Africa

This year the charity Book Aid InternationalSupplies much-needed books to developing countries, raising funds from publishers and general public; 'Reverse Book Club' is masterly idea-for just £5 ($10) month you can provide 48 books to go to where they're most needed, which goes from strength to strength, has sent over 1.1 million books to partners in Africa, beating their previous donation levels. Books and libraries are a crucial resource in sub-Saharan Africa. They are vital for quality education; they raise literacy levels, provide information and underpin development.  Read more

Our Comment for this week is an extract from this year's Nobel Laureate for Literature's lecture, in which he extols the virtues of the book and urges everyone, publishers in particular, to do everything they can to extend its availability.  Read more

Just as Bob Geldof is pointing the finger at countries which pledged aid to Africa last year but have failed to deliver on their promises, the success of the inaugural Cape Town Book Fair has provided an encouraging signal for the book world. 10,000 tickets were initially printed but on the first day of the Fair word spread quickly that a reprint had been ordered and final numbers of vis  Read more

For the second year running the Caine prize for African writing has gone to an Kenyan writer.  Read more