MAISHA YETU
Anthony Mugo is probably the richest author in Kenya today. On Friday evening he won Sh1 million in the inaugural Burt Award for African Writing. The Burt Award, administered by the National Book Development Council of Kenya (NBDCK), is the richest literary award in Kenya’s history. His manuscript titled Never say Never has been published […]
Most of us must have, at one point or the other, gone through a particularly traumatic experience; an experience so painful that it leaves you thoroughly disillusioned and demoralised. In most cases some of these experiences crush one’s spirit to the extent that if the person is not strong enough, they might give up on […]
In case you have forgotten Kenya still has a literary prize called the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature. I might also hasten to add that the Prize is administered by the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) every two years. Come October, at the end of the Nairobi International Book Fair a creative Kenyan will go home […]
Author Kinyanjui Kombani has parted ways with his publishers Acacia Stantex in regards to his book The Last Villains of Molo. The move effectively ends a long drawn struggle between author and publisher that has lasted more than five years. The novel has been hailed as a powerful enactment of the 1992 ethnic violence and […]
Kenyan publishers: The weak link in Kenyan writing? A Paper presented at an international seminar on Historical Legacy and Contemporary Writing in the Commonwealth, held in New Delhi from 8-10 October. By JOSEPH NGUNJIRI Just like the old woman in the Igbo proverb gets uneasy when dry bones are mentioned so does East Africa and […]
Henry Chakava, the man who almost lost his finger for sticking out his neck for Ngugi wa Thiong’o, purrs with pride at the prospect of his star writer winning the coveted Nobel Prize for Literature. “I feel very proud,” says Chakava the Chairman of East African Educational Publishers (EAEP), who are Ngugi’s Kenyan publishers. “It […]
Ng’ang’a Mbugua’s novella, Terrorist of the Aberdare has won the third edition of the Wahome Mutahi Literary Award, while John Habwe’s book Cheche za Moto won the Kiswahili category of the same prize. The awarding ceremony was the highlight of the 13th edition of the Nairobi International Book Fair. An elated Ng’ang’a Mbugua, who is […]
In case you have forgotten, the 13th Nairobi International Book Fair is still on at the Sarit Centre Expo Centrer will run up to Sunday September 26. So make a point of making an appearance there. Mr Lawrence Njagi, the chairman of the Book Fair say that this year, the have received a record number […]
When Ngugi wa Thiong’o was in the country for the launch of his latest book Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir, yours truly had a chance to talk with him, and the interview touched on a number of issues. Among other issues he urged young writers not to shy away from self-publishing […]
Ever since I heard that Kenya’s government spokesman Alfred Mutua has written a book on, wait for it, How to be rich in Africa, I knew something was amiss somewhere. With all due respect Mutua was the last person I expected to write on such a topic. He must have hustled his way to a […]