Book Publishers Association of Malawi (Bpam) President, Alfred Msadala, has said the Malawi Book Festival, which debuted this year, will come again next year.
The festival, running under the theme Book At Home, Partner For Life, was officially opened by Minister of Civic Education, Culture and Community Development, Cecilia Chazama, on Thursday.
The festival, held at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe, and packaged with activities which included publishing workshops, presentations and storytelling sessions, ended on Saturday.
“The festival was a success being the first outing and we are satisfied. We will come again next year without fail and it will be earlier since we want to include students,” Msadala said.
The Bpam boss said the festival ended on a high and that there were more people on the final day.
“Having more people on the final day could be due to two factors, one it was a Saturday and secondly it was the last day of the festival. The last session of storytelling was very cultural,” Msadala said.
He also said that some people who attended the poetry recitals on Friday kept on coming thinking that it would be repeated.
“We had some challenges being the first but all things went well and we are thankful to Hivos through the Cultural Fund Malawi for the support. We are working on its sustainability and we will improve on it as this festival is an entity on its own,” the Bpam leader said.
Msadala also said they were thankful to National Library Service for the support as principal partners.
He observed that the book remains the best tool for teaching and learning and called on people to read books to be informed.
“The book is the conveyer for language aimed at informing, educating and entertaining,” Msadala said.
Chazama, in her speech, said she was pleased to be part of the landmark festival.
“This is an important festival which, among others, aims at reminding us the importance of the book. A book looks like a bunch of papers but it is a carrier of knowledge and history among others and it is worth celebrating,” said Chazama, who described herself as an avid reader.
She added that a book can help societies to be transformed and she cited herself as an example, saying through reading books she is today a top farmer.
Chazama then called on writers in the country to publish books in local languages as part of promoting Malawi culture.
“I encourage writers in the country to publish more folktales in our local languages so as to reach out to more people in the rural areas. I also want to encourage people in the country to read if they are to gain more knowledge and we need to take books seriously as well as value reading,” the minister said.
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