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"Unfortunately you are not South African!" she said, as she walked into
stand 281 in Harare Gardens. A young woman, obviously of Indian origin,
obviously walked off her feet. "Never mind, just sit, let's talk," I
replied. She said her name was Gaby, that she was doing an article on South
African writers for her paper, that her folks were originally from Goa, that
her mother had visited India for the first time only recently, that she
hadn't been... Then she got up, looked at some books. She picked up Suresh
and the Sea, a book about the boy from a fishing community, flipped through
its pages and said feelingly, "Why can't more children's books have
photographs!"
Who would have thought that the publisher, Tulika, a small Chennai-based
house dedicated to books for children would be at the Zimbabwe International
Book Fair? In books and in person? Ever? That's opportunity.
Ups . . .
For a first-timer like myself, ZIBF was a good initiation to the ways – and
wiles! – of book fairs. For one, the chance to show (off?!) our books in a
part of the world they would otherwise never be seen. Going by the
stranglehold certain distributors have on that market, books by small
publishers such as Tulika would not be anywhere in the picture (and there
are several reasons for this, not the least being superior production).
Which leads on to the consideration that stands 281-282 showcased possibly
the best in Indian publishing and covered children's books more
comprehensively than on many other occasions. As Ritu said – not unduly
modest, she – when we boarded SAA 277 in Mumbai: "If something happens, the
cream of Indian publishing will be wiped out!" Wuwuwuwuwuwu! as they say in
Africa.
For another, although ZIBF '99 was essentially an Africa affair, there was
interest in our work. It helped too that the theme of the fair was women;
people said it made the fair bigger than it has been all these years. To
quote Saul Molobi, Publishing Director of Heinemann Publishers, South
Africa, the sisters were there in full force. However that is,
it certainly
was a thrill rubbing shoulders – and matching girths – with African writers
from all over the continent, talking to some of them. Or just getting them
to sign books!
. . . and downs
Within the first two days of the fair, however, I managed to learn a very
very hard lesson: never, ever, set out without at least 25 copies of the
catalogue, one full set of books and at least 50 business cards, not even if
all of this has been parcelled off over three weeks in advance. Because,
although the books arrived, the catalogues didn't and it really felt awful
to hand out the catalogues of all the other publishers to visitors, all
except ours.
Of course there was our newsletter. Called Goodbooks for Children and Young
People – Goodbooks is the marketing wing of Tulika Publishers – it is a
platform for discussion, debate, review, exercise open to all those
interested in books and reading, including publishers, distributors,
writers, illustrators, parents, librarians, teachers and simply readers. But
this only ended up confusing people who then had to be disentangled with
suitable explanations to the effect that yes, I am an editor with Tulika and
Goodbooks is part of Tulika and so on. But it must be said that the response
to the newsletter was uniformly enthusiastic, but more about that later.
Besides, I landed up without a name-board and/or publicity posters. While it
exposed a deep dark shade of green behind my ears, somehow one thought
group, not individual. Any way, thanks to Ritu Menon and Mandira Sen, I
learned to be less diffident about walking up to people/stalls, introducing
our books/inviting to our stall, broaching questions of distribution,
co-publishing, writing for the newsletter and so on. Basically, feeling free
to talk possibilities.
But the most important lesson was on how to approach appointments:
unambiguously unambiguously (repetition is correct). It makes a good
after-dinner yarn, though, so let's have it. It begins with tracking down
Saul Molobi – Again! He took some nosing to the ground! – who is a friend of
a friend. Saul then promised to send over a colleague to meet me. And so
arrives Julian Russ. Out of courtesy I introduce him to another member of
the group present, they get talking, those books are seen and admired, he
offers some suggestions and contacts, and then he leaves! Well, I chased
after him, of course, but he was, by then, quite red in the face and he
mumbled something about the same applying to me and retreated. One sure case
of showing together becoming quite a joke. Unless there's another – and
there is – but all that's part of the learning experience! Hazvina mhaka!
Just like us
Talking to people, visiting stalls, quickly looking through books, titles,
attending book launches, participating in discussions at the creative
writing workshops and reading tents . . . all these threw up the many
similarities between the Indian context and the Zimbabwean one (it would be
presumptuous to generalise and talk about Africa). The fact of our colonial
past and the ways in which this history/influence has been/is being tackled,
the question of language and identity, the attitude to reading, the
domination of textbooks in the children's books market and, consequently,
the domination of the large publishing houses or multinational corporations,
the small but successful (in terms of quality, not profit) battles waged by
small publishing ventures . . . all these have a familiar ring and somehow
signal possibilities of working together.
