Authors' association launched
Larona Makhaiza | Tuesday October 17, 2023 06:00
The entity is called Fiction Academic and Non-Fiction Authors Association of Botswana (FANFABO). FANFABO's objective is to be the remedy for the hardships that the aspiring and published authors have been facing in the writing industry.
Speaking during the official launch of the association this past weekend, Bakalanga Malikongwa, who is also the interim chairperson of FANFABO and the chairperson of Copyright Society of Botswana (COSBOTS), said there has been a void in the writing industry for quite some time.
“We recognise that many Batswana have too many tales to tell waiting to be heard; voices yearning to make their mark in the literature world. But most Batswana are aggrieved and we have so much talent here in Botswana,” Malikongwa said.
Malikongwa further stated that as FANFABO, their biggest mandate is to be the ‘go to’ place for writers locally. She highlighted that FANFABO would be the go-to place for writers because of the great lengths it is willing to go to for the writers. “Our aim is to be the bedrock, nurturing and championing the rights of our own creators, ensuring that their authorship paths are well looked after,” she highlighted.
She added that their wish in the digital age is to ensure that the writers and intellectuals' endeavours are valued, protected, and properly rewarded. “FANFABO will handle promotions between the public and private partnerships within the authorship industry.
FANFABO will also advocate for authors and serve as a mediator to matters pertaining to authorship, contract negotiations, protect the rights, and publishing industry,” she said.
In dire constraints of authors who cannot afford to pay the publishing fees for themselves, Malikongwa echoed that FANFABO will be there to assist such writers by sourcing funding for them. Malikongwa, who is a writer herself, stated that the idea to establish FANFABO came about from the writer’s workshop they had in Cape Town, South Africa after getting to benchmark from other African countries on what they were doing for their writers.
She appealed to writers in Botswana to ‘make hay while the sun still shines’ with FANFABO and make the most out of it as it is now time for writers to thrive just like musicians who have been benefiting from COSBOTS. “We have done a lot as COSBOTS empowering musicians but now it is time to empower writers out there in Botswana,” she said.
Meanwhile, she stated that FANFABO is open to a wide variety of writers locally and publishing people from illustrators, photographers, designers and many more.