Proximité publishing has been founded in 2002 in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with the aim of bringing the book and publishing to local populations. Two things motivated the creation of this initiative: the difficulty for young authors to be locally published on the one hand, and the desire to promote the circulation of local and foreign publications at an affordable price on the other hand. In its early years, Proximité published many young authors, most of them working on their first manuscript, at the same time as they worked towards better visibility for foreign literatures through co-publishing projects. In 2006, Proximité joined forces with other structures by becoming a collection publishing novels and short stories under the umbrella Ifrikiya publishing. Between 2006 and 2015, the collection has then published a dozen of young authors annually. Since 2015, Proximité has regained its autonomy, and is reinventing itself as a publishing house, working in different genres: novel and short stories, essays and biographies, children’s books and comics.
Read here the interview with François Nkémé, published in partnership with ActuaLitté (April 4, 2017).
Read the interview with François Nkémé published by Jeune Afrique on April, 26, 2021.