World Book Capital set to move to Incheon, South Korea

The clock is ticking fast as Port Harcourt in Rivers State, will soon handover the World Book Capital to Incheon, South Korea, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Book Capital 2015.

The title is a yearly affair, commencing from one UN Book and Copyright Day to the next. Port Harcourt will on Thursday, April 23, 2015, hand over to Incheon, South Korea, UNESCO World Book Capital 2015.

Port Harcourt’s tenure has really boosted reading culture in Rivers State, Nigeria and beyond.

The year-long programme kicked off with a week-long of activities which lasted from Tuesday, April 22 to Saturday 26 April 2014, but the main opening ceremony took place on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, which is the United Nations (UN) World Book and Copyright Day.

The pilot phase of the programme included the test run of book clubs and reading tree as well as the Walking Book in Rivers State. “A book donation drive and participation in CARNIVRIV (the annual Rivers State Carnival) were part of the effort to sensitize resident of the city to the World Book Capital project.

When Bangkok handed over to Port Harcourt, the keynote address was delivered by Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka and the opening ceremonies included celebrities reading to children, interactive sessions with some of Nigeria’s most important author, a dance-drama directed by award winning playwright Bikiya Graham-Douglas. Bikiya, a Port Harcourt girl was in the city scouting local talents to participate in a drama titled “Along Came the Book,” which traces the role of information sharing from oral tradition to the written word, culminating in the Port Harcourt World Book Capital.

There was also the public presentation of “The Walking Book,” a communal story on the Sights and Sounds of Rivers State written by children from across the 23 Local Government Areas of the state. Finally, visitors to Port Harcourt were treated to the warm Rivers hospitality which includes the display of a boat regatta and excursion to Songhai Farms.

The key components of the opening ceremonies were international literature exhibition from Tuesday, April 22 to Thursday, April 24, 2014. Embassies and foreign missions in Nigeria, local and international book festivals, literary awards bodies, as well as key partners and stakeholders in the book chain industry were invited to participate in the three- day exhibition which showcased literature and literary efforts from around the world. Visitors enriched their global perspective by a visit to an exhibition tagged “It’s a Small World After all”.

According to Daniella Menezor of Rainbow Book Club, a visitor to almost any part of Port Harcourt will be greeted by big colourful signs declaring ‘Port Harcourt World Book Capital: Partner School.’ “As part of the programmes for children and youth, with a view of developing their reading and language skills, 200 book clubs have been set up in 100 schools. Working with both public and private schools, the clubs cater to senior primary as well as Junior and Senior Secondary School students and have a total of 2,500 students as members. At the primary level, the club members read a book a week while those at the secondary level read a book a month. These books were carefully selected and range from timeless classics to African folk tales as well as contemporary literature. 

“The books that are read during the club meetings are donated to the school and on completion of a club meeting are kept in the school library. As a result, a total of 66,500 books have been donated to the libraries of the 100 schools participating in the programme. This means other students who are not part of the book clubs also get to enjoy these great stories. It also means the book clubs can continue to run after the World Book Capital year. 

“To man and monitor the book clubs, 300 teachers, making an average of 3 teachers per school, were trained on how to run and coordinate the clubs. They are assisted by a team of volunteers. Close to 100 volunteers have been trained to handle different aspects of the Port Harcourt World Book Capital (PHWBC) programmes, including coordinating and running book clubs. These trainings have equipped the volunteers, who are mainly young university graduates and the teachers, with skills on how to setup and run book clubs which skills they can now use to earn an income for themselves.

“Adults were not left out of the reading campaign, the book-of-the month programme which highlights 12 outstanding books in the 12 months of the PHWBC year is the equivalent of the adult book club. Every last Sunday of the month, students, writers and the general public meet at the Hotel Presidential to hold conversations on the book in focus. These discussions are followed by a drama performance which is usually based on the book being discussed. Through this programme we have promoted the books and their authors and in collaboration with the Arts Institute, University of Port Harcourt, 5 of these books have been adapted for stage and performed.

“Through the PHWBC programmes, 73 Writers both aspiring and established have been celebrated and promoted on the national and international stage. Many more writers have had their works show cased and introduced to a wider audience, through the publication of 2 books; ‘Nigerian Literature; A Coat of Many Colours’ (I and II). These books are a compilation of 100 authors in Nigeria and their work.  Another 2 publications, ‘100 Years Around Port Harcourt’ and ‘I00 years Around Nigeria’ were a result of 600 secondary school students and 60 teachers from around Rivers State and Nigeria, participating in a writing exercise to commemorate the centenary of the city and that of the nation.

“In a bid to get the community involved 4 book donation drives were embarked on, here the general public was invited to donate new or fairly used books for the benefit of indigent communities. Through this exercise over 7,000 books were received and 12 ‘seed’ libraries have been planted in the city to benefit orphans, prisoners, out of school children among others.

“We have also taken the reading campaign to the world stage by participating in 4 International Road Shows, show casing Nigeria’s rich literary heritage. Twice the project was represented at the London Book Fair (2013 and 2014), we were also present at the Cape Town Book Fair and at the world’s biggest book fair, the Frankfurt Book Fair. In all these tours we exported Nigeria’s literature and authors to these countries by organising events with Nigerian authors and also selling their books,” Menezor explained.