Harare Book Club (HBC) will next Sunday host an engaging free-to-attend book party at Afrotopia Café, situated within the iconic National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ).

HBC is a collective of readers, writers and book enthusiasts based in Harare with membership in various parts of the world.

The book party will bring together readers from all walks of life and create a unique atmosphere for book lovers to network and socialise.

“Books hold the immense power to bridge cultural and geographical barriers, by enhancing a better understanding of the world,” read a statement released by the club.

According to the organisers, there will be a book swap and festive season shopping available.

 “Adult fiction and non-fiction, children’s books, scented candles, gift hampers and so much more will be on sale,” Tonderai Mudambo told Standard Style.

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HBC is Zimbabwe’s largest book community. It is a vibrant and diverse collective of readers, writers, and literary lovers that was founded in 2018 by Mudamboa Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumna together with a friend Rumbidzai  Zinyemba to reinvigorate and promote the Zimbabwean literary industry.

“Strongly rooted in our advocacy of literature by African and black writers, we are excited to highlight titles from Zimbabwean publishing houses namely House of Books and Carnelian Heart Publishing Ltd during this event.”

The book club holds simultaneous in-person and virtual book discussions, hosting authors where permissible with a focus on pan-African and diaspora literature. Tsitsi Dangarembga, Ignatius Mabasa and Petina Gappah are renowned local authors that the book club has previously hosted during their meet-the-author live discussions.

Recently, the club announced a new partnership with the UK-based publisher Carnelian Heart Publishing Ltd which is run by bilingual award-winning poet, novelist, librettist, short story writer, translator and visual artist Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhurewho is based in Wales.

“We are delighted to share Carnelian Heart Publishing Ltd’s amazing culturally relevant novels, memoirs, poetry collectionsand children’s books with our community.”

Last week HBC hosted an online book discussion focusing on Womb City, a book by Tlotlo Tsamaase a speculative fiction writer and poet from Botswana.