Readathon, Accra as book capital of the world
It is not every day that a tourist would want to be on the high road climbing mountains, crossing streams and daring wild animals.
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Sometimes they just want to cozy up on the soft and intellectual stuff, meet creatives and share ideas on issues. Indeed, tourism thrives on events. The more educative and cultural such events are, the better.
In about a week’s time and in the following 365 days, Accra will be a buzz with activities to mark the country’s new status as the Book Capital of the World for 2023. On the theme ‘Reading to connect minds for social transformation’ the programmes for the title year bring to the fore, the importance of reading for human and national development.
But before then, and specifically this Saturday, the National Readathon returns to patrons in a grand style with a mouth-watering literary marathon that involves 11 Ghanaian authors and poets. The venue is Dikan, the world-class newly established multimedia centre at South La Estate which was recently launched by “Humans of New York” fame.
A key challenge in the reading enterprise is lack of access to the right materials. Book lovers in Ghana complain of the unavailability of titles, finding the right one-stop bookshops where they can get the books they want and, with the increase in traffic in cities, the inconvenience of jumping from bookshop to bookshop in frustration.
For book lovers outside Accra, these issues are made worse by lack of access to well-stocked outlets for books. This is where Booknook.store, an Accra-based fast-growing online bookstore comes in to support.
After a bit of a break, the Readathon seems to return with vengeance. While encouraging local authorship, the campaign allows literary patrons to have close encounters with writers. Started in 2015 by two authors Kofi Akpabli and Nana Awere Damoah, the Readathon had two targets: to do quarterly public book readings and to extend the activity beyond Accra. It has done Tarkwa, Kumasi, Ho, Tema, Takoradi and even Liberia and Lagos.
Thankfully, a number of book clubs have also been popping up quietly across the country, especially involving young children. In September 2022, Worldreader Ghana collaborated with the Accra World Book Capital 2023 Secretariat and other stakeholders to organise the Accra DigiRead Experience at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly premises, whiles the Naky Nugget Series, the GBDC, Ghana Education Service and other stakeholders collaborated in October 2022 to organise the Ashanti Regional Book Fair in Kumasi to promote reading among children. The Ghana Library Authority has also been involved in several book reading initiatives across the country.
In the roll call to mention initiatives that have made Accra active in the literary space, one cannot leave out the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW). GAW Sunday and indeed GAWBOFEST has offered the platform for innovations around books and reading.
This writer’s group, thus, unearthed writers and would-be writers, while the Writers and Readers Grotto in Accra offers the space for writers to meet with one another and with readers to discuss their work and get feedback.
It is easy to forget some of this roll call but I just remembered Ehalakasa which used to run at Nubuke Foundation. One could also mention Alewa which was vibrant with young creatives.
My point is that, all these movements have contributed to validate an Accra city that is somewhat vibrant in its engagement with the literary.
Back to the book capital of the world, the city of Accra was selected for its strong focus on young people and their potential to contribute to the culture and wealth of Ghana.
Accra’s proposed programme seeks to involve the youth and vulnerable groups in Ghana such as children, underemployed women, head porters (kayayei) and persons living with disability to equip them with literacy and employable skills, while promoting the rich Ghanaian cultural heritage and the book industry in Ghana.
Over the one-year period, major projects with different focus will be undertaken as follows:
• Transforming minds and promoting life-long learning through books.
• Provision of school and community reading infrastructure.
• Promoting the Florence Agreement, and the publication and use of books in Ghanaian languages.
• Promoting creative skills to address unemployment, substance abuse, truancy and teenage pregnancy among the youth.
• Promoting fundamental human rights and access to information and books.
• Showcasing and preserving Ghanaian arts and culture and promoting inclusivity. This project will focus on advancing Ghanaian arts and culture and promote inclusivity.
The slogan for the title year is ‘Akwaaba, book a book’ which is meant to welcome the rest of Ghana and the world to Accra, and to join Accra in reading.
Many exciting programmes surrounding books, reading, publishing and skills development will be organised in Accra and throughout the country during the title year.
That is why all roads lead to the Dikan Centre this Saturday from 10:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m. Reading in rounds and moderated by well-known faces, are the following: Professor Kofi Anyidoho, Rodney Nkrumah Boateng, Apiokor and Alba Suprim.
Others are Dr Martin Egblewogbe, Poetra Asantewaa and Empi Baryeh. The rest are Rev. Boateng Ekua Ofori Boateng, Eben Ace, Ursula Abanga and Kwabena Mankattah.