MAISHA YETU
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 […]
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. […]
When former Education Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang’i realised that corrupt booksellers and head teachers were pilfering money meant for the purchase of textbooks, he instituted a number of measures that cut off booksellers from the textbooks’ gravy train, leaving head teachers high and dry and pupils in public schools quite happy. Publishers, he ordered, would […]
Despite the challenges facing the local writing industry, writer Onduko bw’Atebe prefers to see it as a half full glass rather than half empty. “The Kenyan writing scene is changing for the better,” he says. “More people are getting into the scene which is a good thing.” Atebe’s book Verdict of Death, published EAEP, won […]
A few months ago visual artist Michael Soi, based at the Godown Arts Centre in Nairobi, found himself on the receiving end Chinese visit who felt that he was giving their country a bad name in spite of the ‘good things’ China was doing for Africa. The visitors had been in the delegation of the […]
Towards the end of September book lovers will get to know the winners of the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize. This will be the fifth time the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) will be handing out the award named in honour of Kenya’s foremost humourist and satirist, the late Wahome Mutahi. Ng’ang’a Mbugua (left) receives a certificate […]
Fake it till you make it. This is a common refrain in the make believe worldof showbiz and pop culture. Here, outward appearances – manner of dressing, speech and accessories – matter most. Since the late 90s, when the crop of new generation artistes stormed into the music scene a ‘celeb’ and ‘bling’ culture has […]
She introduced herself to Kenya and the world with her evergreen novel The River and the Source, at a time when Kenyans were starting to wonder who would step into Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s gigantic shoes. Readers instantly fell in love with the book. And to prove that it was no fluke, the book won the […]
S.K. Macharia is a household name in Kenya today. If there is one word that can sufficiently describe the man, then that word is tenacity. Here is one man who decided that he was going to build a media empire and went ahead to build one. His dream, Royal Media Services, was hatched during the […]
Nation journalist Ng’ang’a Mbugua, is this year’s Wahome Mutahi’s Literary Prize winner with his book Different Colours. This makes it two times in a row that he has won the prize. In 2010, he won the same prize with his other book Terrorists of the Aberdare. Different Colours is published by Big Books. Ng’ang’a’s book […]