The Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) is organising the second GAW Book Festival, dubbed GAWBOFEST 2012, on September 21, 2012 (Founder’s Day holiday) at the National Theatre, Accra. It is an all-day affair starting from 8am to 5pm. GAWBOFEST 2012 will also be the occasion for the launch of the GAW Schools outreach Programme (GAWSOP), which is a collaborative effort between GAW and the Ghana Education Service. President John Mahama has been invited to be the Special Guest of Honour and also read from his recently published book.

The purpose of the one day festival is to bring together authors, publishers, illustrators, booksellers, bloggers, book designers, librarians, teachers, parents, children and readers in an atmosphere of fun to celebrate books, reading, writing, story-telling and creativity. The emphasis will be on fun because reading is best enjoyed when it is not seen as a chore. In this way, GAW hopes to help rekindle the spirit of reading and writing which is fading from our national consciousness.

GAWBOFEST is a one-day affair and the emphasis is on raising consciousness about the value of books and reading in our personal and individual development. The Ghana Association of Writers hopes that the festival will become an annual affair, and regional variations may even be instituted in the future. GAWBOFEST is a unique experience at which many different activities are offered. GAWBOFEST has everything you can find at other book festivals, plus much, much more.
They include:

• Authors reading from their books or talking about their work.
• Authors signing copies of their books for readers
• Publishers stands where everyone can buy books and other reading-related products
• Book readings
• Poetry Slam
• Storytelling
• Book exchanges (bring an old book and exchange it for another from someone, perhaps a complete stranger)
• Balloon crafts
• Face painting
• Spelling bee and quiz
• Writing clinic (bring your unpublished poems, short stories, articles, novels for free and instant evaluation by experts)
• GAW bookshop – a one-day bookshop of members’ books a discount prices
• Publishers stands (for book sales and displays)
• Live music performed by a youth trombone choir
• Food and drinks vendors
• Meet your favourite author
• Seminars and workshops
• Tables and tents where one can buy books and other reading-related products
• A children’s stage featuring interactive activities and presentations

and more