Mozambique: Wamini Wamini premieres at Casa Velha, Maputo
Mozambique: Maputo Book Fair to be held this Thursday and Friday
1:53 CAT | 18 Jun 2025
FILE - For illustration purposes only. {File photo: Wikimedia Commons[
More than 30 exhibitors are expected to attend the 10th edition of the Maputo Book Fair in the Mozambican capital on Thursday and Friday, after it was postponed in October due to post-election protests, the organization says.
“That’s what we all saw, it was cancelled and we had to go back. Everything was already organized, it was two days before it started, but we ended up postponing it, everything was ruined and it was difficult to get back on track,” fair coordinator Cristina Manguele told Lusa today.
In addition to more than 30 exhibitors, more than 10,000 visitors are expected over the two days, including students from primary and secondary schools in the Mozambican capital.
The current edition will only take place in the atrium and main hall of the Maputo municipality only, contrary to the previous programme, which included events at the Guimarães Rosa Institute, the Mozambican-German Cultural Centre, the Mozambican Writers’ Association and the Tunduru Garden, in the city centre.
“Just over 20 guests who will be taking part in this edition, but in ‘On the Way to the Fair’ we had activities with more than 20 Brazilian artists who were in Mozambique,” Manguele explained.
‘On the Way to the Fair’ is a series of events that habitually precedes the Maputo Book Fair, also organised by the municipality, in which of artistic activities, mainly involving schools, are developed with the aim of promoting art.
The 10th edition of the Maputo Book Fair had previously been scheduled for 24 to 26 October in the Mozambican capital, but post-election protests prevented the event from taking place, which had to be cancelled and rescheduled for June this year.
“Read, Exchange and Donate”
One of the new features of this edition is the “Read, Exchange and Donate” initiative, which, according to the coordinator, aims to encourage a taste for reading and the sharing of literary works among readers in the capital.
The space for donating and exchanging books also aims to serve as a place to promote dialogue between emerging writers and the promotion of independent publications, and to stimulate strategies to facilitate access to books in Maputo and beyond.
The 2025 edition, Manguele says, will pay tribute to the writer, essayist and literary critic Nelson Saúte, as well as João Albasini, one of the symbols of proto-nationalism in Mozambique.
The event includes lectures, debates, fairs, seminars, exhibitions, workshops and concerts to be held by writers, researchers, visual artists, journalists, actors, filmmakers and musicians, with the motto “Journalism and literature: Imaginaries to (re)think the future”.
The theme will also be debated at the opening of the event, on Thursday, with the Brazilian ambassador to Mozambique, Ademar Seabra da Cruz Júnior, as the speaker.
Debates related to the right to literature, initiatives to promote literary tourism, book launches and book reading sessions are also scheduled.
Among the Mozambican guests are Lucílio Manjate, Mélio Tinga, Eduardo Quive, Maya Macuacua, Énia Lipanga and Feling Capela.
From Brazil, names such as curator Juci Reis, visual artist and creative director Mayara Ferrão, as well as a multidisciplinary team of artists, musicians and photographers will participate.
The Maputo Book Fair is considered the largest in the country and the last edition was attended by 25 guest artists and more than 6,000 participants, according to the organizers.
Source: Lusa
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