Book Dash will take part in Pan Afrikan Design Week 2026, a continental gathering opening in Cape Town on 21 October. Convened by the Pan Afrikan Design Institute with Open Design Afrika as local host, the three-day conference at Workshop17 in the V&A Waterfront’s Watershed asks a single question: how do we design to thrive? It brings together designers, educators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and cultural practitioners from across the continent and the diaspora.

Book Dash’s place in the programme is on Thursday 22 October, the day devoted to how creative work can ripple outward into communities and systems. From 14:20 to 15:05, a case study dialogue titled “Creative Collaboration, Social Impact and Early Book Access” will look at how writers, illustrators, designers, editors, and literacy partners work together to put high-quality books into the hands of young children.

The panel features Thembalethu Shangase, Arthur Attwell, Diane Awerbuck, Subi Bosa, and Mmamuso Makhanya. Attwell is the managing director of Electric Book Works and a co-founder of Book Dash. Awerbuck is an award-winning writer, and Bosa is a Cape Town-based author-illustrator of graphic novels and comics. Makhanya leads Wordworks, an education development organisation.

Other speakers over the three days include Njeri Mwagiru, Saki Mafundikwa, Nthakoana Maema, Rael Futerman, and Jess Berliner. The conference runs in person, with limited capacity, and selected sessions are livestreamed for online ticket holders. A networking evening follows on Friday 23 October, and a community tour hosted by Uthando South Africa closes the programme on Saturday. Tickets are available through Quicket, and the full programme is available here.