Litfest Testimonials

Superb
“I learnt about the Kwani? Litfest through a friend who is at the University of Nairobi.I registered for the creative non fiction writing course.By enrolling I sought to know whether what I write fits non fiction since I felt displaced as a writer. I did enjoy the whole week because I learnt the types of creative non fiction, unknown to many. Read the story »

Conflict (or, All A Writer Needs) - by Arno Kopecky

Incredibly, no one went over their five minutes. Going by the event’s title – “Writer’s Stories: Unpacking Kenya’s Crisis Session” – not to mention the venue, a Nairobi University lecture hall, all signs were pointing to a listener’s crisis of over-pontification.
Instead, we started out with a sneak preview of Wanuri Kahiu’s new film, From A Whisper, marking the tenth anniversary of the American embassy bombing with possibly the best film about it to date – I say possibly because it wasn’t long before her characters began speaking Swahili and I had to start inventing the plot. Read the story »

Art, and the Road to Riches - by Rasna Warah

Is there room for the creative arts in Vision 2030, Kenya’s blueprint to becoming a middle-income country within two decades? This is a question that was recently raised by a number of people on a writers’ group that I subscribe to.

The question was prompted by the fact that while the recently re-launched Vision 2030 focuses on areas such as tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and financial services, there is no mention of the role of the arts in promoting economic development. Read the story »