Thousands of book-lovers recently descended upon Cape Town, filling the corridors and halls of the Cape Town Exhibition Centre for this year’s fair.

The Cape Town Book Fair is an annual exhibition where publishers, authors, students and readers can share ideas, acquire new skills and learn more about books that are making waves.

The website describes the fair as a place where contacts and intercultural exchanges are made and relationships are established. It also aims to present South African books to the international market and enable South African authors to discuss with their peers the challenges they face.

The British Council partially sponsored the European Union Literary Award prize that was awarded at the fair.

The award, which is organised by the European Union and Jacana Media, promotes fresh new South African literature that appeals to audiences both locally and abroad. Entrants must submit a first unpublished novel to qualify.

This year, Megan Voyser-Braig took home the award for her unpublished novel, Till We Can Keep an Animal. In an interview with the Jacana Media blog, she describes writing as an obsession: ‘[Writing is] definitely a certain kind of madness, but I am completely in love with the idea of it and finding new ways to express the in betweens of life. I try to connect with that, to make people feel changed by a sentence, or by a word.’

Voyser-Braig wins R25 000 and will have her book published by Jacana Media. She will also attend a literary festival in Europe and her book will be included in next year’s Exclusive Books Homebru collection. Previous winners of the EU Literary Award have included Kopano Matlwa’s best-selling novel Coconut, Bitches’ Brew by Fred Khumalo, Ice in the Lungs by Gerald Kraak and The Silent Minaret by Ishtiyaq Shukri.

The British Council also works closely with ANFASA (Academic and Non-Fiction Authors’ Association of South Africa), by assisting them decide on giving grants to academic and non-fiction writers whose work has not appeared in print. It also shares information and advice with authors and supports publishers in other initiatives.

Shoba Ponnappa from British Council South Africa says it’s important for the British Council to continue supporting the European Literary Award and ANFASA. ‘We are an organisation that supports the promotion of knowledge and I believe that the fair falls into that description and forms part of a global exchange.’

She describes the fair as world-class, adding that it is ‘rapidly gaining strength and has attracted many international visitors.’

‘They help us by picking out which authors need a grant,’ says ANFASA director Kundayi Masanzu, describing the organisation’s collaboration with the British Council. ‘At this point in time, the grant is only for South Africans but we hope later to include authors and writers from other African countries.’

‘One of the authors who received a grant from us is launching a book at the book fair. We are now in the second round of grant-giving. We hope to bring more people on board as we expand,’ he says.

Masanzu is grateful to the British Council for its work with ANFASA. ‘So far we have helped 10 South African authors. One book has been published while others are still being written and edited. I think it’s important to give these grants to deserving individuals.’

He says ANFASA has enjoyed working with the British Council. ‘We share similar values, the British council is a Civic organisation, they have hands-on experience in these matters – so it’s an honour for us to work with them.’

More information about ANFASA grants is available on their website. Get ready for next year’s Cape Town Book Fair, read about past exhibitors and learn about new books on the market by visiting the fair’s website.  To learn more about British Council Africa and what events are coming up, please visit our events page and be part of a global community. Read about our other initiatives in Africa, such as Connecting Classrooms, Dreams + Teams and InterAction. The British Council is a strong supporter of English teaching and learning in Africa and offers a wide range of English services.