Mandela Bay Book Fair

MBBF is a writers' and public book and exhibition event in the Mandela Bay Metro. Event runs over two days, 17 & 18 March at the Opera House. Visitors and delegates to the fair include a wide range of speakers, librarians, book illustrators, artists, writers, poets, academics, school teachers, university students, scholars and book publishers. Speakers include national celebrities, award-winning writers and senior government officials.

The book fair promotes books, writers, libraries, reading and writing activities in the Bay. The project also supports previously unheard and unpublished voices from the Metro by showcasing their work in exhibition events during the fair, linking the most talented of these writers with South African book agents and publishers. The fair has a long-standing relationship with the Rhodes University Master in Creative Writing Programmes, and very often hosts the programme's information sharing meetings with and for prospective writing students from the Metro and the province at the fair.

The MBBF has become the ideal place for local writers in the Mandela Bay Metro to establish contacts with publishers, book funders, national artists, book illustrators, prominent writers, business agents, and other critical people who are influential in the books and entertainment industries in South Africa.