Writers association organises book festival in Accra

The Ghana Writers Association (GAW) has organised the seventh edition of “GAWBOFEST,” a book fair festival, in Accra.

The event, organised last Thursday brought together authors, publishers, booksellers, bloggers and librarians.

Others included teachers and students from schools such as Aburi Girls’ SHS and Osino Senior High School, children and parents.

It was aimed at restoring the spirit of reading and writing among children and adults.

Activities

The annual fair also involved quiz and spelling competitions. There was also a segment dubbed, “writing clinics” where individuals received instant evaluation from experts of their unpublished stories and poems, including live music by a youth tambourine choir.

Other activities included seminars, workshops, interactions with authors and face paintings.

Books from GAW and some publishing companies were also on sale at a discounted prices.

Importance of reading

Speaking on the theme, “Empowering Ghana through Reading,” the President of the African University College of Communications (AUCC), Dr Koryoe Anim-Wright, expressed the need for an intense advocacy to imbibe the habit of reading in children.

Adequate reading, she said, improved ones communication skills and created more civic-minded citizens that would result in deepening the country’s democracy.

Dr Anim-Wright, therefore, expressed the hope that strategic policies would be put in place by relevant authorities to achieve a target of ensuring students were better readers by age 11.

“If we are not already doing so, we can adopt the one book one community modules that were popular around the world. Proper reading allows people to be better thinkers and also increases ones’ intelligence,” she added.

Dr Anim-Wright expressed AUCC’s commitment to partner with GAW to achieve their goals.

Advice
The President of GAW, Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, advised that students should be adequately educated instead of being provided with educational materials.

He also asked for the restoration of reading time in schools curriculum while creating an environment that made it impossible for students to avoid reading.

Nana Gyan-Apenteng added that books written by Ghanaian authors and others should be frequently distributed to schools.