Cape Town International Book Fair

April 2008

World Book Day

It's a day that has its background steeped in history and romance, and it celebrates the book. IN 1995 UNESCO established World Book and Copyright Day and decreed that it would be celebrated around the world on 23 April.

It serves as a bookmark and a reminder of the Cape Town International Book Fair which begins runs from 14 to 17 June at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The fair is run under the auspices of the Publisher's Association of the South Africa and in association with the Frankfurt Book Fair. Under the directorship of Vanessa Badroodien the fair has become the biggest in Southern Africa, and last year drew a record-breaking 49 000 members of the public who came to celebrate the book and the joy of reading.

This year there's a fascinating link between World Book Day and the Cape Town International Book Fair as one of the collections at the fair will be Romance. It's also the year that Mills & Boon celebrates 100 years of publishing.

Romance is very much part of the story of World Book Day as it coincides with St George's Day which is marked in Catalonia by giving books and roses: roses as a gesture of love and books as a gesture of "forever". It's also the day that Miguel de Cervantes author of Don Quixote de la Mancha died, and has long been associated with William Shakespear with 23 April 1616 being recorded as the date of his death.

Around South Africa people will be getting together to celebrate the book, while the Cape Town Book Fair prepares to offer visitors from international and local publishing houses, and lovers of books to a feast of literature and discussion about reading and writing.

Contact:

Vanessa Badroodien

Tel:    021 418 5493

Fax:    021 418 5949

Email: vanessab@capetownbookfair.co.za

Internet: http://www.capetownbookfair.com

Or

Contact: Evelyn John Holtzhausen

082 658 6007

evelyn@hwb.co.za