Here are Literary Festivals and Book Fairs for African writers and bibliophiles on the continent and the diaspora to look out for in 2024.
Today, we give you a list of literary festivals and book fairs you can attend this year. Please note that many dates have not been confirmed this early but organisers have either confirmed them or they usually happen and there is no reason to believe that they will not have an edition this year. These are also festivals where you can find a large participation of writers of African descent across the globe.
We asked those who follow us on social media what festivals are expected to happen, and we thank all those who shared. We will update this page regularly, so don’t worry if your favourite event has not been listed yet. Please note that you can still suggest a festival to be added to this list, and we will add it. Do it either on our socials or in the comments on this page.
Without further ado, here are festivals for you to diarise for 2024. The format is date, festival, and venue.
January
- January 24 – February 6: Cairo International Book Fair 2024, Cairo, Egypt
- January 28: Nakuru Kitabu Fest, Nakuru, Kenya
- January 29 – February 2: Lire A Douala 2024, Douala, Cameroon
February
- February 1 – 3: iLembe Book Festival 2024, Groutville, Kwazulu Natal
- February 2 – 4: International Black Speculative Writing Festival, London, UK
- February 7 – 10: African Festival of Emerging Writers 2024, Yaoundé, Cameroon
- February 8 – 11: Festival du Livre Africain de Marrakech – FLAM 2024, Marrakech, Morocco
- February 8 – 11: Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters 2024, Kerala, India
February 15 – 18: Festival Atlantide 2024, Nantes, France - February 17 – 24: Fête Du Livre Kinshasa, Kinshasa, DR Congo
- February: Back to the Future Festival, United Kingdom
- February 29 – March 3: Guyana Prize Literary Festival 2024, Georgetown, Guyana
March
- March 1 – 3: Marché du Livre et des Arts du Niger (MALAN), Niamey, Niger
- March 6 – 9: Rencontres Internationales du Livre Francophone du Rwanda 2024, Kigali, Rwanda.
- March 10: Johannesburg Festival of Women Writers 2024, Johannesburg, South Africa.
- March 12 – 15: NYrobi Comic Fest 2024, Nairobi, Kenya.
- March 13 – 16: Biennale des littératures d’Afrique noire 2024, Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, France
- March 14 – 21: Time of the Writer 2024, Durban, South Africa
- March 15 – 21: Filbleu Festival/International Festival Les lucioles bleues 2024, Lomé, Togo.
- March 15 – 17: Salon Du Livre Africain De Paris 2024, Paris, France.
- March 16 – 19: Thies International Book Fair (SILT) 2024, Dakar, Senegal
April
- April 11 – 14: USVI Literary Festival & Book Fair 2024, University of the Virgin Islands.
- April 12 – 14: Livre d’Ailleurs 2024 Nancy, France
- April 17 – 20: Salon International Féminin du Livre, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
- April 17 – 21: Antananarivo Book Fair 2024, Antananarivo, Madagascar
- April 19 – 28: Foire Internationale Du Livre Tunis 2024, Tunis, Tunisia
- April 19 – 21: Marché du Livre et des Arts du Niger (MALAN), Niamey, Niger
- April 23 – 25: 72 heures du livre 2024, Conakry Guinea
- April 24 – 28: Salon Du Livre de Djibouti, Djibouti
- April 25 – 28: Bocas Lit Fest 2024, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
May
- May 1 – 4: Kaduna Book & Arts Festival 2024, Kaduna, Nigeria
- May 2 – 11: Mai Poesie festival d’un genre 2024, Martinique
- May 2 – 4: Salon international du livre de Matam, Matam, Senegal
- May 8 – 10: Nigeria International Book Fair 2024, Lagos, Nigeria
- May 8 – 11: Rentrée Littéraire des Editions Jimsaan 2024, Dakar, Senegal
- May 9 – 19 – Le Salon International de l’Edition et du Livre Rabat, Rabat, Morocco
- May 14 – 18: Salon International Du Livre D’Abidjan 2024, Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire
- May 16 – 18: Salon Du Livre Péi 2024, Saint Paul, Reunion.
