he recollects, were quick to adopt the 
unsettling epithet 'Molla' him, meaning 
'Mallam'. Which was a comment of 
cultural and social alienation. 
With the ever-enlarging community of 
Nigerians in Great Britain and even the 
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Africa, this was useful for local and and popular annual event in Harare 
and the 1994 Fair was no exception. It 
has been described as a 'crossroads for 
world literary cultures' and is rapidly 
expanding in terms of breadth of 
participation and trade opportunity. The 
facts are as follows: two hundred and 
twenty-six exhibitors, four hundred 
publishers represented, thirty-eight 
countries represented, one thousand 
and one hundred trade visitors on trade 
days, and estimated business transacted 
- over Z$2 million. 
Two traders-only days were introduced 
last year, after suggestions were put 
forward in 1993, to facilitate the setting 
up of contacts and the transaction of 
business which is surely one of the 
central aims of a book fair. The fact 
that thirty-three thousand members of 
the public visited the ZIBF may be 
impressive, but the real success of the 
fair should be judged by what came out 
of it in concrete publishing terms, by 
the results of the activities and events 
that were organized. These were 
extensive: 
ZIBF served as the venue for an 
African Publishers Network (APNET) 
Board meeting. Such meetings are vital, 
given the diverse geographical 
locations of its members. 
The APNET Publishing Resource 
Centre was officially launched. 
APNET has been compiling its own 
transformation of parts of cosmopolitan 
London to an extension of Nigeria, a 
writer like Biyi has useful reminders of 
life at home almost on a daily basis, 
coupled with the vast library he has 
managed to keep for himself. He is 
equally undaunted by the uneasy feeling 
unique collection. This was shipped to 
Harare last year. 
Forty-two South African publishers 
were represented - an appropriate influx 
following the political events in that 
country. They included multinationals, 
independent presses and small 
innovative publishers. The opening up 
of South Africa and the spreading 
of its publishing wings beyond its 
borders must impact on African 
publishing soon. Contact with 
South African publishers should 
make this a positive and effective 
3] Friday 28 July — Saturday 5 August impact. 
The First African Rights Indaba 
was held on the twodays preceding 
the fair. This was a crucial meeting . 
which should practically affect 
African publishing in terms of 
rights protection and trading in 
rights and licences. Publishers were 
strongly encouraged to look into 
selling rights overseas as well as 
buying the rights to publish 
overseas books here. ZIBF '95 will 
host a buyers/ sellers meeting and 
there are also plans for a Phase 
Two Indaba. 
A Writers' Workshop was held to 
support the theme of Science and 
Technology. Its title was 
Accessible Science and tackled 
the problems of the writer in 
verbalizing complex scientific. 
of producing almost exclusively for a 
foreign world and culture, seeing that 
the whole universe itself is merging, 
metamorphosing into one unitary and 
homogeneous fold, more anxious than 
ever to learn about life in lands beyond 
their immediate surroundings. [GR! 
regional writers whose books need to 
be relevant but also professional. 
The Fair was visited by a twenty-sevenperson 
British publishers' outward 
mission which was en route to South 
Africa. This will result in more 
international publicity. IGRI 
1 
ZIBf 95 
1i
ia 
B||Bl|Bl[Bl[BI|Bl|Bl|Bl|BI|Bl|Bl|Bl|BliB 
Applications are invited for 
participation in the 1995 ZIBF 
sponsored exhibitors programme. 
Applicants should be prepared to 
participate in a full 3-year 
development programme during 
which their participation at the 
ZIBF will be on a sliding scale 
ranging from total sponsorship to 
waiving of stand fees only. 
Interested parties can obtain 
application forms from: 
ZIBF 
78 Kaguvi Street 
Harare 
Zimbabwe. 
Early application is advised to 
avoid disappointment. 
II 
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