The Cape Town Book Fair, due to be held in South Africa next June, is going to double the amount of floor space for the 2007 event, the second to be held. And I’m pleased to see that among the new areas to be included in the expanded book fair is a whole area given over to comics (perhaps the influence of the huge Frankfurt Book Fair which is involved with the Cape event and has a good reputation for comics and graphic novels itself). Vanessa Badroodien, the Managing Director of the CTBF, explained to Entertainment I Africa:
“I was amazed at the level of interest in South Africa about comics. Our research has shown that this genre is growing and although niche, it has a significant readership base, particularly amongst our youth. Local and imported graphic novels, comic strip and comics all allow for the unique representation of urban culture, science and realms of fantasy to co-exist. We believe that it’s important that we affirm and encourage children and youth who read and we will therefore devote a significant amount of space to support this ideal.”
Wed, Nov 29, 2006
Books, Comics and cartoons, New arrivals