MAISHA YETU
It is long since I last sat down with Adrian Nduma and the Covid restrictions were not helping matters. Being one of the top rated visual artists in Kenya, I have always been amazed by his works; they are so breathtakingly real. The other day I went for a meeting in Karen and it occurred […]
History has a funny way of repeating itself, especially if we do not learn from it. In 1980, Frank Sundstrom, an American marine landed at the Kenyan coast, where he met Monicah Njeri. Njeri was what you would call a sex worker, yaani alikuwa anatafutia watoto. One thing led to another; the two had sex, […]
Henry Chakava, has been referred to as the father of African publishing for good reason. He would have easily made a career in the academy but he chose publishing instead. In 1972, he joined the then Heinemann Educational Publishers as an editor. In a span of six years, he had risen to the position of […]
Title: 50 Memos to Men Author: Silas Nyanchwani Publisher: Gram Books Price: sh1250 Reviewer: Mbugua Ngunjiri Growing up in the village, you would occasionally overhear grown-ups say things like: “Huyu mtoto ni mwerevu kuliko miaka yake.” This was often in reference to youngsters perceived to be intelligent beyond their years. Now that I am a […]
Sometime in May 2008, I was in a team of East African journalists that flew to Kigali to attend a book launch. The launch took place at the Hotel des Mille Collines, made popular by the movie, Hotel Rwanda, which earned American actor Don Cheadle, an Oscar nomination. In the movie, Cheadle portrayed Paul Rusesabagina […]
Kinyanjui Kombani and Stanley Gazemba have a number of things in common. They are both writers who first put pen on paper at the turn of the century. They also landed on a one-man publisher, based in Nairobi, who upon seeing their evident potential, promised them heaven on earth. Soon, each had a book out. […]
Michael Soi was at the immigration queue at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport when he saw a Chinese couple jump the queue to be served at the counter. “People on the queue pretended like this was not happening; they were willing to let this blatant breach of procedure pass,” says Soi. Soi was of […]
The highly acclaimed TV drama Game of Thrones might be on its last stretch but it would appear that it has left a mark on Kenyan audiences. In the drama series there is an Iron Throne that every person, who thinks they have leadership blood in them, wants to occupy. The throne is forged out […]
Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o makes a homecoming, of sorts, when he returns to Amherst College—where he was based in the early stages of exile—in a three-day fest celebrating his 80th birthday. He will be one of the star attractions at the Amherst Lit Festival, hosted by the top liberal arts college, and whose prominent Kenyan […]
Nganga Mbugua makes history by being nominated for a record fourth time in the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize with his book Angels of the Wild, published by One Planet. The winner of this year’s edition of the Wahome Mutahi Prize, administered by the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA), will be awarded at the end of the […]