The Kisumu Bookfair 2019 was hosted in the Jomo Kenyatta Grounds, Kisumu from May 22-25, 2019. The theme for the fair was “Read. Apply. Freedom.”
The Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) is the body that brings together the publishers of Kenya. The organisation does a series of activities to ensure that the interest of its membership is catered to in the country. These activities range from lobbying authorities at the legislative level and the business level to events to drive interest in reading in the general public.
One of the most important activities of the association is the Nairobi International Book Fair where the publishing industry across the continent converges on Nairobi for one week to showcase the best for the year. The fair which has been running annually in September since 1996 is one of the most anticipated in the African publishing calendar.
While the fair is a beloved international activity, the KPA realised that counties were not catered to and came up with the regional book fairs to ensure the grassroots were catered to. These fairs have had mixed results from lacklustre reception to more well received ones.
The opening ceremony of the book fair on May 22 had the KPA leadership led by chairman Lawrence Njagi in attendance at the Jomo Kenyatta Grounds. Also, there was Kisumu county minister for education Dr John Ogone and its County Director of Education Isaac Ateka.
The book fair had thirty-five publishers exhibiting including Moran Publishers, Oxford Publishers, Storymoja Publishers, Spotlight {EA} Publishers, Spear Sharp Publishers, and Scripture Union.
During the three days residents of Kisumu and it’s environs got to meet with authors like David Musila a politician whose memoir is Seasons of Hope – Memoirs of David Musila and TV news anchor Swaleh Mdoe author of TV News Anchoring.
Here are more images from the fair courtesy of our friends at the Kenya Publishers Association.
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