Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Great Book Fair kicked off this Friday, in the city of Praia, with a total of 24 stands and more than 50 thousand titles highlighted, celebrating cultural diversity and promoting access to reading – it should run until May 5th.
Promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Creative Industries through the National Library, the Great Book Fair aims to promote the promotion of books, reading and literature in Cape Verde.
The event, which runs until May 5th, constitutes a milestone for Cape Verdean culture, as stated by the Minister of Culture and Creative Industries, Abraão Vicente, in statements to the press.
“It is a great emotion to bring so many authors, so many titles, there are more than 50 thousand books present here at various times, new editions, new authors from dramaturgy to scientific literature, academic literature and technical literature. It was an assembly that took some time because we want to show something with quality”, maintained the official, highlighting the “crucial partnership” with the Camões Institute.
For Abraão Vicente, this could be a good legacy that must remain, and the challenge now is to take it to all the islands, as, as he said, there is a clamor for a large book fair.
He also added that the event is also a legacy of this mandate, which it wishes to be continued and financed annually, just like music festivals.
“If music festivals are set up in 22 municipalities with values exceeding 15 to 20 thousand contos annually, why can’t the Government and its partners and other private partners organize themselves to have quality books in the city of Praia?”, asked Abraão Vicente, highlighting that there is already an entire structure designed and consolidated for this purpose.
The Great Book Fair set aside a special moment to honor Manuel Veiga, an “iconic” figure who dedicated his life to enriching Cape Verdean culture on several fronts.
“We chose to honor Manuel Veiga not only because of his health situation, which he is currently experiencing a bit of fragility, but also for the recognition of his work as a defender of the Cape Verdean language, as a minister, as a writer, as a researcher, as a scientist of the language Cape Verdean, for probably being the first to write a novel in the Cape Verdean language (…)”, stressed the government official.
The fair has an investment of 15 thousand contos. The Camões Institute alone financed around 100 thousand euros (approximately 11 thousand contos), according to Abraão Vicente.
In turn, the president of the National Library of Cape Verde, Matilde Santos, invited everyone to visit the fair, highlighting the “extraordinary prices” and highlighting that every day there will be special promotions, with discounts of up to 200 escudos.
Over these ten days, he indicated, there will be a writer highlighted daily.
“The idea is to continue annually, and extend to other municipalities. The big fair will be from the 8th to the 10th of May in the municipality of Tarrafal, followed by the island of Sal, Brava and, later, other islands, to also promote the authors locally”, highlighted Matilde Santos.
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