Ethale Publishing who won at the Prémio Nacional das Indústrias Culturais e Criativas 2024 in December has made a call out for support.
Prémio Nacional das Indústrias Culturais e Criativas (English: Cultural and Creative Industries Award) has been awarded by the Mozambican Ministry of Culture and Tourism since 2023. The honours are given in music, theater, dance, visual arts, cinema and audiovisual, photography, cultural management, fashion, literature, lifetime awards, and cultural journalism. Each of the winners receives a statuette and 100,000 Mts.
The 2024 recipients were selected by a jury chaired by Frederico Jamisse alongside Victor Mulupata, António Guimarães, Eduardo Lichuge, Sara Jona Laisse, Julieta Mussanhane, Rufus Maculuve, Basil Machate, and Candida Bila. They were announced at a ceremony the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Eldevina Materula attended on December 21, 2024. Minister Materula said that the event represented a moment of recognition and celebration of all who have dedicated their lives to the cultural and artistic development of Mozambique. The winner in the literature section was declared to be Maputo-based Ethale Publishing.
Since its founding in 2016, Ethale has published over 100 print and digital books, opened the first store for African books in Mozambique’s capital, supported young Mozambican writers, translated some of the leading writers into Portuguese like Wole Soyinka, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Zukiswa Wanner, and Aminata Sow Fall, and a launched the Ethale Books App, a trilingual app for African books, a first for Mozambique.
While we congratulate them for their enormous contribution to Mozambican letters, the firm has called out to the public for support. The company’s headwinds came about due to the disputed presidential election that completely disrupted life in the Southern African country for the last few months. The disruptions have already led to a cash flow crunch that has severely made running operations almost impossible, forcing them to lay off some staff and close down Maputo’s only bookstore dedicated to African literature. They are in danger of shutting down operations and calling it a day.
The firm has asked for the lovers of the written word across the continent for financial support at this critical time. The contributions will go directly to funding salaries for key staff and supporting rent at their store. Those who support the call-out will receive some goodies whilst also knowing that they ensured that a vital pillar of the African literary space survives for the next three months.
You can add your contribution to the appeal by clicking here; the current campaign ends on February 1.
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