Tamil publishers didn’t wait for the world to discover them; they built the bridges themselves.

Mutesi Gasana was at India’s Chennai International Book Fair last month with a simple mission: showcase Rwandan literature and figure out how Africa finally claims its space in global publishing. What she found was both exhilarating and deeply uncomfortable.

What follows is a summary of her report in Brittle Paper, intermingled with my own observations as a global industry observer based in The Gambia.

The Tamil Blueprint

Tamil literature has cracked the code. Authors once confined to regional readership now command international audiences – books on shelves from London to New York, translated into dozens of languages.

This didn’t happen by accident. It took aggressive translation programmes, diaspora engagement, government-backed publishing initiatives, and systematic participation in international fairs.

The critical difference? Tamil publishers didn’t wait for the world to discover them; they built the bridges themselves.

A walk through Chennai’s conference halls and rights hub revealed intentional infrastructure in action: publishers negotiating rights deals, translators connecting authors across languages, distributors mapping global supply chains. This wasn’t ceremonial – it was transactional. Literature became commerce; culture became currency.

The African Contrast

Africa has some of the world’s largest public-facing book fairs – Cairo is the largest, Algiers and Rabat pull in huge numbers – but these rarely translate into rights-trading powerhouses.

Sub-Saharan trade-facing fairs remain low-key affairs that showcase beautifully, host compelling panels, celebrate African heritage – but rarely close deals.

The standard legacy excuses don’t hold. India was a colony too. Yet Tamil Nadu’s government treats literature as economic and diplomatic capital: translation grants, export subsidies, trained literary agents, and a Rights Hub where over 1,000 MoUs were signed this year alone.

What Africa Must Do

First, professionalise African fair participation. Send publishers, rights managers, and translators equipped to do business – not just authors and cultural ambassadors.

Second, demand government recognition that books are export products. Translation grants and rights-trading support should be standard policy, not charity.

Third, evolve African platforms. Africa’s international book fairs must become genuine rights-trading hubs where global publishers come to buy, not just observe.

Fourth, build consortiums to negotiate collectively with distributors. Individual African publishers cannot compete alone against global giants.

The Urgency

Mutesi Gasana left Chennai with promising contacts – Tamil publishers interested in African literature, translators willing to work on Kinyarwanda texts. But with urgency too. Every year delayed building serious literary infrastructure is another year African voices remain marginalised in global conversations.

This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.