Kenya Publishers Association announced the winners of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for literature at the end of the 12th Nairobi International Book Fair. They are: Adult English Category: 1st position: Blossoms of the Savannah by Henry ole Kulet (Sasa Sema/Longhorn) 2nd position: Hawecha: A Woman for all time by Rhodia Mann (Sasa Sema/Longhorn) 3rd position: […]
Category: Issues
Following the announcement, by the Kenya Publishers Association, that they have increased the prize money from Sh40,000 to Sh150,000 maisha yetu is proud to announce the nominees for this year’s Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature. The judging panel, chaired by Prof Henry Indagasi, of the University of Nairobi, announced the list of nominees as follows: […]
African culture has from time immemorial been transmitted, from one generation to the other, through the spoken word. This goes to show why the fireside stories, often told by grandmothers, occupy such a central place in the African literary setting. The study of African literature is not complete without talking about oral literature. Some of […]
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A tribute to Kimani Maruge
When Kimani Maruge burst into the public limelight, I thought it was a bad joke, a publicity stunt gone too far. Seriously, how could a man aged over 80 enrol in Standard One? Nevertheless, I followed his ‘educational career’ with detached interest. Two years down the line the man was still at it. So the […]
Creative writers in Kenya will be in for a major treat at the annual Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF) set to be held towards the end of September. For the first time, the winner of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature will take home a substantial amount of prize money. The Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) […]
I recently was invited to presented a paper, at a Ministry of Culture sponsored workshop, on the above subject and below are my thoughts. Media continues to be an important tool in the dissemination of information in the country. This perhaps explains why media occupies such an exalted if not powerful position in the society […]
About two months ago I had the rare honour of visiting a community library in a dusty, remote village called Ndeiya. I would love to share my thoughts on what I saw there: The Cardinal Otunga Library is as modern as modern libraries go. Its catalogue includes much-sought after books like the two biographies on […]
Kenya’s most celebrated author, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, was in town and there is no way I was going to miss the occasion of launching his newest book, Re-membering Africa. This was yet another opportunity for me to interact with the cream of Kenya’s literary society – who in their right mind would dare miss an […]
It has been said that former Subukia MP Koigi wa Wamwere and controversy are inseparable. Nowhere does that come out clearly than in his new book Towards Genocide in Kenya: The Curse of Negative Ethnicity in Kenya. Actually, this is not an entirely new book. Koigi added a new chapter in his earlier book Negative […]
I must admit here that Sarah Palin, in spite of the awful things that have been said and written about her, pulled off quite a speech when she accepted her vice-presidential nomination at the Republican Convention. She proved that just like Obama, she has what it takes to work up crowds and the Republican conservatives […]