2025 Participants - Nairobi Litfest

2025 Partciapants

A.amari

Poet, Storyteller, Performer and Podcast Creator

A.amari

Poet, Storyteller, Performer and Podcast Creator

A.amari is a poet, storyteller, and performer known for her honest, evocative, and deeply reflective work. Through her art, she fearlessly reshapes narratives, inviting her audience to see themselves, their history and humanity through a new perspective. She curated Kanga Kisses and Matatu Beats, a poetry show exploring love from an African lens. She has also graced stages like This Woman Knows War and Mashujaa Love Festival. Her work has earned her recognition as second runner-up at the Kenya Poetry Grand Slam 2025 and runner-up at the PYSK Women’s Slam 2024. She’s the creator of the A.amari Speaks podcast where culture, memory, and reclamation come alive through intimate, playful, and powerful storytelling. Her words also live in print, featured in Give the Woman Her Flowers and When We Speak anthologies. When she’s not on stage or writing, she’s out in nature, finding the peace and inspiration that fuel her creativity.

Abigail Arunga

Writer, Poet & Multidisciplinary Creative

Abigail Arunga

Writer, Poet & Multidisciplinary Creative

Abigail Arunga is a writer, author and poet (Akello, A Side of Raunch, The Mysteries of Jabali and Sauti, Siri Ya Mwezi) editor, columnist, moderator, scriptwriter, social media manager, influencer, publicist, copywriter, bookstore owner, quizmaster, podcaster and MC. She’s passionate about the arts, pop culture, current affairs and social justice. Abigail is invested in how to sleep more, anti-capitalism, virulent feminism, and good fiction. You can read her writing on the Daily Nation, Nation Online, Akoroko, Sinema Focus, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Goalkeepers Report), Debunk Media, as well as on akello.co.ke. Also, watch Pepeta and 4Play on Showmax, and listen to the first two episodes of the Wadhii Podcast (under Africa Uncensored). Her first short film as writer/director, Bella Is Dying Maybe Next Week, premiered in February 2025.

Aditi Mittal

Stand-Up Comedian, Writer & Founder, Punchlines and Powersuits

Aditi Mittal

Stand-Up Comedian, Writer & Founder, Punchlines and Powersuits

Aditi Mittal is a stand-up comedian, writer, actor, teacher, and—by her own admission—humbler than Narayana Murthy. She’s performed her brand of sharp, fearless comedy on stages from Switzerland to Nigeria to Australia, and is headed to Kenya next—so if you have tourist tips now’s the time to get in touch. She has two stand-up specials on Netflix (Things They Wouldn’t Let Me Say, Girl Meets Mic), one on Amazon Prime UK and AUS (Mother of Invention), and her own show on BBC Radio 4, A Beginner’s Guide to India. Most recently, she collaborated with the Financial Times on a short film called In That Top—finally answering the question, “Can capitalism and cleavage coexist?” Aditi has worked with some of the top comedians on the planet, including Vir Das, Zarna Garg, and Hasan Minhaj, which makes her basically one brunch away from hosting her own Netflix festival. Her writing has appeared in Financial Times, Indian Express, Economic Times, and Femina, proving that she can type as well as she talks (and occasionally punctuate). You can hear her dulcet tones on the Women In Labour podcast, the Discontent Creation podcast, and as a guest on the award-winning Bugle podcast, where she regularly startles listeners with both facts and feelings. She’s also an experienced educator and facilitator, teaching in Mass Media courses and schools across Mumbai. She’s the founder of Crash Burn Learn and Punchlines and Powersuits—comedy workshops designed for everyone from anxious teens, women in the workforce all the way to corporate CEOs pretending they have a personality.

Aleya Kassam

Feminist Storyteller & Co-founder, The LAM Sisterhood

Aleya Kassam

Feminist Storyteller & Co-founder, The LAM Sisterhood

Aleya Kassam is a Kenyan feminist, storyteller, writer and performer. Her work explores the spaces between imagination and memory, often using ritual as a way to access those realms. Her writing has been published and performed around the world. She is also a co-founder of the award winning content studio, The LAM Sisterhood, which fills the world with stories for African women to feel seen, heard, and beloved such as the award winning stage show Brazen, and the children’s podcast KaBrazen.

Ainehi Edoro-Glines

Literary Scholar & Founder of Brittle Paper

Ainehi Edoro-Glines

Literary Scholar & Founder of Brittle Paper

Ainehi Edoro-Glines is a Nigerian literary scholar who studies African literature and digital culture. She is a Mellon Morgridge Assistant Professor of English and African Cultural Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research explores how stories, in novels and on social media, present new ways of thinking about the art, politics, and philosophy of worldmaking. Her book Forest Imaginaries: How African Novels Think is forthcoming from Columbia University Press. She is the founder and editor of Brittle Paper, a leading platform for African literary culture. Her writing and commentary have appeared in top academic literary journals like PMLA and ELH, as well as in The Guardian, BBC World News, SABC, and Africa is a Country. She is an OkayAfrica Women 100 honoree and was named one of New African Magazine’s Most Influential Africans of the Year.

