Literature Conference| Rethinking Contemporary Literature for Children and Young Adults in Africa | International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Africa Region.
The
4th International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Africa
Region Conference holds in Kampala, Uganda between 22nd and 24th August, 2017.
The theme of the conference is “Rethinking Contemporary Literature for Children
and Young Adults in Africa”
Other
sub-topics of discussion at the conference are:
- Authorship, illustrations and publishing
- Language and children’s literature
- Oral traditions and children’s literature
- Book trade in Africa and beyond
- Intellectual property and business models
- ICTs, publishing innovations and new value chains and
- Research on Literature for children and young people
The
speakers from Africa and beyond are to share from the perspective of their
personal or national experiences as well as what changes may be required to
better literature for children and young adults and its distribution across the
continent.
The IBBY Africa
Regional Conference which is the largest conference for writers and publishers
of literature for children and young people on the African continent, is held
every two years
The
IBBY Africa Regional Conference is a biannual largest gathering of writers and
publishers of literature for children and young people on the African
Continent. The focus is on writing and publishing books for children and young
adults on the continent. It has been held in South Africa in 2011 and 2013 and
Rwanda in 2015 while it holds this year in Uganda.
This
conference is organized by International Board on Books for Young People
(IBBY), Uganda Chapter, in collaboration with Uganda Children’s Writers and
Illustrators Association (UCWIA), National Book Trust of Uganda (NABOTU) ,
Uganda Reproduction Rights Organisation (URRO), Kampala Capital City Authority
(KCCA) and National Library, Uganda .
The
organiser said the gathering has come at the right time, especially when
children and young adults under 15 years dominate the demographics of the
continent constituting over 50%. However authors and publishers are yet to cash
in on this huge market potential. This failure is attributed to several factors
including a narrow range of titles in the different African languages available
to the age group, a broken book value chain, high book prices inconsiderate of
incomes in Africa and growing concerns about inability to read and write.
IBBY
noted that whilst the book publishing industry has been stagnating, information
and communication technology, especially the mobile phone has taken Africa by
storm. ICT innovations such as social media have sparked a revolution in
communication, and transformed the way young Africans communicate and share
information with one another. This very interesting development is shaping
authorship and publishing culture on the continent in significant ways. It also
represents a unique challenge that calls for innovative thinking on business
models and the emergence of new value chains for trade in content.
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