Binyavanga Wainaina Hits North America’s Litfest Scene

Having just shared the stage with Chinua Achebe for a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Things Fall Apart at New York’s Bard College, Kwani? founding editor Binyavanga Wainaina is set to represent Kenya at two more prestigious literary festivals.
On Wednesday, April 30, Wainaina will be speaking at the PEN ‘World Voices’ Festival of International Literature in New York City. This preeminent festival describes itself as “an attempt to enrich and sustain global dialogue,” and involves some of the world’s best writers from several countries.
Next, on Sunday, April 4, Wainaina will lead a discussion on African writing at Quebec’s Blue Metropolis litfest, “the world’s first multi-lingual literary festival,” where this year’s theme is travel writing.
And on September 17, after coming home to preside over Kwani’s own litfest during the first two weeks of August, Wainaina will be delivering the keynote address at the University of Toronto’s “Things Fall Apart at 50″ conference.

Call for Submissions

Wasafiri is preparing Issue 60: Literature For Children And Young Adults edited by Beverley Naidoo and Shereen Pandit.
Writers who are interested in contributing, please send unpublished short stories and poems to wasafiri@open.ac.uk before 31 July 2008.

Call For Papers

Things Fall Apart & the Next Half-Century of African Literature (A 50th Anniversary Conference)

5 September 2008, University of Nottingham, UK

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is the biggest selling African novel, having been translated into more than 50 languages. Its publication in 1958 was the epochal event in African literature, leading to a transformation in the literary landscape. On the fiftieth anniversary of its publication, it is appropriate to appraise the impact and heritage of the book, as well as the direction of African Literature in the next half-century.

We invite proposals for panels and papers exploring this theme. We encourage papers exploring the universal reach of the book, its study and reception across cultural and disciplinary borders, its connection to current literary productions and its potential impact on future writings. African Writing magazine will publish selected proceedings from the conference.

Titles and 250-word abstracts of proposed 20 minute papers should be sent (with a one-paragraph bio) not later than 30 May 2008 to the following:

Dr. M. M. Daly
Associate Professor
Department of Cultural Studies
University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham
United Kingdom
NG7 2RD
macdonald.daly@nottingham.ac.uk

Reading Stages Workshop

Goethe-Institut, in association with Kwani Trust, will run a two-day workshop
intended to provide young creative writers and writing enthusiasts
interested in establishing and running reading stages in Nairobi and around
the country with the tools to do so. The workshop will be held on June 5th
– 6th and will culminate in a free public performance on June 7th.

To participate in this workshop, please submit 1) a letter of interest and
2) up to 3 poems or 1000 words of prose to workshop@kwani.org. You may
alternatively post your application to P.O. Box 2895, 00100 Nairobi for
review. Selection for participation in the workshop will be based on the
quality of the work submitted and the applicant’s communicated interest in
or efforts made to propagate new literary forums and communities in Nairobi
and around the country. We ask that applicants discuss what their vision is
for a new forum and articulate the reasoning for bringing one to
their chosen community. While we expect that many applicants will
themselves be writers, we equally invite literary enthusiasts to apply.

The deadline for submissions is May 7, 2008. Entries sent after this date
will not be accepted. Selected participants will be contacted by May 14,
2008. Questions and concerns may also be directed to the above addresses.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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