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| Musaemura Zimunya (Photo Credit: The Herald) |
The Masvingo edition of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair which was slated for May 30 to 31 was cancelled on the last minute due to lack of funding.
ZIBF chairperson Musaemura Zimunya told stakeholders on Wednesday that sponsors had withdrawn funding on short notice.
He said the organisers unsuccessfully explored and exhausted other funding options and were left with no option but to defer the fair to 2015.
Ironically, the organisation was banking almost entirely on foreign funding for the regional book fairs taglined “Indigenous Languages, Literature, Art and Knowledge Systems of Africa,” due to lukewarm Government and corporate support for the book sector.
“We have been informed at a rather short notice that for the year 2014 our erstwhile development partners have shifted priorities away from funding cultural activities,” said Zimunya.
“Following our immensely successful Masvingo Book Fair in 2013 which we ran with the hitherto solid support of our steadfast development partners, we had calendared the dates 30 – 31 May for 2014 Masvingo Book Fair.
“In doing so, we were planning on the firm conviction and understanding that funding for the event would be forthcoming, as in the previous event,” Zimunya said.
However, the sudden withdraw of funds incapacitated the fair from continuing with the fair as scheduled.
“We at ZIBF explored and exhausted all possibilities of sourcing funding for The Masvingo Book Fair in the interest of saving this noble event for our eager stakeholders – writers, publishers, book sellers, exhibitors, librarians, schools and members of the general public,” Zimunya said.
“Unfortunately, since all our efforts were fatally unsuccessful, we regret having to cancel The Masvingo Book Fair (2014) at this very last hour,” he said.
Zimunya, however, announced that funding for Main Book Fair 2014 to be held in Harare has been secured and that preparations are gathering pace.
The Bulawayo Book Fair which was held from March 30 to 31 had also ran aground due to insufficient funds, had publishers not intervened with contributions at the last minute.
Zimunya blamed the near-failure of the Bulawayo fair on lack of state and corporate support has seen regional editions of ZIBF being bankrolled from outside the country – a clear indictment on Government’s lukewarm support for the embattled book sector.
“We must take possession of our institutions as a people. If the corporate sector sponsors HIFA which is primarily a leisure experience, there is no reason why they should not support the book sector,” Zimunya told The Herald.
“National development is not possible without a thriving local book sector. The ZIBF is an indispensable institution as far as development is concerned,” he said.
ZIBF was one of the biggest events on Africa’s literary calendar at its height in the early nineties. Authors and publishers concur that lack of support spells jeopardy for the book sector.
