this obstacle by creating a space that fosters links and facilitates the translation and distribution of books supported by technologies such as digital printing presses. «Nowadays we don’t need to transport as much. A book published in Nigeria can be printed in Guinea by paying the copyright and the publisher. These are techniques that we are developing through the African Publishers Network (APNET).”
Kaba Diakité works to involve all African countries and organizations such as the International Union of Publishers or the International Union of Booksellers. The search for partners and support is vital for the success of the project, and hence its time in Madrid, which it hopes to repeat in the coming years with more resources and doing more justice to the name of the booth. Perhaps in the future, not only will the collaboration between fairs be more prosperous, but it will also serve to collaborate in the transformation of the African publishing industry. A change that would help share, more and more, the pleasure of reading.
At the end of 2023, the Madrid Book Fair announced a partnership with the 72 Hours of the Book of Conakry (Guinea) (see MN, 624, pp. 30-35) to set up a booth that, under the name «Books of Africa », would offer the public «the opportunity to learn about the works and publishers that publish African literature», beyond those brought to the Fair by the editors and booksellers present at the event. Its director, Eva Orúe, explained to us that the proposal had arisen from the organizers of Conakry, who wanted to invite authors from other countries. “For us it is interesting because it opens a window to a place that we have not normally looked at, despite the fact that more and more African books are being published in Spain,” said Orúe. The announcement and the lack of specificity about what was going to be done allowed the imagination to fly. Will they bring the African editions or will they translate some? Will authors or editors accompany you? “They will be in charge of bringing the books and someone will attend to the public in Spanish,” added the director. We have insisted to them that we are not a professional book fair, but rather a commercial and popular one. Little else was known. We had to wait to see the proposal in person.
And June arrived, with the Retiro booths set up on those days when the rain and the scorching sun threaten, in equal measure, the public and booksellers. The first impression was somewhat discouraging. More than African literature, what the promised stand offered were travel guides to Guinea and other tourist and institutional books. There was Sansy Kaba Diakité (in the image), director of the L’Harmattan publishing house, from Guinea, and of the 72 Hours of the Book, an event equivalent to the one that took place those days in the Madrid city. We arranged an interview with him, who immediately revealed the reasons for his presence in Spain. “Ouagadougou is the African capital of cinema, Bamako of photography, Dakar is the African capital of contemporary arts, the same with Abidjan for music… We want to create an African book biennial in Conakry,” he told us. The idea arose in 2017, when we were chosen by UNESCO as the World Book Capital for one year. That’s why we are here, in Madrid, which was the first capital of the book. We are looking for support, foundations and experts to help us make Conakry the book platform in Africa. We want to be the reference in creativity, translation and education in relation to the professions of writing and books.
Influenced by his father, a teacher who after retiring opened a bookstore in Kankan, his hometown, and a library in his high school, Diakité grew up surrounded by books: “He taught me to love them. As a child I had the pleasure of reading. His love of reading led him to create an association at the university to share his readings and, later, to found his own publishing house after his studies in France.
The 72 Hours of the Book are celebrated every year starting on April 23 to coincide with World Book Day. The UNESCO nomination in 2017 was a milestone, both for the fair and for the country’s culture. «It had an extraordinary impact. We took the opportunity to diagnose the state of the book and the idea of the biennial arose,” he explains. “In addition, we participate in all the major book fairs and salons in the world, from Frankfurt to Los Angeles and, from there, to Djibouti,” he added.
One of the challenges of books in Africa is distribution. The editor highlights geographical and language barriers. “Books published in Guinea do not reach Nigeria or Burkina Faso,” he said. The biennial will help solve this obstacle by creating a space that fosters links and facilitates the translation and distribution of books supported by technologies such as digital printing presses. «Nowadays we don’t need to transport as much. A book published in Nigeria can be printed in Guinea by paying the copyright and the publisher. These are techniques that we are developing through the African Publishers Network (APNET).”
Kaba Diakité works to involve all African countries and organizations such as the International Union of Publishers or the International Union of Booksellers. The search for partners and support is vital for the success of the project, and hence its time in Madrid, which it hopes to repeat in the coming years with more resources and doing more justice to the name of the booth. Perhaps in the future, not only will the collaboration between fairs be more prosperous, but it will also serve to collaborate in the transformation of the African publishing industry. A change that would help share, more and more, the pleasure of reading.
Photography: Gonzalo Gómez/MN
