Can you tell us a little bit about your background as an artist and writer for readers who haven't yet read your work? Sure! I am not formally or traditionally trained in any art form or even writing for that matter. I’m a self-taught artist, which means that a majority of my learning comes from a combination of trial and... Continue Reading →
Sound of Nairobi is an open-access archive containing recordings from around Nairobi. By clicking different points on an interactive map, you can listen to the sonic environment in different neighbourhoods in the city. I talked to Sophia, who is one of the people behind the project. Can you tell us a little bit about how... Continue Reading →
Check this out! My friend Mike Classon Frangos and I have launched a comics contest in collaboration with Comics Republic in Lagos.
I just got news from my friend Ray Mwihaki that she has finished printing and putting together 300 paper copies of Notes from the Lockdown. They will be available from some street book vendors in the Nairobi CBD, bookshops and other stores around Umoja and from the World's Loudest Library at the Souk, Karen, shortly.... Continue Reading →
Here is an e-version of Notes from the Lockdown a collection of text written about and/or during the lockdown in countries like South Sudan, Ethiopia-Oromia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria. Please share it with your friends. Notes from the LockdownDownload
Writers in Africa, sikiliza tafadhali. Boredom is the mother of invention. I hear from people that they suffer from writer's block at the moment, as people are stuck at home or upcountry, as the Kenyans say, so I thought I would ask around if people have anything they'd written in quarantine that I could publish... Continue Reading →
Stanley Gazemba is a writer and journalist based in Nairobi. He is a recipient of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature and the author of several novels, including works of childrens' literature, a critically acclaimed recent short story collection, literary criticism and music journalism. He is also a contributor to the recently published crime fiction... Continue Reading →
Isaac Newton Akah is the author of Living in Gidi, a humorous account of what it is like to live in the city of Lagos. The book has done well on the Nigerian reading and publishing platforms Okadabooks and Mybuuk.com. Akah has since its publication gone on to write and produce two audiobooks.Can you tell... Continue Reading →
Charles Chanchori is the author of the short story "Confessions of a Kenyan Uber Driver" which he published on Facebook in Feb 2017. It was shared more than 5000 times and recieved more than 7000 likes in less than two weeks. Tell me a little about yourself. What is your background? What have you published... Continue Reading →
Nigerian author, scholar and critic Kole Omotoso mentions Nicklas Hållén's presentation on Okadabooks and waithood at Elizade University in his column in this week's Sunday Guardian. You can find the column here. Omotoso is one of Nigeria's literary giants and his novel The Edifice (1971) was published in the formative African Writers Series.
