The South African Book Fair literary programme celebrates women.

Storytelling is at the heart of this year’s South African Book Fair (SABF) driven through the theme #OURSTORIES. Although all stories deserve to be heard, the SABF is positioning itself as a relevant South African entity within Africa. As a celebration of books and the publishing industry, authors will descend on Museum Africa in Newtown, Johannesburg from 8-10 September, with some of the most prominent women authors leading the way.

In keeping with Women’s Month, the SABF sees the literary programme as the perfect talking point for women’s issues, which should be discussed beyond the month of August. Topics on the programme that are sure to catch attention include: “Hidden Figures: African Women in the Global Imagination”, “Colourism, gender and beauty” and “Racism: the immovable stain.”

Speaking to the possibilities for women’s fiction, acclaimed author of Stay With Me, Ayòbámi Adébáyò is one of the highlights on this year’s literary programme. Other phenomenal women partaking, include Barbara Boswell, Makhosazana Xaba, Simamkele Dlakavu, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Khadija Patel and Marah Louw.

The literary programme will run for the entire duration of the Fair from Friday 8 September to Sunday 10 September 2017. Sessions will run from 10:00 till 18:00 on Friday and Saturday. The last session on Sunday will end at 16:00.

With participation from a diverse group of scholars, authors, media practitioners and thought leaders, the 2017 SABF will be space for robust debate and engagement where those positioned differently in society can reach into each other’s worlds where learning and healing can take place.

The literary programme has been carefully curated to bring an international community together for more than just talking about books, however important, but also to attend to the silences and omissions in our current discourse. The world currently has a need to reach across borders and engage on collective issues playing themselves out in various forms, many of which affect women adversely.

The SABF offering provides something of interest to everyone, whether in politics, social justice, transformation, entertainment, food or visual art. This provides multiple vehicles through which #OURSTORIES can be delivered to the world.

The SABF will take place at:

Venue: Museum Africa in Newtown, Johannesburg

Dates: 8-10 September, 2017

Time: 10:00