Imagine The World with Jeff Koinange: Storymoja

Date: 17th - 21st September 2014
Venue: Nairobi National Museum 
Damages Ksh1000

Storymoja Festival Program @ Nairobi National Museum

Dates: September 17th-21st, 2014
Venue: Nairobi National Museum
Charges: Seasonal Tickets Ksh 1500, Daily Ksh 1000

Get the entire Program Here https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6li_SUoGTo1UmNvRU1iMW5fNkU/edit?usp=sharing

For More Details visit http://storymojafestival.com/

Call for Golden Baobab Prize Awards Entries

This is a call to African writers of all ages to submit their entries to the 2013 Golden baobab Prize Award.

Established in 2008, the award seeks to recognize African writers with talent in child writing annually for three prize including the Golden Baobab Prize for Picture Book, the Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Book, and the Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Writers.

Ngugi Among National Books Critics Awards Finalists

Kenya's prolific writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o was among 30 finalists announced on Monday for the 2012 National Book Critics Circle’s (NBCC) Awards.

The UC Irvine professor was nominated for his recent autobiography 'In the House of the Interpreter' published by  Pantheon. The book is a follow-up to his first memoir, 'Dreams in a Time of War' introducing the reader to the creation of modern Africa from the collision of a series of powerful opposing forces; nationalism and colonialism, rural tradition and capitalist modernity.

JSO@7 with John Sibi-Okumu Premiers, Monday on Kiss TV

‘Mwenye Sikio’

Actor, thespian, and renowned journalist John Sibi Okumu will be premiering his new show Monday, 3^rd December on Radio Africa’s Kiss TV at 7:00pm. Dubbed ‘JSO@7’, the one-hour show will have latest news updates across the country as well as exclusives interviews.

Mbugua and Madila win Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize

Kenyan writer and journalist, Ng’ang’a Mbugua and Jeff Madila are the winners of the sixth edition of Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize.

Mbugua’s book, ‘Different Colours’ emerged the winner in the English category of the bi-annual award after facing stiff competition from Dr Yusuf Dawood’s ‘Eye of the Storm’ and David Mulwa’s ‘We Come in Peace’.

This is the second time in a row; the 38-year-old who works with the Business Daily has bagged the prestigious writers’ award after winning back in 2010 through his novella, ‘Terrorists of the Aberdare’.

The book, which is published by Big Books, took four years of work and six revisions before being published last year.

Baroness Karen Blixen ‘Isak Dinesen’

Karen Blixen August, 1928 aged 43
(photo courtesy of karenblixen.com)

Popularly known by her pseudonym Isak Dinesen, Karen Blixen was a Danish author famous for ‘Out Of Africa’, her account of living in Kenya. Karen was born on 17 April 1885 in Rungsted, Denmark. Blixen was known for writing in Danish and French but wrote in English, when living on a coffee farm in Kenya (1914 – 1931).

“God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road ”

A memorable quote by Karen

Prof Julia Auma Ojiambo

Prof Julia Auma Ojiambo

Born in 29th November 1936, she’s a former member of parliament and a scholar. The story of Julia describes one of a Kenyan who beyond all odds rose to gain respect for women in a male dominated society. She’s the current chair of the Labour Party of Kenya and the founding Professor of the proposed Scientific and Technological Applied Research and Training for Women.

Dr. Margaret Atieno Ogola

Born June 2, 1958 the award winning author, human rights advocate, and medical doctor was a true
Kenyan heroine who was backed by faith and medical expertise to make the life of many poor and ailing
Kenyans bearable. From her writing prowess to her commitment to help the victims of HIV/AIDS, Dr.
Ogola was an angel sent to many.

She joined Thompson’s Falls High School, where she was the best O-level student and got a place
at Alliance Girls High School for her A-levels. In 1984, she attended the University of Nairobi for her
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and in 1990; she earned her Master of Medicine in Paediatrics. In
2004, she took a Post Graduate Diploma on Planning and Management of Development Projects at the
Catholic University of Eastern Africa.

