28th June Events - Nairobi Litfest

Explore the programme - 28th June

Children's Corner

Open all Day

Children's Corner

Open all Day

The Children's Corner is back! This time the space also features arts and crafts activities available across the day. Don’t miss out on this vibrant, engaging hub designed to inspire the little ones to explore the joy of reading. We have a variety of diverse activities on offer including storytelling sessions, interactive workshops, board games, book nooks and more. The Children's Corner is a place where every child can embark on a literary adventure, discover new worlds and let their creativity soar. Join us for a day full of fun, learning, and unforgettable memories!

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Green Bunk Stage - Saturday, 28th June

Home to topical, thought-provoking conversations — and completely free to attend! This stage brings together local and international voices to explore bold ideas in literature, culture, and society.

Kenya, Meet Your Libraries

Wanjiru Koinange, Maureen Mumbua & Dennis Maina

10:00am - 11:00am

Kenya, Meet Your Libraries

Wanjiru Koinange, Maureen Mumbua & Dennis Maina

In 2020, Book Bunk set out to better understand Kenya’s public libraries; their histories, collections, architecture, as well as the people who use them. At the time, the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) had listed Kenya as having the highest number of libraries in Africa. We wanted to see them all. Three years later, in 2023, we did just that! We visited every public library in the country. This presentation-style event shares the story of that journey and what we learned along the way: about the state of our libraries, the communities they serve, and what they reveal about Kenya herself. It also marks the official launch of Book Bunk’s Library Ecosystem Research Report; a milestone publication that maps the present and reimagines the future of Kenya’s libraries.

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Everything is political

Moderator: Ayisha Osori

11:00am - 12:00pm

Everything is political

Moderator: Ayisha Osori

Panellists: Ntone Edjabe, Rosie Olang, Prof. Tanya Hernández

How do multidisciplinary artists and academics find the right avenues to address the state of the world? Hear from Ntone Edjabe, a Cameroonian writer, journalist, DJ and the founding editor of Chimurenga magazine. He will be joined by Prof. Tanya Hernández, an author of books on global anti-Blackness whose most recent nonfiction release is "Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality" and Rosie Olang’, a Kenyan writer, artist and independent curator, about their radical and unconventional practices.

Supported by the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season 2025.

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Emerging voices in Kenyan fiction

Moderator: Otieno Owino

12:00pm - 1:00pm

Emerging voices in Kenyan fiction

Moderator: Otieno Owino

Panellists: Dennis Mugaa, Sandra Nekh, Joan Thatiah

Curious to know what the path to publishing entails? Three emerging Kenyan authors speak on their journeys so far. Dennis Mugaa won the 2022 Black Warrior Review Fiction Contest and published a debut short story collection, “Half Portraits Under Water”, Sandra Nekh is a filmmaker and lecturer with several novels independently published in Nairobi and Joan Thaitah is a lawyer and the writer behind the popular “Confessions of Nairobi” series featuring candid conversations with men and women living in the city.

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Imagine Freedom: Where do we go from here?

Moderator: Wanjeri Gakuru

1:00pm - 2:00pm

Imagine Freedom: Where do we go from here?

Moderator: Wanjeri Gakuru

Panellists: Christine Mungai, Keith Ang’ana, Faith Odhiambo

Why was it not possible to transform the momentum of the June-July protests into a political movement with a vision and strategy? As the country marks one year since the Gen-Z revolution, what can we learn from the events of that time and what unfolded after? We seek insights from Christine Mungai, News Editor of Pan-African newspaper The Continent and former Curator at Baraza Media Lab; Keith Ang'ana, a writer, editor, and one of the founders of Qwani, a vibrant youth-led initiative and Faith Odhiambo, President of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).

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With support from Goethe-Institut Nairobi

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Indigenous wisdom and climate change

Moderator: Edith Kimani

2:00pm - 3:00pm

Indigenous wisdom and climate change

Moderator: Edith Kimani

Panellists: Waringa Wahome, Biani Madsa' Juárez, Joan Otieno

Powerhouses in ecological activism and sustainable art examine the interconnectedness of things and how the roadmap to reversing our ecological reality always existed. Gain insights from Waringa Wahome, an activist, lawyer and political theorist, Joan Otieno, an artist and environmentalist plus Bia'ni Madsa' Juárez López who advocates for Indigenous peoples and communities to strengthen and consolidate the relationship with their territories and the expressions of their cultures.

Supported by the Ford Foundation-Malunga: Network for Global Justice on website instead of Open Society Foundations, South to North series

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Print to Platform: The Future of Radical Media

Moderator: Wairimu Gathimba

3:00pm - 4:00pm

Print to Platform: The Future of Radical Media

Moderator: Wairimu Gathimba

Panellists: William Shoki, Boima Tucker

Africa Is a Country began as a blog challenging Western media clichés. Fifteen years on, it has grown into a platform for critical writing, debate, and imagination across Africa and the diaspora. This panel reflects on AIAC’s evolution, and asks how "little magazines" can keep publishing with purpose in a world of hashtags, disinformation, and digital overload.

With programming support from Africa Is a Country

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Riding the Storm: The Untold Story of Africa’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

4:00pm - 5:00pm

Moderator: Dr. Eghosa Imasuen

Riding the Storm: The Untold Story of Africa’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

4:00pm - 5:00pm

Panellists: Toni Kan, Strive Masiyiwa

This panel will examine the groundbreaking collaborations that shaped Africa's COVID-19 response. Key figures who feature in the book, Riding the Storm, and its author will join a panel to examine cooperation among African financial institutions, governments and health organisations in addressing the immediate crisis and creating lasting models for continental self-determination. The discussion will highlight how these partnerships laid groundwork for more integrated African markets and strengthened financial systems that can weather future global disruptions.

