The 2026 edition dedicates a professional strand to the Congolese book chain – publishing, translation and literary programming – alongside workshops and networking. That focus matters in a market where access to books remains a structural challenge and local publishing capacity is growing but under-resourced.
On 14 November, the Fête du Livre de la RD Congo opens at the Institut français in Kinshasa.
For eight days the capital will host authors, publishers and industry professionals, before the festival travels on to Lubumbashi, Kisangani, Matadi and beyond.
For publishing professionals watching francophone Africa, this is one of the region’s most significant literary gathering.
From a schoolroom idea to a national institution
The Fête du Livre began in 2013, conceived by three teachers at Kinshasa’s French lycée René Descartes in partnership with the Institut français and other cultural institutions. The first edition, themed “Le Congo au cœur du récit,” brought some thirty writers to the city for readings, debates and signings. Supported from 2014 by the EUNIC-RDC cultural network, the festival grew steadily. At its eleventh edition in 2025 it formally became the Fête du Livre de la RD Congo, expanding beyond the capital to provincial cities.
What the 2026 edition promises
Twelve editions in, the godmother is Marie NDiaye, the French novelist and Prix Goncourt winner. The programme pairs roughly fifteen international guests with ten Congolese authors across fiction, children’s literature, theatre and poetry.
Highlights include a tribute to novelist Sony Labou Tansi thirty years after his death, a poetic performance around philosopher Yves Mudimbe, a comics delegation from Brazzaville for the Bilili BD Festival, and screenings of films adapted from literature, including NDiaye’s Saint-Omer.
Entry remains free, and a pop-up bookshop will stock the visiting authors’ titles.
The View From the Beach
Crucially for the trade, the 2026 edition dedicates a professional strand to the Congolese book chain – publishing, translation and literary programming – alongside workshops and networking. That focus matters in a market where access to books remains a structural challenge and local publishing capacity is growing but under-resourced.
With a vast population, a deep Francophone readership and a diaspora hungry for Congolese stories, the Fête offers foreign publishers and scouts an unmatched window into one of Africa’s least understood markets.
The Fête du Livre has evolved from a local celebration into the DRC’s de facto national book fair. For rights sellers, translators and Francophone scouts, Kinshasa this November promise to be worthwhile.
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
