Underground Booksellers Tour with Claire Bell of Secret Johannesburg

Sat Jan 26, 13:00 - Sat Jan 26, 15:00

Bridge Books, CBD

ABOUT

Meet Claire Bell, editor of The Secret Johannesburg book, an indispensable guide for those who thought they knew Johannesburg well, or who would like to discover the hidden face of the city. Claire Bell and Griffin Shea join forces this time around on the Underground Bookseller's Tour to open our eyes to the gems we had otherwise not known or forgotten in Johannesburg.


This is a guided walk through the inner-city’s literary history, tracing Joburg’s informal book trade. 

The walk starts with coffee at Bridge Books, an independent bookshop in one of the inner-city's finest heritage buildings, before meandering through Joburg's historic financial district. 


Stops include: Meischke’s Building, which housed Joburg’s first bookshop Thorolds and is now home to De Strong Tower, a supplier of Nigerian chapbooks (often described as the Nollywood of publishing), the Johannesburg City Library, Urban Ocean’s Pop-Up Arcade, a bookstore dedicated to Africa’s political memoirs and a market offering Southern African literature. The walk also stops at Ernest Oppenheimer Park where storyteller and author Baeletsi Tsatsi of Naane le Moya will treat walkers to an African mythology storytelling session. 


In particular this JoziWalk dispels the myth that Joburg lacks a culture of reading by introducing walkers to the inner-city’s many independent bookstores and smaller second-hand bookdealers. A treat for bookworms!

DIRECTIONS

Underground Booksellers Tour with Claire Bell of Secret Johannesburg
Bridge Books, CBD
85 Commissioner St, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa
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