Culture of reading will light up Kenya

The 25th edition of the Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF) came to a close on September 29, after a week-long vibrant book festival at the Sarit Centre, Nairobi.

This year, the NIBF was marking a significant milestone — its Silver Jubilee. The nascent seed that was sown in the 1990s at Uhuru Park, Nairobi, has flourished into one of the most prestigious literary events, not only in Kenya but also in Africa and beyond.

Organised by the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA), the Fair has over the years managed to attract a passionate and inclusive community of those who cherish the written word. KPA attributes this meteoric growth to the resilience of stakeholders in the book chain; the relentless pursuit of innovation by content developers; and the support of the reading public.

The stereotype, nay, pedestrian myth that Kenyans do not read was easily debunked, going by the number of enthusiastic book lovers who keenly and patiently went round the exhibition hall, investing in what suits their reading taste buds. I was reminded of the comment by the renowned psychiatrist, Dr Frank Njenga, which he made during last year’s Book Fair: “If you are not reading books, this is what I would like to tell you: you’re alone. The rest of us are reading books and becoming educated and enlightened.”

Lifelong learning

That Kenyans are engaged in general reading should be music to the ears of not only the content creators and publishers, but also to the government. The growth trajectory of all leading economies in the world has been spurred by a solid knowledge economy. The culture of reading evident in countries such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea, among others, is rather impressive.

Kenya can easily travel the same route if concerted efforts were to be marshalled through a multi-sectoral approach — government, the corporate world, non-governmental organisations, among others — to cultivate, nurture and grow the mindset of lifelong learning.

Both Unicef and Unesco have been instrumental in driving the agenda of lifelong learning, and the publishing fraternity was appreciative of Unicef’s involvement in this year’s Book Fair. The diplomatic community was also supportive. The ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr Ali Ghlampour attended in person and, in his speech, he acknowledged that ;“Books are the bedrock of culture, preserving and perpetuating the heritage of nations.” He went ahead to posit that; “Civilised nations prioritise books and literacy, investing heavily in these endeavours”. The ambassador of the Argentine Republic sent a senior diplomat, who delivered a message of collaboration through translation grants from the embassy, enabling literary works from Argentina to be translated into Kiswahili.

The visit by the Director and CEO of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), Prof Charles Ong’ondo was a strong statement of the close collaboration that exists between the KICD and KPA. Prof Ong’ondo toured all the exhibition stands, engaging exhibitors, while investing in the books that whet his thirst for reading. Currently, the Kenyan publishing space is in its golden era, thanks to the government’s commitment to supplying textbooks to public schools, to the ratio of one-to-one. So far, more than 150 million copies of textbooks have been supplied to schools. This model has been made possible through collaboration between the KICD and KPA.

Yet, in spite of the government support in textbook publishing, removal of VAT on books remains a critical factor in making reading materials more affordable to the end-user, and hence making a contribution towards a solid knowledge economy.

General reading materials

The onus is also on the publishers to plough back some of the proceeds from the lucrative textbook tenders towards publishing a wide variety of general reading materials. Whereas the Fair provided a pedestal through which iconic books such as Dr Dan Gikonyo’s autobiography, Doctor at Heart were launched to wide acclaim, there is much more that the publishing industry can do to spur the growth of the general publishing terrain.

Key among them remains the intensive training of literary editors, as well as investment in writing workshops targeting authors of fiction. Part of the reason Kenya’s literary landscape has not produced global literary luminaries of the stature of Ngugi wa Thiong’o is because potential award-winning works of fiction are rushed through the writing and lacklustre editorial process, thereby stunting their entry into the global arena.

As KPA reminisced on the journey that the publishing industry has travelled the past 25 years, the words of Sir Winston Churchill that; ‘The further backward you look, the further forward you can see’ resonated in their reflections. As such, they inducted the pioneers of the Book Fair into the KPA Hall of Fame. The departed guru of publishing in Africa, Dr Henry Chakava, was also inducted, posthumously. In addition, KPA recognised the 25 notable authors in Kenya, as well as the 25 notable works of fiction, cutting across literary genres. The crowning glory of the Fair was the awarding of the prestigious Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature to various winners.

 KPA envisages that by 2050 Kenya will transition into a bustling hub of global publishing activity; a melting pot of literary excellence; and a training ground for the best professionals in the industry.

Kiarie Kamau is the Chair, Kenya Publishers Association & CEO, East African Educational Publishers.