2023-11-13 18:35:22
The National Book Fair opened on November 9, 2023 was closed on Sunday. It was a special book market which was held in Cotonou. A space for the exchange of ideas, books and various meetings described in this report.
Before the National Book Fair closed on Sunday, our reporting team visited the stands set up at the Esplanade of the Palais des Congrès in Cotonou. In the kiosks installed, a variety of works of various literary genres. The atmosphere is special. The aisles are teeming with people. Young people and adults parade, stop and consult the works displayed. Salespeople sell, visitors buy. Authors sign.
Précieuse Lanignan, a 5th grade student, draws a collection of stories from the books on display, Situ and the river of nudity by Anna Baï Dangnivo, a work studied in high schools and colleges in Benin. Précieuse buys it and rushes to have it autographed by the author of the collection sitting in a corner of the stand. Happy to have met Anna Baï Dangnivo, the young Précieuse Lanignan says, all smiles:
“I am happy to have met the author of the book. I’ve heard of her several times, but I didn’t know her. Today I had the opportunity to see her here. I’m stunned. This is why I did not hesitate to buy her book which I will read with wonder because I want to become like her, to be like her, her whole way of being.”
The feeling remains the same among Anna Baï Dangnivo, author of Situ and the river of nudity awarded the Benin Literary Grand Prize in 2019. She chats with her readers, all joyful.
The writer exhibits many of her works, mostly collections of tales from Benin and Africa. “These writings are based on the morals and customs of Benin, especially for a deconstruction and reconstruction of our practices which are not always very recommended these days”explains Anna Baï Dangnivo.
Not far from her, a man dressed in bomba, a style of clothing popular in Benin, selling books in a stand. He is an economic operator, doctor in Management Sciences according to whom, “where there are books, we say to ourselves that there is necessarily new knowledge to discover.” Dr Hermann Hounkponou holds works by non-African authors:
“Entrepreneurship is what keeps me going. I have taken two books so far. [dont] ‘The business of the 21st century’ by Robert Kiyosaki. The title interested me. I leafed through it. This is one of the documents I want. I just picked up the second one, ‘Disruptor Amazon CEO verbatim’”.
A reunion
The National Book Fair is not just a sales market. Here, authors and publishing house managers meet and expand their address book. “The National Book Fair is a book festival for all publishers. It’s a reunion in fact. We meet as publishers,… authors and as distributors to discuss the book”declares Justin Idohou, sales representative at the distributor The giant from the publishing house Christon Editions.
In 2023, the National Book Fair attracted authors from various backgrounds. African and French authors participated in the exhibition. “For me, this type of salon, meeting, party, meeting around books, palaver tree is of fundamental importance. It’s precisely getting the book out and bringing it to children, to the youngest, to those who don’t have access to books”confides the Ivorian writer Patrick Gbaka-Brédé, who displays a cheerful face.
Jules Daniel Amoussou, young Beninese publisher and new author of two works, one of which won him the Benin Literary Grand Prize in 2022, is delighted that “each year, there is more permanence, more organization around the book. So, it makes us happy to know that our market is evolving slowly and we will go far”.
“History and Literature”
At the National Book Fair, 2023 edition, various workshops were organized. Children and adolescents learn to tell stories, find out more about works and their authors. Others learn screenwriting or theatrical improvisation. Near this space dedicated to young people, the painting workshop and others take place.
In another space, adults talk. It all revolves around the main theme of the show: “History and Literature: when memory nourishes literary creation”. These are literary cafés which bring together players in the book chain, historians and individuals. “This year, we said that we must discuss History, (…) Literature. (…) What interactions can we develop between Literature and History? This is the question on which the various guests that we brought to Benin intervene, speak and give their position in relation to this theme”assures Florent Couao-Zotti, technical advisor to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts.
According to the writer Florent Couao-Zotti, each party benefits from these literary encounters. The book economy is taking place. Florent Couao-Zotti explains:
“The writer comes to defend his book. And in relation to that, at the end of his coffee, at the end of the conference he gave (…) what he said can arouse the interest of the public who will go to the publisher, therefore, to the product that has been transformed into cultural property to buy [afin de] consume it. So, when we see all these elements brought together, we say to ourselves that (…) the relationship between the writer and his audience, the relationship between the editor and the writer, all of this is changing”.
This is for the third time that Benin is organizing a National Book Fair. According to the authoritiesthe meeting aims to better promote Beninese literary creation.
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