2026 Partciapants
Abigail Arunga
Abigail Arunga is a Kenyan writer, author, scriptwriter, and cultural commentator whose work spans literature,…
Alain Mabanckou
Alain Mabanckou is a novelist, journalist, poet, and academic. Born in the Republic of the…
Arslan Attar
Arslan Athar is a writer and publisher based in Lahore, Pakistan, whose fiction and essays…
Christopher King
Christopher King is an award-winning Australian director, editor, cinematographer, and producer based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Ciku Kimeria
Ciku Kimeria is a Kenyan author, journalist, communication specialist, and travel writer. She writes fiction…
David Maillu
David Maillu is a prolific author well known for his enthralling novels dating from the…
Ellah Wakatama
Ellah P. Wakatama, OBE, (Hon.) FRSL is Editor at Large for Canongate Books and co-founder…
Fiona Tande
Fiona Tande is a Maasai wildlife filmmaker, conservationist, and the Founder and Director of Pridelands…
Inua Ellams
Inua Ellams is a Nigerian-born poet, playwright, performer, graphic artist, and designer.
James Murua
James Murua is a Kenyan journalist, blogger, and podcaster with a career spanning print and…
Latoya West-Blackwood
Latoya West-Blackwood is a cultural strategist and creative producer specialising in publishing, project management, and…
Laura Sheïlla Inangoma
Laura Sheïlla Inangoma is a dedicated advocate for equal rights and gender responsiveness.
Lesley Arimah
Lesley Nneka Arimah was born in the UK and grew up in Nigeria and elsewhere…
Lilly Bekele-Piper
Lilly Bekele-Piper is a cultural architect whose work spans public speaking, event curation, design, and…
Lina Meruane
Lina Meruane is an award-winning Chilean writer and scholar of Palestinian descent living between Santiago,…
Lola Shoneyin
Lola Shoneyin is a Nigerian poet and author who launched her debut novel, The Secret…
DR. Mordecai Ogada
Dr Mordecai Ogada is a Kenyan carnivore ecologist and conservation policy scholar with over 25…
Mutahi Michael
Mutahi Michael is an award-winning Kenyan puppeteer and filmmaker with more than two decades of…
Muthoni Maina
Muthoni Maina is a Kenyan novelist whose work spans historical fiction and richly layered storytelling.
Makena Onjerika
Makena Onjerika is a Kenyan writer who won the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing…
Mahmud El Sayed
Mahmud El Sayed is a British Egyptian science fiction and fantasy writer and translator.
Marta Peirano
Marta Peirano is a journalist specialized in technology and power. She works for main Spanish…
Mamka Anyona
Dr. Mamka Anyona is a Kenyan global health, governance, and financing expert, writer, and political…
Maia Lekow
Maia Lekow is an award-winning Kenyan director, producer, composer, sound recordist, and musician whose multidisciplinary…
Moussa Séne absa
Moussa Séne Absa is an award-winning Senegalese artist, writer, musician and film director.
Muthoni Mwangi
Muthoni Mwangi is a visual research collage artist and founder of Cozy Culture Kenya, committed…
Dr Nick Makoha
Dr Nick Makoha is a Ugandan poet and playwright based in London and the founder…
Njahira Gitahi
Njahira Gitahi is a literary discussant, interdisciplinary thinker, and international lawyer.
Nyambura Mutanyi
Nyambura 'Mike' Mutanyi is a Nairobi-based interdisciplinary artist and scholar whose interests include literature, media…
Nanjira Sambuli
Nanjira Sambuli is a researcher, policy analyst and strategist studying the unfolding, gendered impacts of…
Ntone Edjabe
Ntone Edjabe is a Cameroonian-born writer, journalist, DJ, and the founder and Editor‑in‑Chief of Chimurenga,…
Nanjala Nyabola
Nanjala Nyabola is a Kenyan writer, political analyst, and researcher whose work explores the intersections…
Natasha Brown
Natasha Brown is an English novelist. Her debut novel, Assembly, was shortlisted for the Folio…
Njeri “DJ Ziggie” Gitungo
Njeri Gitungo is a producer, program manager, DJ, and member of Nairobi’s Nest Collective.
Nteranya A. Sanginga
Nteranya A. Sanginga is a Congolese creative whose multidisciplinary work spans writing, performance, and collaborative…
Olivia Kidula
Olivia Kidula is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Will This Be A Problem?, Kenya’s first…
Dr. Portia Malatjie
Dr Portia Malatjie is a curator and Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town…
Patriciah Joseph
Patriciah Joseph is the Programmes Manager at Katiba Institute. She is an advocate of the…
Pol Vouillamoz
Pol Vouillamoz (b. 1999, Sant Cugat) is a Catalan-Swiss poet, writer, and translator whose work…
Prisca Ojwang
Prisca Ojwang is a Kenyan cultural entrepreneur and co-founder of Art Club Kenya, a creative…
Richard Oduor
Richard Oduor Oduku is a researcher, biographer, editor, and publisher. He is the Founder and…
Safiya Sinclair
Safiya Sinclair is the internationally bestselling author of the memoir How to Say Babylon, winner…
Shani Akilah
Shani Akilah is a Black British Caribbean writer from South London. She is the author…
Sitawa Namwalie
Sitawa Namwalie is an award-winning Kenyan poet, playwright, and performing artist, celebrated for her dramatized…
Thomas Mukhwana
Thomas Mukhwana is a Nairobi-based investigative reporter for Africa Uncensored. His work covers disinformation, corruption,…
Tunde Onakoya
Tunde Onakoya is a Nigerian chess master, social entrepreneur, and founder of Chess in Slums…
Wana Udobang
Wana Udobang is a writer, poet, and performer with three spoken word albums. Her work…
Wanjira Wanjiru
Wanjira Wanjira is a grassroots activist who co-founded the Mathare Social Justice Centre and the…
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor is a Kenyan writer whose mythopoetic prose has reshaped African and global…
Ziya Africa
Ziya Africa is an artist and social impact champion whose work rises from the fault…