“Visitors receive a short overview of our work with local booksellers, Johannesburg’s iconic place as a setting and inspiration in South African literature, and a discussion of where the walk will be going.
Along the way, the walk will see a religious bookseller, the site of the original Central News Agency building, and then visit James Findlay Collectibles at the Rand Club (please note, the club is sometimes closed for private functions).
Then we visit booksellers in street markets, a spaza shop, a Nigerian importer, and the exterior of the beautifully renovated City Library. The library is currently closed for repairs.
The visit explains how books move through the underground economy, and discusses the history of bookselling Johannesburg — from the first black-run library, through the days of censorship and book burning, to the ways new modern readers find books in inventive ways.
Other things to note:
The walk lasts about three hours, but is mostly flat and goes at a leisurely pace. Inside some of the older buildings, there are no ramps or elevators.”
