Presented by Fanuel Jongwe at a Weaver Press Literary Evening, Book Café, 21 January 2010 after readings from Daniel Mandishona and Lawrence Hoba from their short story collections ‘White Gods, Black Demons’ and ‘The Great Trek’ respectively (Both published by Weaver Press).

As we celebrate the publication of Daniel Mandishona and Lawrence Hoba’s short story collections it is perhaps an appropriate occasion to reflect on the state and future of the book industry in Zimbabwe- in particular the publishing of literary fiction and poetry.

We are gathered here at a time many local publishers of literary fiction have their shutters half-shut, unsure whether to pull them down completely or wait a bit in case things get better. Zvakadhakwa, as some would say.

^ Fanuel Jongwe presents his paper at the Book Café.

Meanwhile, the queue of new writers hoping to be published is growing by the day while space is running out on the desks and on the computers of established writers, with new manuscripts piling up- whose fate is uncertain.

As I prepared for this presentation, I made a few telephone calls to friends in the publishing industry asking how they are faring and whether they see any good signs in the magical year 2010.

What I got in reply was sad news.

“We are as good as closed,” said one representative of a publishing company. “We have not published a single fiction title in the past two years. We do not see ourselves putting out a new book any time soon.”

“It’s difficult,” a leading publisher summed it up.

Times have not been any worse for the publishers of fiction in Zimbabwe.

The reason for this state of affairs is one according to the publishers: buyers for literary fiction are scarce. For poetry? Hardly any.

“If we sell five copies of a poetry title in a year, we are lucky,” says publisher Irene Staunton whose Weaver Press catalogue could easily be the Who’s Who of Zimbabwean literature.

In some countries, a new book by one of the top writers is big news. When a local book wins or is short-listed for a major award it’s all over the news, sending curious readers rushing out to buy a copy to make their own judgement before the jury or to find out what it is that made the book a winner .

That is not the case here. Whether a book wins a prize or not, it does not make a difference. Our own Shimmer Chinodya won the Noma Prize for his novel Strife and one would have expected bookshops to scramble to make orders for the book. That didn’t happen.

It may be an oversight on my part but to this day, I have not seen a copy of Strife or Petina Gappah’s Guardian Prize-winning Elegy of Easterly in any of our major bookshops.

^ Lawrence Hoba (left) reads from his book. Next to him is Daniel Mandishona.

In the press, literary news- even news of our own writers receiving recognition elsewhere like- gets a few centimetre columns (with the exception of one newspaper which has a weekly column dedicated to literature).

Buyers remain scarce. Even for award winners according to a top publisher, the sales remain around 500 copies a year.
The most common explanation is that books are expensive. I tend to disagree and a small exercise in comparison will probably prove me correct.

People are more likely to spend much more on a drinking outing, on food at a fast-food outlet or a hairdo than they would spend on a novel, if my calculations are correct. A medium size pizza for example costs about six dollars [U.S.] which is a dollar short of the price of a brand new novel which costs between seven and fifteen dollars. A top style hairdo is up to forty dollars.

Some also argue that there are too many entertainment options for people to choose from and that the book is competing with TV, video games, e.t.c. The same applies elsewhere where books still sell in tens of thousands.

The situation presents a challenge to writers and publishers alike to work out ways to take us back to the old days when celebrations like today’s were common and to the reading public to invest more in reading.

Our local authorities and relevant government ministries have the duty to support the community libraries that provided an essential service to those hungry/thirsty for knowledge.

Our writersshould take it up upon themselves to lead the way by supporting each other more through buying each other’s work.

One in every ten authors writes poetry, wants to get published and perhaps earn a bit of cash. Put together writers and aspiring writers of fiction and poetry in Zimbabwe can easily top 5 000.

Imagine what a difference it could make if one in every ten poets made it a point to buy every local poetry book that comes out. I am sure the publishers would then have no excuse for turning back those brilliant poems.

Members of the reading public could put aside an average of twenty cents everyday and at the end of the month they could add another Mungoshi, Chinodya, Zimunya, Katiyo, Chingono, Ndlala, Mabasa, Makhalisa, Sigogo, Chakaipa, Hamutyinei, Chirere, Eppel, Alumenda or Vera title to their collection.

In his preface to Under African Skies, a collection of modern African stories, the renowned editor Charles R. Larson quotes South African Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer as saying: “Writers in Africa don’t have enough readers…”

In Zimbabwe it is more a case of not having enough buyers.

A friend of mine said judging by the marks beneath selected words and expressions in books he lends out to friends and neighbours, sixty percent of those who borrow books read them although they do not buy their own books.

Again congratulations to Daniel and Lawrence. In fact we should all salute you and your publisher for persevering when others have been discouraged by dim prospects.

- Fanuel Jongwe

Comments

Add New Search

Write comment

Name: Email:  do not notifynotify Website: Title:     Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Readerman   |2010-01-22 17:26:09 Zimbo's read but just cannot afford books right now. make them a dollar for two and we will buy them. Reply 0   0

CT Manyara   |2010-01-22 17:30:32 And where are all these books sold? I ain't seen them anywhere? Reply 0   0

Gideon   |2010-01-22 17:35:18 You're onto something there CT, but I think if you look in the bookshops you ill find the books. When was the last time you walked into one? Reply 0   0

Gideon   |2010-01-22 17:39:47 There are Zimbo's who could afford books but just don't but them. Like Fanuel says, they'd rather get a nice hairdo. Reply 0   0

Inini  - Ah!   |2010-01-25 05:26:45 I blame people who claim that all your problems will be solved by selling masaga!. I blame people whose focus is on making money and who think that that is the it and all of life. We have no added value when it is about buying Rolls Royces, Hummers and depriving widows of the few opportunities they get. These are the things we have been deceived to value instead of what is important. It has little to do with money and everything to do with a short term, culture that has no foresight. Without records of our lives we are just a fleeting lot in the story of the world. Lets refuse to be guided by the Chiyangwa culture. Reply 1   0

Tapuwa Bridget  - Re; A plate of sadza first and a clean bath first   |2010-01-31 18:31:51 No, i feel that you guys are really missing it here! Honestly you cannot expect someone to prioritise buying a book when they cant even afford basic food. And who wants to be reading a book when they have not even washed themselves? Its not their fault that they are not buying hese books. To read with an empty stomach and a dirty body, unwashed hair? Reply 0   0

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."