Ever heard that not-so-funny joke about how black people don’t read books? It goes: if you want to hide anything from a black person just put it inside a book? You know why? Because, apparently, black people have a phobia for books… I’ve never entertained this kind of joke. It’s a negative and narrow-minded stereotype that seeks to homogenise black people into book-fearing beings.

Ask people who make this kind of joke, “Why don’t black people read?” and I promise you they will scratch their head and keep their eyes on the floor, but no answer will be forthcoming. The reasons for the lack of a reading culture amongst blacks in South Africa are varied, but, personally, I feel that the most important one is that of access to books and literature.

Black people don’t read because there are no books to read to begin with. If my mother was not a writer and voracious reader (not all of us are so lucky!), chances are I wouldn’t have been exposed to the magic that comes with turning a page and consequently; I would’ve been counted in the statistics of those who don’t read. So, for me, access is chief. What the joke also doesn’t account for is the large numbers of black people who read on their phones the incalculable ‘Diary’ Facebook pages and through websites like the Fundza mobi site and many others like it. So, yes, black people read!

They read despite the fact that there used to be a time in the not so distant past of this country they were not allowed access to (certain) libraries. The oppressors of the past knew that it was to their advantage if black people were kept far away from books as possible.

Not that much has changed since democracy graced our shores. Although there are libraries in the townships, most of them are understocked. In these libraries, it’s easier to find book collections of authors from Europe and other continents than it is to find a book by an African author. Access, again! Access to literature that speaks to us, that is about us and is written by people from our continent and addresses the issues that we deal with on a daily basis.

And then you find people jokingly telling you that black people don’t read…what should black people read? Stories about foreign lands and foreign cultures whereas they have their own culture and…I almost said “land” but then I remembered black people don’t have land (But that’s a topic for another day). But, yes, surprisingly black people have a culture of their own and interestingly we have our own writers.

It thus doesn’t make sense that our libraries are filled with books that have travelled miles to reach our shores and have only a few written by people who live right here in the country, which is why I’m going to tell you about the Abantu Book Festival. The Abantu Book Festival – a book festival organised by black authors for black readers. The Abantu Book Festival aims to change the status quo by bringing black authors and a black audience under the same roof to discuss books. The book festival took place in Soweto (Eyethu Lifestyle Centre and Soweto Theatre) from the 8th to the 10th of December. The line-up included some of my favourite authors like NoViolet Bulawayo, Rehana Rossouw, Gcina Mhlophe, Niq Mhlongo, et cetera, et cetera. And you know what’s good? Attending the book festival is free, mahala.

Dish it: So did you know about it? If yes, did you go? How was it?

ZZ xx