- May 22 – 26: Salon Du Livre De Bamako 2024, Bamako, Mali
- May 23 – 26: All Africa Women’s Poetry Festival, Accra Ghana
- May 23 – 26: Salon du livre Africain de Beauregard, Hérouville-Saint-Clair, France
- May 29 – June 1: Kenya Publishers Association’s Mombasa Regional Fair, Mombasa, Kenya
- May 29 – June 1: Festival international du livre et de la littérature de Dakar (FILID), Dakar, Senegal
- May 30 – June 1: Festival International du Livre Gabonais et des Arts – Filiga, Libreville, Gabon
- May 30 – June 2: Resonanzen Schwarzes Literaturfestival, Recklinghausen, Germany
June
- June 7 – 9: Black Writers Book Festival, Hamburg, Germany
- June 7 – 9: Festival Buku Kinshasa 2024, Kinshasa, DR Congo
- June 7 – 9: Africa Writes Exeter, Exeter, UK
- June 7 – 10: Festival international de littérature de Dakar 2024, Dakar, Senegal
- June 13 – 16: Festival de Literatura – Mundo do Sal, Cabo Verde
- June 14 – 15: Days of African Literature Festival, Graz, Austria.
- June 16 – 22: Festival da Palavra de Curitiba 2024, Curitiba, Brazil
- June 27 – 30: Afrolution Festival, Berlin, Germany
- June 27 – 30: NBO Litfest 2024, Nairobi, Kenya
- June 28 – 30: African Book Festival Berlin 2024, Berlin, Germany
July
- July 6 – 7: La Fête Africaine, Port Maillard, La Daguenière, France
- July 11 – 13: Kano International Poetry Festival 2024, Kano, Nigeria
- July 12: Caribbean Literature Day 2024, Caribbean
- July 13 – September 13: Kweli International Literary Festival 2024, New York, USA
- July 15 – 28: The Bibliotheca Alexandrina International Book Fair, Alexandria, Egypt
- July 20 – 25: Hargeysa International Book Fair 2024, Hargeisa, Somaliland
- July 25 – 28: The Book Fairy Festival 2024, Montego Bay, Jamaica
- July 27: Writers’ Circle literary festival, Africa Centre, London, UK
August
- August 1 – 5: Kigali International Book Fair 2024, Kigali, Rwanda
- August 6 – 11: Soma Nami African Book Festival 2024, Nairobi, Kenya
- August 7 – September 12: The Folklore Festival 2024, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town
- August 8 – 11: Ghana International Book Fair 2024, Accra, Ghana
- August 21 – 24: Doek Literary Festival 2024, Windhoek, Namibia
- August 29 – September 1: Ghana International Book Fair 2024, Accra, Ghana
September
- September 5 – 8: Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival 2024, New York, USA
- September 6 – 8: Open Book Festival 2024, Cape Town, South Africa
- September 12 – 14: Grande Rentrée Littéraire de Kinshasa 2024, Kinshasa, DR Congo
- September 18 – 20: Feira do Livro da Beira (FLIB 2024), Beira, Mozambique
- September 20 – 22: Macondo Literary Festival 2024, Nairobi, Kenya
- September 21: Ngqayizivele Book Festival 2024, Durban, South Africa
- September 23 – 26: International Black Writers Festival 2024, Howard University, Washington DC, USA.
