Literacy Revival Comes to Francistown
Organizers plan live Facebook streaming and promise to showcase more local authors and poets.
FRANCISTOWN, Botswana - All roads lead to Francistown city on March 8, 2024 for the inaugural Francistown International Book Festival.
The goal of the festival is to improve literacy and spark a reading revival among the people of Francistown, said event publicist Charity O. Keobokile-Opelo.
"We want to bring back the culture of reading and writing in Botswana's second largest city," Keobokile-Opelo said.
Organizers plan to bring authors from across Africa, the U.S., the U.K. and Spain to Francistown.
But they will give priority to artists and authors from northern Botswana, since few literary events happen in that region, Keobokile-Opelo said.
The festival comes at an opportune time, when books are making a comeback. "The notion that Africans don't read is becoming outdated," Keobokile-Opelo said.
Local authors will participate and go through a selection process to be part of the international festival.
"This will be an amazing, beautiful event. We want the local book industry to engage and partner," Keobokile-Opelo said.
Planning is in the final stages and guests have been contacted, she said. A key partner is the local brand Mulher Forte African Literature, founded by Motswana author Dr. Paula O.M. Otukile.
"Books are service. I'm always ready to serve my country through literature," Otukile said.
The festival will start with a book donation to a local school. It will also feature a book networking forum, interviews, workshops and the Mulher Forte African Literature Awards ceremony.
"This festival has brought tremendous opportunity. We're grateful sponsors are coming forward," said Otsile Pule, awards secretary.
Organizers plan live Facebook streaming and promise to showcase more local authors and poets.
"Support this initiative. Attend in large numbers," Keobokile-Opelo urged residents.
Thumbs up to Francistown. Culture of reading books has really diminished not only in Francistown but Africa as a whole. This is because of the technology usage that most people do not spare time to read books but are busy on Instagram, Whatsapp, YouTube, Twitter. And it is more surprising that most scholars prefer the using internet to search academic information to using books. African culture is slowly loosing touch because the reading culture that was there before had gone. Let all other cities in Botswana and Africa emulate the example set by Francistown. Once again thumbs up Botswana, thumbs up Francistown