Read SA

A thought or two from BOOK SA editor Ben Williams.

When I first heard of the Zukiswa Wanner-driven ReadSA campaign, I nearly jumped out of my seat, I was so excited. This is just what SA Lit needs: a fresh, independent, momentum-building marketing drive to get more South Africans to sit up and take notice of the decade-long wildflower blossoming of local letters – one that’s still going strong. Viva ReadSA!

It’s my feeling that we should promote awareness of this incubating initiative in any way we can, both through direct, one-to-one action – for instance, by getting other writers to contribute their time and skills – and through a set of more diffuse activities designed, cumulatively, to penetrate the loud-static veil of modern life and create a store of “recognition capital” for SA books and writers.

One idea I have in mind for the latter set of activities boils down to a simple proposition:

• Let’s make #readsa the official Twitter hashtag for all things SA Lit

South Africans recently tweeted their way to 10th place on the world Twitter users list, which means that half a million of us are tweeting every month, and, by extension – to borrow from Margaret Mead – that a few, thoughtful, committed twitizens can change the perception of local books in the SA twit-o-sphere through collective action.

Here’s what to do: every time you tweet something that is related to an SA book, writer or book event – anything to do with SA Lit, even if only tangentially – affix #readsa to the beginning or end of your tweet. Each #readsa-tagged tweet helps build a community of people who are interested in SA lit – anyone can join simply by including #readsa in their tweet.

When to tweet with #readsa:

• Whenever you comment on an SA book
• Whenever you retweet (RT) a comment on an SA book
• During cappuccino time at the Vide e Caffe with your best writer friend
• At book launches, readings and performances – especially if you’re posting pictures
• Any moment in which inspiration of the SA Lit variety strikes

To help the hashtag gain momentum, I’ll put a #readsa widget on BOOK SA’s front page, like this one -

- as soon as it’s populated with a reasonable number of tweets. (See how it works? We’ve already got a few, organically-associated tweets in there!)

To conclude then, with an African proverb: if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. Let’s go together, on Twitter, with #readsa.

Looking forward to seeing those tweets!

Anyone with questions about how Twitter and/or hashtags work, please post a comment below.

• Visit the ReadSA Facebook page and become a fan