Dear Reader, When last did you send a loved one a hand-written letter, or go to the post office expecting to receive one? When did you last begin a letter, on paper or in its pre-material compositional stage, and what… Read More ›
Kenya
Review Caine 2021: Leaps of Faith – Troy Onyango’s ‘This Little Light of Mine’
AiW Note: It’s that time of the year again and AiW’s annual review series of what is now the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist is back! Every day this week, we are publishing Guest reviews of the five… Read More ›
“We can draw from the past and create something new, or we can just present the past as it was”: Talking Nostalgia, Memory, and Creative Collaboration with Wanjeri Gakuru
AiW Guests: Isobella Norman, Leyla Mohammed and Leoni Fretwell. Wanjeri Gakuru is a freelance journalist, essayist and filmmaker invested in gender equality and social justice. From 2018, Wanjeri has been the Managing Editor of Jalada Africa, a Pan-African writers’ collective… Read More ›
A Nation in Motion? A Review of Billy Kahora’s The Cape Cod Bicycle War (2)
AiW note: This week, we bring you two reviews of Billy Kahora’s short story collection, The Cape Cod Bicycle Wars and Other Stories – originally published by Huza Press (Kigali) in 2019 and made available in the US with Ohio University Press in… Read More ›
Q&A: Words on the Times – Shiraz Durrani and Kimani Waweru from Vita Books
AiW note: To celebrate the past thirty years of independent distributing and bookselling at African Books Collective (ABC), we are running a series highlighting the wonderful work of those who make up ABC. We will be talking to some of… Read More ›
A Review of ‘Nairobi Noir’, a collection of short stories edited by Peter Kimani
AiW Guest: Maëline Le Lay. Initially published by Akashic Books, the New York publisher of Kenyan novelist and journalist Peter Kimani (author of the highly regarded Dance of the Jakaranda), this collection of short stories complements the rich collection of “noir”… Read More ›
Where were the women? East African writing and the 1962 Makerere Conference.
AiW Guest: Anna Adima. The post-independence period in Kenya and Uganda is renowned for its burgeoning literature production. Uganda was the hub for these literary creativities in the 1960s, largely thanks to the English Department at Makerere University in Kampala,… Read More ›
In other Words… AiW news and July’s wrap
As we move through the changed circumstances, timelines and spaces of now, we catch up on our monthly round-up of ‘other words’ – news on AiW’s radar, collated from across our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Please be in touch with… Read More ›
2013 Africa Writes #P&P – Q&A: Poet, writer and educator Warsan Shire
AiW Note: this republication of a 2013 in-depth (long) and rich (vibrantly so) conversation between poet and activist Warsan Shire and Katie Reid of AiW marks the first post in our second day of Africa Writes #Past&Present revisits over this… Read More ›
Q&A with Angela Wachuka – Literary producer and co-founder of Book Bunk
AiW Guests: Jess Irving and Jessica Smith Angela Wachuka is one of Kenya’s leading literary producers. In 2018, with Wanjiru Koinange, she founded Book Bunk. From 2008 to 2017, Wachuka was Executive Director of Kwani Trust, where she published Africa’s… Read More ›
Exhibition: Michael Armitage at Norval Foundation (South Africa, June 2020)
Norval Foundation brings rising Venice Biennale star Michael Armitage to South Africa At just 35, Kenyan artist Michael Armitage is swiftly emerging as one of the most exciting young voices of contemporary art, heralded as a stand-out artist at the… Read More ›
CFP: ‘Binyavanga Wainaina: Literary Legacies and Creative Futures’, ASAUK 2020 (Deadline: 22 March)
Binyavanga Wainaina: Literary Legacies and Creative Futures At ASAUK 2020 Cardiff, Wales, UK 08-10 September 2020 Following the general call, we are delighted to share the call for papers for the thematic stream ‘Binyavanga Wainaina: Literary Legacies and Creative Futures’… Read More ›
“Heroes and scholars are everywhere”: Q&A with Abu Amirah, founder of Hekaya
AiW Guest Aurélie Journo Author’s note: I met Abu Amirah when I attended the first Swahili Litfest he organised in March 2019 in Mombasa. After an exciting day of performances by high school students from selected schools Mombasa county in… Read More ›
Event: Life Through Extraordinary Mirrors, October Gallery (Closes 23 November)
Life Through Extraordinary Mirrors Contemporary Art Exhibition At October Gallery, London Until 23 November 2019 Life Through Extraordinary Mirrors is an exhibition of contemporary art exploring the globalized twenty-first century. The exhibition includes the work of some of Africa’s foremost… Read More ›
Call for Papers: Rhetorical (Re)invention of Africa in the 21st Century (Abstract Deadline: 31 March 2020)
The African Association for Rhetoric in collaboration with the United States International University-Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, Announces its 9th biennial Conference, themed: ‘RHETORICAL (RE)INVENTION OF AFRICA IN THE 21ST CENTURY’ July 22-24, 2020 In the milieu that saw most African nations… Read More ›
Call for Submissions: Sawti Poetry Prize (Deadline: 10 August)
Sawti Poetry Prize | Tuzo Ya Ushairi Ya Sawti 3 Categories 3 Winners £500 Prize Each The Sawti Poetry Prize is open! The project organisers welcome submissions in the following languages; English, Arabic, and Kiswahili. This prize is a contribution… Read More ›
AFRICA WRITES – BRISTOL (28 June – 4 July)
Celebrating contemporary literature and thought from Africa and the diaspora: The Royal African Society and Saseni! present AFRICA WRITES – BRISTOL From Friday 28 June to Thursday 4 July 2019 Africa Writes – Bristol will be celebrating contemporary literature from… Read More ›
Call for Applications: Archives Workshop in Nairobi (Deadline: 7 June)
‘Another World? East Africa and the Global 1960s’ Week-Long Collaborative Archives Workshop Nairobi, 17-23 October 2019 ‘Another World? East Africa and the Global 1960s’ is funded by the Leverhulme Trust and will run from 1 September 2018 to 31 August… Read More ›
Q&A: Peter Kimani, author of Dance of the Jakaranda, talks with Maëline Le Lay
AiW Guest: Maëline Le Lay Peter Kimani is an award-winning author. He was 1 of 3 poets commissioned to compose and present a poem marking Obama’s 2009 inauguration. Born in 1971 in Kenya, he has won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize… Read More ›
Save the Date: International Publishers Association Africa Seminar (June 14-15, Nairobi)
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Petina Gappah are two of the many delegates set to attend the International Publishers Association Africa Seminar in Nairobi from June 14-15, 2019. The seminar will take place at Movenpick Hotel in Nairobi, and the theme… Read More ›
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