- September 23 – 27: Yenagoa Book and Arts Festival 2024, Yenagoa, Bayelsa, Nigeria
- September 25 – 30: Nairobi International Book Fair 2024, Nairobi, Kenya
- September 27 – 28: Limpopo Book Fair, Polokwane, South Africa
- September 27 – October 4: Kistrech Poetry Festival 2024, Venues in Kenya
October
- October 2 – 6: Quramo Festival of Words (QFest) 2024, Lagos, Nigeria
- October 3 – 12: Poetry Africa Festival 2024, Durban, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
- October 5: Festival Littératures Itinerants 2024, Rabat, Morocco
- October 5: British Black Book Fair 2024, London, UK
- October 9 – 12: Virtual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (VICFA) 2024, Virtual
- October 9 – 13: Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty, Paraty, Brazil.
- October 10 – 12: Festival International du Livre et des Arts Assimilés du Bénin, Cotonou, Benin
- October 10 – 13: Salon du livre de jeunesse de l’océan Indien, Saint-Denis, Reunion Island.
- October 11 – 13: Festival des Littératures Africaines 2024, Nantes, France
- October 17 – 19: Weltwortreisende 2024 (World Word Travellers), Graz, Austria
- October 17 – 19: Salon du Livre Jeunesse de Lomé, Lome, Togo
- October 18 – 19: Jozi Book Fair 2024, Johannesburg, South Africa
- October 18 – 20: Pa Gya! A Literary Festival 2024, Accra, Ghana
- October 19: Harare Open Book Festival 2024, Harare, Zimbabwe
- October 21 – 23: Neustadt Lit Fest 2024, University of Oklahoma, USA
- October 22 – 27: African Writers Conference 2024, Kigali, Rwanda
- October 23 – 26: Festival international Le Souffle de l’Harmattan FISH, N’Djamena, Chad
- October 23 – 27: Meeting International du livre et des arts Associés (MILA), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
- October 24 – 26: Feira Do Livro Maputo 2024, Maputo, Mozambique
- October 24 – 27: Jinja International Poetry Festival 2024, Jinja, Uganda
- October 24 – 27: Salon du livre afro-Canadien 2024, Ottawa, Canada
- October 24 – 27: Lagos International Poetry Festival 2024, Lagos, Nigeria.
November
- November 5 – 7: Liteafro 20 anniversary, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
- November 6 – 16: Salon International du Livre Jeunesse de Conakry, Conakry, Guinea
- November 6 – 16: Salon International du Livre d’Alger 2024, Algiers, Algeria
- November 7 – 8: Mogadishu Book Fair 2024, Mogadishu, Somalia
- November 7 – 11: British Virgin Islands Literary Festival 2024, Road Town, British Virgin Islands
- November 11 – 17: Tottenham Literature Festival 2024, London, UK
- November 11 – 17: Festa Literária Das Periferias 2024, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- November 11 – 18: Lagos Arts and Book Festival 2024, Lagos, Nigeria
- November 14 – 16: Abuja International Poetry Festival 2024, Abuja, Nigeria
- November 16: Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture 2024, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
- November 20 – 23: Cotonou Salon National du Livre 2024, Cotonou, Benin
- November 20 – 23: Ake Book & Arts Festival 2024, Lagos, Nigeria
- November 25 – 27: Borno Arts and Book Festival 2024 (BoBAFest), Borno, Nigeria
- November 27 – 30: Litfest Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
- November 29 – 30: Asmara-Addis Literary Festival (In Exile) 2024, Brussels, Belgium
December
- December 2 – 6: Le Festival Bilili BD, Brazzaville, Congo
- December 2 – 10: Rencontres Lttéraires Nouakchott, Nouakchott, Mauritania
- December 3 – 6: International Publishers Congress, Guadalajara, Mexico
- December 6 – 8: Jamaica Book Festival, Kingston, Jamaica
- December 7 – 8: Kampala Writes LitFest, Kampala Uganda
- December 13 – 14: Nkabom Literary Art Festival 2024, Accra, Ghana
- December 14: iGugulethu Book Fair 2024, Gugulethu, South Africa
- December 19 – 21: Hausa International Book and Art Festival 2024, Abuja, Nigeria
- December 20 – 22: Salon du livre féminin de Dakar 2024, Dakar, Senegal
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