She had written three novels, a biography, and a handbook for parents. They include:

‘The River and the Source’ that has been set book for the Kenya Certificate of Secretary Education (KSCE)
it illustrates the change in life of 4 generations of Kenyan women.

‘I Swear by Apollo’, a sequel that revolves around medical ethics and issue on authentic identity.

‘Place of Destiny’ won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature (2007). The book is a semi-autobiography
narrating a story of a woman dying of cancer and identity of a street child.

‘Educating in Human Love: Parents Guiding Children on Sex’

In 1997, she co-authored with Margret Roche a biography on Cardinal Maurice Otunga, ‘Life of Grace’.

She had worked as a consultant Paeditrician at Kenyatta National Hospital up to 1994. She then became
the Medical Director of Cottolengo Hospice, a hospice for HIV and AIDS orphans.

1994 – 1998 She was Executive Director of the Family Life Counseling Association of Kenya (FLACK).

In 1995, ‘The River and the Source’ won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for the best book, African
region. The same year it won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature.

1998 – 2002 She was National Executive Secretary of the Commission for Health and Family Life for the
Catholic Bishops Conference.

In 1999 in Geneva, she received the Familias Award for Humanitarian Service of the World Congress of
Families.

In 2002, she became the Kenya coordinator of Hope for African Children Initiative (HACI), these
assembled NGOs like World Vision, Care, and Save the Children among others.

In 2004, she was part of those who set up the SOS HIV/AIDS Clinic on that served the slum dwellers of
Nairobi living with Aids.

Dr. Ogola has also been a director of Institute of Healthcare Management at the Strathmore Business
School (2009-2010). She was an advisor of family and health issues to the Kenyan Catholic bishops, and a
member of Opus Dei.

She had a long battle with cancer before dying on 22 September 2011 R.I.P.

Prof. Micere Githae Mugo

She was rewarded yesterday at University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with Distinguished Nyerere Lecturer 2012. Micere is a playwright, author, poet, literal critic, activist and instructor born in 1942, Baricho in Kirinyaga County.

She attended Alliance Girls High School before leaving for Makerere University for her B.A and later the University of New Brunswick for her M.A. In 1978, she gained her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and returned home to lecture at the University of Nairobi where she became the first female faculty dean in Kenya.

Prolific: Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Born in 1938 in Kamiriithu, Kiambu County in Central Kenya, Thiong’o is arguably the greatest writer in Kenyan History. His official website simply describes his profile as literary and social activist. Renowned for both his English and Gikuyu works, many have compared him to the likes of Nigerian Wole Soyinka. 

Thiong'o

He joined the prestigious Alliance High school in 1954, fulfilling his childhood dream and later acquired his B.A in English from Makerere University. Ngugi also attended the University of Leeds in England on a British Council scholarship. While still at varsity, he authored many books including the popular ‘Weep Not Child’ and ‘The River Between’, which were his first and second novels in his library.

“Don’t worry about me. Everything will be all right. Get education, I’ll get carpentry. Then we shall, in the future, be able to have a new and better home for the whole family.”

A quote from ‘Weep Not, Child’

His political activism and criticism of the regime of the day landed him into trouble and was detained at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. While at Kamiti, he wrote a novel in Gikuyu, ‘Devil on the Cross.’ His publications and theatre performances were also not spared, with most being banned. This forced him to go into exile in US.

He currently serves as a professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. He has also been a lecturer at the University of Nairobi, New York University and Yale University. Here is some of his renowned works:

‘The Black Hermit’, ‘Weep Not, Child’, ‘The River Between’, ‘A Grain of Wheat’, ‘Homecoming’, ‘The trial of Dedan Kimathi’, ‘Petals of Blood’, ‘Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature’, ‘Njambe Nene and the Flying Bus’ and ‘Wizard of the Crow’

Over the years, he has received numerous awards and seven Honorary Doctorates. These awards include, the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Cabinet, 2001 Nonino International Prize for Literature.

His success in literature is evident everywhere and many are awaiting his Nobel Prize in Literature award.