Getting off the plane at King Shaka International Airport, and the heat hits me. It’s been a while since I’ve been in Durban and one forgets that immediate impact of the warm air.

Despite the heat, and inappropriately warm clothes – including socks and shoes that were ditched at the earliest opportunity – I was delighted to be in Durban to participate in the public dialogues for the Time of the Writer 2016, organised by the Centre for Creative Arts, UKZN.

This year’s theme – ‘Decolonising the Book’ – is hugely relevant. It was selected in response to the outcry around the whiteness and separateness of literary festivals in the past, and as a way of taking forward the national conversations concerning the lingering, and so-often unchallenged, impacts of our colonial and apartheid past that alienate and accentuate our racial and economic divides.

These are conversations that we at FunDza think are vital. At the heart of our organisation’s philosophy is the desire to contribute to growing an inclusive, equitable society. For us, telling those stories that have not been celebrated or previously told, and giving platforms to the voice of our country’s youth is central to our mission.

Some of the panelists (from left): Lwandile Fikeni (moderator), Sinenhlanhla Buthelezi, Frankie Murrey, Maria Van Driel, Jennifer Platt, Mignon Hardie, Fortescue Helepi

I – together with Cedric Sissing (Adams Books), Benjamin Trisk (Exclusive Books), Fortescue Helepi (African Flavour Books), Sinenhlanhla Buthelezi (Goethe Library), Tebogo Mzizi (eThekwini Municipality Libraries), Frankie Murrey (Open Book Festival), Dr Maria Van Driel (Jozi Book Fair) and Jennifer Platt (Sunday Times) – participated in the ‘Conversations that matter: The Book and Readership’ discussions held on Thursday 17 March.

This particular conversation looked at the challenges of pricing, public perceptions and historical misconceptions about reading cultures in South Africa. Held in the UmKhumbane Library, in Cato Manor, the aim was to encourage public participation from the broader community. In the audience there were learners from nearby schools, students from Durban University of Technology and UKZN, librarians and members of the public.

The format allowed for the panelists to introduce themselves and speak broadly about the topic in relation to their work. Then the audience and panelists were divided into five groups to discuss various sub-themes.

I struck it lucky! I was paired with Fortesque Helepi, the inspirational founder of African Flavour Books, to run a discussion on ‘What makes young people WANT to read’. Of course, this topic is very close to my heart. At FunDza we spend a lot of time analysing online reading behaviour, getting feedback from our print and mobile readers to work out what motivates reading, looking at the barriers to reading, and then experimenting to see what we can do to encourage increased reading for pleasure.

Our group was made up largely of journalism students who told us what they liked reading and wanted to read. For me the key points were that readers wanted content that was relevant to them and their lives. They wanted to read stories that reflected their realities. The general feeling was that the students wanted to read content that was ‘useful’ to them – many showed a preference for non-fiction, rather than fiction. Although there wasn’t necessarily a need for the content to be technical in nature – rather they wanted to read stories that gave them a broader perspective – so books showing alternative viewpoints on history or current social and political issues held appeal.

Language was also important. A number of these students said that when they read for pleasure they wanted to be able to ‘relax’ and read in a language that was their own, that was familiar and emotive. Reading in English felt, to them, as foreign and formal.

Fortesque spoke about many of the popular books in his bookshop, in particular inspirational autobiographies and also a wide range of fiction books that reflected contemporary Africa and her stories. Both Fortesque and I made emotive appeals to get the students to try out some fiction – many couldn’t name the last fiction book they had read for pleasure – to see the pleasure and enjoyment they could get from reading.

At a function that evening at the UmKhumbane Hall, the panellists reported back to a broader audience on the conversations of the day. Again and again the message came through about the need for books and stories that were reflective of people’s lives and experiences; and, the need for content in other languages too. An audience member made this point very strongly from the floor – and the thundering applause signalled that many concurred.

Much of what we do at FunDza is grappling with finding solutions to the issues raised at the event: relevance of content, access to reading material, opportunities for new voices and the incorporation of multiple SA languages on its platforms. Looking at the feedback we get from readers we believe that we are getting some things right – but we also know that we have work to do on others, in particular the incorporation of multiple languages on our platform. While around 20-25% of our content is in other SA languages, the cost of this incorporation is high and the readership low. We struggle with finding a way to do more and promote reading in mother tongue better.

The Time of the Writer festival provided me with a great opportunity to connect with others working in the literacy/publishing/book promotion space, and to meet young people – potential FunDza readers and writers – and hear their views. It was interesting, informative, challenging and reflective. Big thanks to the CCA for their organisation of the event and for their invitation to participate.

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Read more:
Fortiscue Helepi’s blog about the event – Manipulating book demand for black readers
Thando Mgqolozana’s keynote address at the Time of the Writer – The Last Ones Are Woke