En this period of transition in Guinea, the 14and edition of the “72 hours of the book of Conakry” had a particular resonance in that it truly highlighted the strong cultural dimension of the country. To do this, Sansy Kaba Diakité, the general delegate, and his deputy, Mohamed Lamine Camara, mobilized a lot of energy to put together a rich program around readings of extracts from novels, poetry, round tables, work, master classes, conferences followed by debates, book signings published in Africa, painting exhibitions and screenings of films as well as documentaries. In accordance with UNESCO’s World Book and Copyright Day, this “72 Hours of Conakry Book” event was launched in 2009 to celebrate writers and books by the world every April 23.
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Why “72 hours” and not “24”?
The question needs to be asked. Answer with humor from Sansy Kaba Diakité: “It’s so that in Guinea, every year, we make up for lost time! Along with Mohamed Lamine Camara, Sansy Kaba Diakité keeps repeating that the ultimate goal is to make Conakry the “African book capital”. And it shows. The organizing team of L’Harmattan-Guinée is totally inhabited by this idea. Nothing is left to chance and Conakry happily includes North Africa. This year, moreover, the guest of honor was Morocco. In this wake of openness, the organizers are of course thinking of Algeria, Tunisia and a number of other African countries, without forgetting Haiti, this country so dear to the African imagination of the Republic.
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Highlights “Under the cheese maker”
Reporting in detail on all three days is not an easy task as their richness is great. However, we can point out highlights such as the literary cafés around the question of women in literature and in entrepreneurship, the round tables “Under the cheese maker”, organized around themes such as “The reconciliation of Guinea with its histories”, but also transmission. The opportunity to raise a fruitful debate on this young and old country at the same time that is Guinea.
“Under the cheese maker”, there was also a lot of talk about peace in general and social peace in particular. For the Franco-Cameroonian novelist Calixthe Beyala, “the school of peace is good manners, it is to ensure that there are no social inequalities”. “Peace is learning to create love for oneself and for others,” she says before adding: “Sharing must be an essential element of peace between African nations. The novelist thus hammered home the need to “respect the breathing space of the Other”.
For the Moroccan poet Rachid Khaless, “one must make peace with oneself and with the other”. “It is imperative, he said, to create the Africa of humanity, because Africa is the cradle of humanity”. Moreover, “youth should be mobilized and not marginalized, which should undoubtedly be a marker of peace”, indicates Rachid Khaless.
For his part, for the novelist Eugène Ebodé, “any war should make it possible to rethink peace in depth for future generations”.
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Places as world heritage
Other themes addressed “Under the cheese maker”: that of African places to be consecrated as heritage of humanity, but also that of history to be valued “by Africans themselves”. To do this, new technologies and innovations in the service of heritage were at the heart of the debate. At the same time, the promotion of Guinea’s natural heritage and its appropriation by the country’s population was also discussed. A highlight on the question of the redistribution of wealth and living together highlighted at the Franco-Guinean Cultural Center in Conakry. The opportunity for relevant questions from students who wondered about the reality that an African novelist often has to go through London or Paris to finally be recognized in his country or in Africa. “What do we do with literature written in local languages? asked students eager for knowledge. “Languages should not be opposed to each other”, it was argued to complete with the idea that “the main thing is to be able to express oneself in all the languages available”. Conferences on African literature at the Gandhi University in Conakry thus accompanied these reflections.
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Distinguished Authors
At the same time, cultural personalities were honored. Thus the Moroccan Africanist Abdeljalil Lahjomri received an honorary doctorate from the State University of Sanfonia in Conakry. Placed under the high patronage of the Head of State, Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, the “72 hours of Conakry” were closed by Prime Minister Mohamed Béavogui. He recalled the importance of reading in building a nation. And to salute the presence of authors and writers as numerous as they are diverse such as Eugène Ebodé, Bios Diallo, Abdallah Baïda, Jean-Célestin Edjangué, Zalikatou Diallo, Rabiaa Marhouch, Rachid Khaless, Yamen Manaï, Sékou Fofana, Philomé Robert, Sanassy Mbemba Camara, Christian Kader Keïta, Erick Monjour, Fodé Cissé, Hadja Fatoumata Fofana, and many others equally committed to the development of books in Africa.
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Honor to Dalaba
For this 14and edition, the Guinean city in the spotlight was Dalaba, city of art and history where the great South African singer Miriam Makeba lived, whose house will be rehabilitated into a museum. On this occasion, a Rosa Parks street and a Miriam Makeba street were inaugurated in Dalaba. What punctuate a demonstration where Africa converged on the Guinean capital, which took up the challenge of the gloom installed by the global health crisis of Covid-19. Looking forward to the next “72 hours of the Book of Conakry” to make the furrow of the African book more visible.
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* Benaouda Lebdai is a university professor in colonial and postcolonial African literature.