Trade fair plan for Cape Town

Cape Town could play host to a new international book trade fair if plans by the South African Publishers Association (PASA) and the Frankfurt Book Fair go ahead. The news came as Bookeish!, the South African literary festival planned for 2004, was postponed.

The Bookeish! event was put on hold after it failed to secure sufficient funds to guarantee its succesful staging in 2004. Stephen Johnson, chairman of the festival's board, expressed regret at the "difficult but unavoidable decision".

While there were some expressions of discontent from literary editors, PASA insisted the move was a temporary setback. It said the delay would be used to explore a broader strategy, in which a highly publicised literary festival would be supported by a sustainable commercial book fair.

The Frankfurt Book Fair may be closely involved in supporting such an event. Holger Ehling, Frankfurt's chief press officer and its international head, was excited by the idea of "a novel co-operation venture", in which Frankfurt fair organisers would offer real investment and hard marketing and organisational expertise. Mr Ehling will visit South Africa to further the proposals, which also need to be considered by the SA fair board.

Annari van der Merwe, m.d. of fiction publisher Kwela Books, said a new fair must strike a delicate balance: it should provide a much-needed stimulus for local readers and writers, but it must not be overwhelmed by multinationals intent on drawing away the best local writers. Brian Wafawarowa, managing director of New Africa Books, agreed but added that incorporating a book festival into an international book fair would help raise the profile of SA publishers as international players. He said that the event should avoid an over-reliance on donor funding, the trap that Mr Ehling cited as the reason for the "startlingly rapid decline" of the Zimbabwe Book Fair.

The new Cape Town Convention Centre, the hotly tipped venue for the fair, opened its doors this month. Mr Ehling described it as "an absolutely astonishing venue".