The Heroe Book Fair is a Pan-African yearly event held in Mombasa, that brings together Anglophone, Francophone and German speaking Writers, Poets, Publishers and Literary Enthusiasts from Kenya, the rest of Africa and the black diaspora, for a couple of days of exciting literary activities which include book sales, panel discussions, book launches and readings by select authors and poets.
The first edition took place from March 22nd -26th 2021 with the theme, Belonging. It was a hybrid event which was supported by Alliance Française Mombasa, The French Embassy in Kenya, Goethe Institut Nairobi, Hekaya Arts Initiative, Culture Africa, The Swiss Embassy in Kenya and The Belgian Embassy in Kenya. Keynote speakers were Mombasa based published poet and civic leader, Salma “Salummy” Abdulatif and Rwandan-French writer, Scholastique Mukasonga.
The 2nd edition will take place from May 5th-7th 2022 at The Close The Gap Hub Mombasa with the theme, Emancipation. The organizers are Lorna Likiza, the Founder of the book fair and Hans Hofele, the Founder of Culture Africa, a society and cultural website focused on the African continent.
We are also introducing our new logo which will be used henceforth. The head of a woman is representative of the motherland, Africa, where all people of African descent across the world originated from. The open book depicts a reading culture with one of the pages curling up to represent a wave on the Indian Ocean in Mombasa, where the fair is held yearly.
Why emancipation?
The simplest definition given by Wikipedia of emancipation is to free from restraint. What are the things holding people of African descent back? How do they affect how we work, our views on life, our arts, our heritage? By choosing the theme emancipation for this year’s edition of the book fair, we are looking to encourage conversations that focus on ways to break free from the things that hold us back.
Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic has been one of those things that has caused us limitations. Creating in this time has not been a smooth endeavor for most of us. And yet, the restrictions were necessary to curb the spread of the virus. How have Writers, Poets and Publishers managed to keep going?
Not only will we be addressing freedom from mental slavery, neocolonialism, patriarchy and the likes, but also how the pandemic has transformed the literary scene. Do Writers, Poets and Publishers of African descent feel this sense of freedom while creating? This and more are some of the questions we will attempt to answer in our discussions.
Charges for a vending space during the fair are 4,000kshs with own tent and 5,000kshs without own tent. The amount covers the entire 5 days of the event. Payment is via MPesa Buy Goods option, Till no: 9073287
We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating
Society
Angela Davis
