2026 Theme: Speculative Cartography and South-to-South Connections

We exist in continuous dialogue with the world and ourselves. We hold the ability to question representation and reconfigure reality through decisive action, bold dialogue, and fearless organisation. The 5th edition of Nairobi Litfest examines the power of speculative cartography and the South-to-South geographical connections that render new worlds visible. It is a joyful congregation of writers, artists, and thinkers whose imaginative work and ideas have transcended borders.

Writing Tips & Tricks

Writing Tips & Tricks

Award-winning Chilean writer and scholar, Lina Meruane shall engage with emerging writers in a two-hour…

Art of the autobiography

Art of the autobiography

Children are storytelling creatures. They enter the world with an instinctive ability to acquire and…

Black Ekphrastic Mode

Black Ekphrastic Mode

Dr. Nick Makoha offers a two-hour creative writing poetry session exploring how Black artists and…

Curatorial Playground

Curatorial Playground

Dr. Portia Malatjie is a curator and Senior Lecturer in Visual Cultures at the University…

How to navigate the world of indie publishing

How to navigate the world of indie publishing

Yaaay! You had an idea. Your manuscript is almost done (even if only in your…

Emerging Writers Self-Editing Support

Emerging Writers Self-Editing Support

Ellah Wakatama OBE will conduct a bespoke two-hour workshop focusing on how to edit your…

Music and movement

Music and movement

Kicking the day off with a massive dance party for the kids led by MC…

Live performance: Puppet show!

Live performance: Puppet show!

Veteran puppeteer, Micheal Mutahi, presents a show aimed at positive behaviour change communication.

Story time: Mara the Marabou Stork

Story time: Mara the Marabou Stork

Kenyan writer, Muthoni Maina shares a moving tale of identity, friendship, and finding one’s place…

Checkmate

Checkmate

Nigerian chess player and coach, Tunde Onakoya, will offer a fun intermediary class on how…

Painting party

Painting party

It's time for bright colours and wild imagination! Don't miss this guided group painting session…

Recognition of special contributions to Kaloleni culture  

Recognition of special contributions to Kaloleni culture  

In the portrait that features Mayor Lugonzo at Kaloleni Library, the person next to him…

Mythmakers

Mythmakers

Experts in world-building and weaving magic from the everyday and gravitas from the absurd, Congolese…

The People Shall

The People Shall

In the spirit of Prof. Wangari Maathai's hummingbird analogy that viewed no act in the…

Beauty in brevity

Beauty in brevity

Don't miss this special spotlight on award-winning short fiction writers from across the globe whose…

David Mailu: Retrospective on post-independence Kenyan fiction

David Mailu: Retrospective on post-independence Kenyan fiction

David Maillu is a prolific Kenyan known for his enthralling novels dating from the 1970s.…

Playreading & Q&A: Sisters of the East

Playreading & Q&A: Sisters of the East

Burundian theater performer and playwright Laura Sheïlla Inangoma's Sisters of the East (Soeurs de l'Est)…

Is technology eating our souls?

Is technology eating our souls?

Science journalist Marta Peirano and sci-fi writer Mahmud El Sayed offer a temperature check on…

Writing to reposess, rename, reown

Writing to reposess, rename, reown

Kenyan essayist and political analyst, Nanjala Nyabola; British-Nigerian poet and playwright, Inua Ellams;

Documentary as Memory

Documentary as Memory

A discussion on creative documentary storytelling with celebrated Senegalese filmmaker, Moussa Sene Absa and Kenya-based…

In praise of the third space

In praise of the third space

Celebrating the necessity and philosophies underpinning the curatorial strategies behind Ake, a globally-acclaimed festival with…

Mateya ya Mabanckou: Scenes from a life

Mateya ya Mabanckou: Scenes from a life

Alain Mabanckou grew up in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo, and studied law in Brazzaville and…

Experiments in form

Experiments in form

Exploring new paths to storytelling across literature, poetry, film and visual art with Nigerian writer,…

Mothers loom large

Mothers loom large

A frank conversation about how maternal figures materialize in fiction and life and the gray…

Featured Participants