A man who looks to be in his mid sixties pauses on the street as we pass by each other. I slow down in tandem, noting the concerned expression on his face and wonder what’s going on. He asks if I’m not cold. There is a light drizzle and a chill in the air on this late September afternoon. My navy blue dress and the light shawl draped around my shoulders are indeed not super appropriate for the weather. My plan is to make a quick dash around the corner so I expect to survive. I smile and thank him for his concern, telling him I’ll be okay, and we each go our separate ways.

In this little act you will find all you need to know about the stark contrast between Stockholm and Gothenburg. Not so long before, I had taken a cab from the airport, and the cab driver gave me a detailed description of a trip he’d recently taken to Morocco. He spoke as though we were old friends describing the weather, food and friendliness of the people. In the five years I’ve lived in Stockholm, I haven’t experienced much near this relative warmth from strangers. I’m quite frankly blown away! As it turns out, the reservedness that I have known and come to mark off as a Swedish trait, might only be a Stockholm trait. I make a mental note to investigate this further in my trips around the country.

I am at Gothenburg to attend the International Book Fair. Housed at the Swedish Exhibition and Conference Center, the fair is huge! There are people moving around in all directions, lost in happy conversations, invariably carrying tote bags that say something comical or purposeful about books. There is a pancake corner at one end of the exhibition space from which I catch a whiff of sugary treats and hear the sound of contented children. The lighting is bright and the stands are a colourfully set up with different themes, but what one is sure to see in whatever direction they look, are books.

Besides the exhibition floors, the fair includes a number of panel discussions where different authors discuss their books, lives, writing processes and anything else that comes up. This is my favourite part. An author myself, I hope to study their poise, take in their wisdom and just be surrounded by greatness while seeing how it all works. The speakers are brilliant, and I am treated to everything from a joik performance from Sami folk singers, to a discussion on the evolving changes in the field of physics. There is an awful lot to learn through the 4 day event.

My favourite part of the fair was getting to meet Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. She was part of a discussion with author and journalist Carolina Ramqvist on the effects of colonialism on love. I will admit that my initial attraction was that she was Kenyan like me, but the session turned out to be one I really enjoyed. For one, the session facilitator had a comfortable grasp of English, which helped the discussion flow, but he also had a charming way of keeping the conversation going. On writing, both panelists described their need as authors, to get out of the way of the story. Yvonne quipped that characters have free will and went on to paint the imagery of the characters visiting her and sitting next to her as she writes. Karolina mentioned that at times, the story might take a turn in a direction that she does not like, but noted that she would have no choice, but to let the story be. 

My best quote from the session came from Yvonne who said that she treats the setting and physical location as a character, letting it take up and hold space in her writing. I also learnt the term ‘autobiographical fiction’ from Karolina and am thrilled at the idea of mixing fact and fiction without having to tell what is what. Lastly, I was fascinated to learn that Sweden was a colonising master in Africa at some point in history, having control over parts of Ghana. The team discussed how silence is the means through which racism, tribalism and such forms of human separation spread both in Sweden and Kenya.

After the session, I was glad to get my copy of Yvonne’s book “Dust” signed by the author. I had purchased at the English Bookshop stall on the fair grounds, (being the only source of books in English that I had come across at the fair), and joined the long queue. She was very charming, friendly and encouraging in person when I mentioned that I am a writer myself. I felt that I could have chatted with her forever, but had to give way for those behind me who were waiting. I determined to also purchase her second book, “The Dragonfly Sea.”

The fair was an involving occasion from which I picked up a lot of wisdom and met a lot of lovely people. I picked up real concrete ideas that I could incorporate into my writing. All in all, that was a long weekend well spent, and quite worth it.