Jozibookfair
Publishers in Johannesburg

The Festival takes place over four days and is FREE to all members of the public. The Festival promotes reading and writing in all South Africa’s languages especially indigenous languages and mother tongues; promotes access and exposure to all the arts, and supports affordable printing to make books accessible and affordable. and tolerance amongst people of all ages and all walks of life. Last year the 2016 Fair was a great success, bringing together different constituencies, children, youth and the public from all walks of life. The people that attended and participated spoke directly to the theme of the Fair and its orientation. The Fair has become an educational and cultural festival that includes a broad range of events and activities. The JBF encourages publishers to sell books affordably at the Fair to develop a book-buying culture and importantly, all publishers confirmed increases in their book sales. In recognition of the importance of a strong culture of reading and writing to meet the various challenges of post-apartheid South Africa, Khanya College hosted the first edition of the Jozi Book Fair in The JBF provides a public and visible platform to take up the challenges of creating a reading and writing culture. Some of the major challenges facing post apartheid South Africa are social inequality, poverty, unemployment, skills development and the generalised improvement in the quality of life for communities. Generic skills are especially low amongst working people, and this impacts on their daily ability to exercise their social agency and their citizenship. These and other challenges can be linked to a weak culture of reading and writing. Since 2009, the JBF has become a fair with a difference: the fair creates readers and writers from amongst working class constituencies and the public; and supports self publishers and small and indigenous language publishers to publish books affordably and accessibly. The JBF platform reflects a growing and deepening educational and cultural movement. Through the JBF the College seeks to contribute positively to the challenges facing South Africa and Southern Africa. The objective of the JBF is to provide a public platform for key social partners to promote a culture of reading and writing. The creation of a common meeting space for all partners is crucial to strengthening small publishers, creating a market for writers, and creating an opportunity for readers to signal to authors and publishers the kinds of stories they are interested in. The JBF’s overall purpose is therefore to create an ongoing cycle where partners can reinforce each other and create a strong reading and writing culture in all South Africa’s languages.