Of course, in the global context Africa is in, India is not. But this is a
double-edged sword because although big publishing houses pour venture and
capital into promoting African writing, swadeshi (loosely, indigenous) does
take a battering. Here's where the efforts of small, self-relying publishing
houses/distributors become significant.
Another agenda
There was a lot of interest in the Goodbooks newsletter which comes in two
sections, one that offers space for dialogue and discussion and the other
which is a catalogue offering the best in children's books to
readers/members of the Goodbooks Library. ZIBF was an opportunity,
therefore, to invite articles and to explore ways of reaching African books
to Indian children. It was interesting to meet, in this connection,
Elisabeth Anderson of Centre for the Book, South Africa, an organisation
committed to promoting reading. We had a brief, brief discussion but there
is scope for sharing and follow-up since promoting reading is another area
Tulika/Goodbooks is engaged in through its Reading Corner project. Several
people have promised to write for the newsletter, among them Florence Howe
of The Feminist Press at CUNY (USA), Rene Arend of Wren Books (South Africa)
and Chiedza Musengezi of Baobab Books (Zimbabwe). There are possibilities of
talking with Baobab Books, Mambo Press, Gecko Books about introducing
African titles in the Goodbooks list.
Of course all of these need to be followed up, but the first contact has
been made. Meeting with publishers, writers, librarians, readers, parents
helps understand the culture and reading trends and certainly puts several
things in perspective. As, for instance, with language and identity:
although young people in Zimbabwe would rather dance or internetcafe, there
is great interest and pride in knowing Shona and Ndebele, quite apart from
English. And that's significant.
Making room for dialogue
Where are there definite possibilities of future action? Through
distribution and co-publishing.
In terms of reaching Tulika to children in some African countries? Through
Maureen Hargraves of Hargraves Library Services (South Africa), Irene
Staunton of Weaver Press (Zimbabwe), Vagn Plenge of Forlaget Hjulet,
Denmark. In fact, a lot of visitors were greatly impressed by the quality of
production, indeed not only of Tulika books but of all the books exhibited
by the group. And that's good news, certainly as far as children's books go
because "badly produced" is an oft-heard complaint.
Ideally, given the
interest generated after this fair, it makes sense to work as a collective
towards reaching quality Indian books to the African market.
As for co-publishing, KIT Press of the Netherlands has already been working
with Tulika on the Dutch version of Andamans Boy by Zai Whitaker. This will
certainly be carried forward and ZIBF was a chance to meet with KIT's
representative Ron Smit. We would like to talk to Baobab too. Weaver Press
also had some suggestions, but these will have to wait for about another
year until their distribution network gets going.
High points
Meeting Chiedza Musengezi was certainly one of the high points of the fair
(see interview). The Book Cafe, where one first
heard Chiedza, also became very very special as much for the music as for
the discussions/meetings. How else would we have known of Busi Ncebe and Big
Sister? Apart from hearing the gossip on Nawal El Saadawi and her
ever-towing husband et al?
At a personal level, the shock/surprise of meeting an old Zimbabwean friend,
Zorodzai Machenkanyanga translated into a good thing for her because she
made a radio programme with all the women in our group. Zorodzai works for
the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
Very special too was the evening at Spike Gaura's home – Spike was
Information and Programmes Officer at the ZIBF. Unfortunately, she couldn't
fit me into a slot at the Live Literature Centre, although the application
had been made much ahead of the fair.
Books, etc
The Reading Tent was an attractive place; unfortunately as we didn't stay on
until the fair was open to the public, didn't get a chance to see the
children in action there. Still, the discussions were absorbing. It also
inspired me to donate six Tulika books to the Reading Tent –
the thought
that maybe some African child will, some time, read some book is thrilling.
The only way the world will become better is if we help our children to
read. Eventually they will read about each other. Once we know ourselves,
knowing the world becomes that much easier. This is the larger picture, even
beyond giving expression to the creative urge.
Rewind and Fast Forward
One fairly important observation: only one of the publishers who attended
the fair found mention in the ZIBF catalogue. For all practical purposes,
none of the others attended. How did this happen? This affects each
publisher quite seriously and must be corrected the next time round.
The last word, however, is that I was proud to be a member of this dynamic
group of Indian publishers. I believe we must carry the association forward
and create a new, positive identity for Indian writing/publishing. Ndinofara!
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