Supported by CANEX Creations Incorporated (CCInc).

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The woman as free

Moderator: Aleya Kassam

5:00pm - 6:00pm

The woman as free

Moderator: Aleya Kassam

Panellists: Leila Slimani, Ayanna Banwo, Goretti Kyomuhendo

Creating complex portraits of womanhood has been a through line across the works of award-winning authors Leila Slimani, a Franco-Moroccan author and journalist, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, whose debut novel “When We Were Birds” won the 2023 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and, Goretti Kyomuhendo, one of Uganda’s leading novelists and founding member of Ugandan Women Writers’ Association, FEMWRITE. The trio take a deep dive into the necessity of this firm resolve across their fiction and non-fiction work.

Supported by the Embassy of France .

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Live poetry performance

6:00pm - 9:00pm

Don’t miss this gathering of the best international and local voices in Spoken Word

Live poetry performance

6:00pm - 9:00pm

Don’t miss this gathering of the best international and local voices in Spoken Word and page poetry. Followed by a DJ set.

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Book Talk Stage - Saturday, 28th June

A new addition to the festival! This cosy stage is dedicated to intimate sessions with authors, offering a closer look at their books, processes, and inspirations.

Goretti Kyomuhendo | 'Promises'

Moderator: Frankline Sunday

12:00pm - 1:00pm

Goretti Kyomuhendo | 'Promises'

Moderator: Frankline Sunday

Panellist: Goretti Kyomuhendo

One-on-one discussion with Goretti Kyomuhendo about her new novel, “Promises” that exposes the shadow world of illegal immigrants, and the creativity with which people in the legal margins rise to meet an inhumane system.

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Velia Vidal | 'Tidal Waters'

Moderator: Wendy Njoroge

1:15pm - 2:15pm

Velia Vidal | 'Tidal Waters'

Moderator: Wendy Njoroge

Panellist: Velia Vidal

Velia Vidal explores her latest book, “Tidal Waters”, which is a vision of how creating something for your community and yourself is a way of reading and writing your way into a known place and a new self.

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Ayisha Osori | 'Love Does Not Win Elections'

Moderator: James Murua

2:30pm - 3:30pm

Ayisha Osori | 'Love Does Not Win Elections'

Moderator: James Murua

Panellist: Ayisha Osori

Deep dive into Ayisha Osori’s work, Love Does Not Win Elections about how she ran for the People's Democratic Party's ticket to Nigeria's House of Representatives in 2015 and lost.

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Ikulu Stage - Saturday, 28th June

Big ideas, small setting. Ikulu is a ticketed stage (only KES 300), hosting powerful, in-depth conversations. All proceeds go towards the restoration of Nairobi’s public libraries.

The injustice of being misunderstood

Moderators: Nyambura Mutanyi

12:00pm - 1:00pm

The injustice of being misunderstood

Moderators: Nyambura Mutanyi

Panellists: Dipo Faloyin x Sani Ladan

A journalist and memoirist discuss the power of image-making in the face of prevailing misconceptions and stereotypes about Africa. Dipo Faloyin is a journalist and the author of “Africa Is Not a Country”. Cameroonian author and human right activist, Sani Ladan’s book “La luna está en Duala: Y mi destino en el conocimiento” (The Moon Is in Duala: And My Destiny, in Knowledge) outlines his experience with migration and geopolitics.

Supported by of AC/E, Acción Cultural Española

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Power of humour

Panellists: Aditi Mittal, Ty Ngachira

Power of humour

Panellists: Aditi Mittal, Ty Ngachira

Indian comedian, writer and actor, Aditi Mittaland award-winning Kenyan stand up, Ty Ngachira are no strangers to the stage. Join them for a witty and candid discussion on how stand up comedy provides audiences with tough truths and catharsis.

With the support of Open Society Foundations, South to North series

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All the world’s a stage

Moderator: Kui Kabala

2:30pm - 3:30pm

All the world’s a stage

Moderator: Kui Kabala

Panellists: Mugambi Nthiga, Gil Ndi-Shang

Cameroonian scholar and author, Gil Ndi-Shang and award-winning Kenyan playwright, Mugambi Nthiga discuss the interconnected nature of politics and literature and the challenges and successes of using the arts to archive history.

Supported by the Ford Foundation-Malunga: Network for Global Justice

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Accessing ancestral wisdom

Moderator: Carol Oyola

3:45pm - 4:45pm

Accessing ancestral wisdom

Moderator: Carol Oyola

Panellists: Momtaza Mehri, Panashe Chigumadzi

British-Somali poet, Momtaza Mehri and Dr. Panashe Chigumadzi, an award-winning writer and historian break down how to convert research into poetry and prose. Momtaza Mehri is a former Young People’s Poet Laureate for London and works across criticism, translation, anti-disciplinary research practices, education and radio. Dr. Panashe Chigumadzi draws from black studies, settler colonial studies, and indigenous studies. She is the author of “These Bones Will Rise Again” (2018), a historical memoir reflecting on Zimbabwe's 2017 coup and several dissertations.

Supported by the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season 2025.

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