The third edition of Open Book was an incredible experience – those of you who were there know what I’m talking about! The authors who joined us – international and local – were on top form, sharing their opinions, talking about their work and generally keeping everyone spellbound.
2013 has been an amazing ride that really kicked off with the World Record Attempt where we together with Central Library knocked over 2586 books in a row (we await Guinness approval for the record). When we decided to attempt the record, I don’t think any of us had a clear idea of just how crazy getting it right would be – needless to say, while the event was brilliant, one record is enough! To watch the video of the record, click here.
That was just the start though…Our programme this year was packed with events that make highlighting any one almost impossible. We can’t say enough about how delighted we are that events we spent months planning were so well received!
New to the programme were Poetica, curated by the remarkable Toni Stuart, and the Open Book Comics Fest, curated in part by industry specialist, Moray Rhoda. Both areas added significantly to the existing Open Book programme and we look forward to working with Toni and Moray again.
Also new – and something we aim to repeat in the years to come – was Pulp Fiction, our installation of 25000 books that were due to be pulped. Thanks to Granta Publishers for their generous donation which not only allowed us to create incredible backdrops to our events (thanks to Stuart Cairns!), but more importantly, enabled us to send out an invitation to Libraries and other organisations urgently in need of books to join us on the 12th September to collect as many books as they could carry! It was an experience not soon forgotten and of immense value to so many.
So much goes into the organising of the festival, it’s difficult to thank everyone – the public who showed their support like never before, the authors who were so generous with their time in and out of events, our partners and sponsors who assisted every step of the way and the staff who worked tirelessly to make sure the experience people had was an excellent one. Let’s do it all again next year!
If you would like further details about the festival, please contact Frankie (frankie@openbookfestival.co.
The Open Book Team
Open Book is organised in partnership with The Fugard Theatre, Equal Education, The District 6 Museum, The Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts, British Council, The Townhouse Hotel, Central Library, Caine Prize, The Embassy of Sweden, Medecins Sans Frontieres, PEN UK & PEN SA, Nederlands Letterfonds and sponsored by Leopard’s Leap, Absa, Highland Park Whisky, Penguin Books, Pan Macmillan, Random House Struik, NB Publishers, Jonathan Ball, Book Promotions, Fox & Raven Publishers, Granta and Oxford University Press.