Astrid Madimba and Chinny Ukata

Co-hosts of It’s a Continent podcast

Astrid Madimba and Chinny Ukata

Co-hosts of It’s a Continent podcast

Astrid Madimba and Chinny Ukata are the co-founders and hosts of It’s a Continent, a podcast that brings African history and current affairs to the forefront. Aimed at challenging stereotypes and celebrating the continent’s diversity, the show explores the history of every African nation in an accessible and engaging way. Named Independent Podcast of the Year in 2024, it has been featured in The Guardian, BBC Radio, and PodBible. Their debut book, It’s a Continent (2022), was spotlighted by Bustle and The Bookseller as one to watch.

Atemi Oyungu

Vocal Artiste & Music Industry Entrepreneur

Atemi Oyungu

Vocal Artiste & Music Industry Entrepreneur

Atemi is a vocal artiste, songwriter, arranger, and music industry entrepreneur. Her work spans performance, creative direction, and leadership within Kenya’s music scene.

Augustin Trapenard

Cultural Journalist & Libraries Without Borders Ambassador

Augustin Trapenard

Cultural Journalist & Libraries Without Borders Ambassador

Augustin Trapenard is the ambassador of Libraries Without Borders, an international non-profit that facilitates access to education, culture, and information. As a culture journalist, he was awarded the Philippe Caloni best interviewer award for his show “Boomerang” on French national radio France Inter, which he produced and hosted for 8 years. He is now hosting "La Grande Librairie", the only prime-time literary show on French national TV.

Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

Award-Winning Author, When We Were Birds

Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

Award-Winning Author, When We Were Birds

Ayanna Lloyd Banwo (b.1980) is a writer from Trinidad and Tobago. Her debut novel When We Were Birds was the 2023 winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award, the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, and the American Book Award. It was also shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the McKitterick Prize and named one of the UK Observer’s Best Debuts and The Economist’s Best Books of 2022. She is the 2023 winner of the Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer’s Award and was named a 2024 Rising Star in UK writing by The National Centre for Writing and The British Council. She currently lives in Norwich and is at work on her second novel.

Ayisha Osori

Lawyer, Writer & Director at Open Society Foundations

Ayisha Osori

Lawyer, Writer & Director at Open Society Foundations

Ayisha Osori is a lawyer, writer and advocate with experience in the public and private sectors. Osori is currently Director, Senior Vice President’s Office, Open Society Foundations, a philanthropic organization. Her responsibilities within OSF include leading the work on support for heterodox ideas that intersect with culture and art. She has written multiple articles and is frequently quoted in the media including Al-Jazeerah, the Financial Times and New York Times. She is the author of several books, including Love Does Not Win Elections. She is a graduate of the University of Lagos, Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School.

Bhakti Shringarpure

Writer, Editor & Host of the Radical Futures Podcast

Bhakti Shringarpure

Writer, Editor & Host of the Radical Futures Podcast

Bhakti Shringarpure is a writer, editor and host of the Radical Futures podcast. She is the author of Cold War Assemblages: Decolonization to Digital (2019) and is the editor of Literary Sudans: An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan (2017), Imagine Africa (2017) Mediterranean: Migrant Crossings (2018), Insurgent Feminisms: Writing War (2024) and editor for the ongoing book series “Decolonize That!” for O/R Books. She is co-founder of the production company Smashing Dandelions and executive producer for the forthcoming feature film Nuur.

Bia'ni Madsa' Juárez López

Biologist & Indigenous Rights Advocate

Bia'ni Madsa' Juárez López

Biologist & Indigenous Rights Advocate

A biologist with a master's degree in tropical ecology, she has conducted interdisciplinary research on the relationship between community organisation, tree conservation, and shade-grown coffee production in her Ayuuk community. She has participated in participatory mapping projects. She has published three scientific papers and several articles. She is currently the Co-Executive Director of the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund, an international nonprofit organisation. She collaborates with the Mixe Collective (COLMIX) and the Communities for Autonomy collective in Mayan territory. She has a coffee production business with her family and the Ayuuk community. She has spent the last seven years of experience in philanthropy, collaborating globally with Indigenous Peoples and communities to strengthen their territories and cultures. Her work approach, worldview, and thinking focus on collaborating to strengthen Indigenous Peoples to achieve autonomy in exercising their self-determination.

Billy Kahora

Author | Lecturer in Creative Writing | Former editor of Kwani?

Billy Kahora

Author | Lecturer in Creative Writing | Former editor of Kwani?

Billy Kahora is the author of The True Story Of David Munyakei (2010), a work of nonfiction, and a short story collection, The Cape Cod Bicycle War (2019). His short fiction and creative non-fiction have appeared in Chimurenga, McSweeney’s, Granta Online, Internazionale, Vanity Fair and Kwani?. He was Managing Editor at Kwani Trust, East Africa's pioneering literary journal and publishing house, between 2007-2017. He was the curator of the Kwani? Litfest between 2008-2017. Kahora is a past recipient of the Chevening Scholarship, an Iowa Writers’ Fellowship and recently the President’s Award at the University of Manchester where he received his PhD in Creative Writing in November 2023. He teaches Creative Writing at the University of Bristol.

Boima Tucker

Director, Africa Is a Country, Music Producer, DJ and Cultural Activist

Boima Tucker

Director, Africa Is a Country, Music Producer, DJ and Cultural Activist

Chief Boima is a Sierra Leonean-American music producer, DJ, writer, and cultural activist. He is the director of operations of Africa Is a Country, co-founder of Kondi Band and former record label head.

Carmin Wong

Poet, Playwright, Scholar and Inaugural Poet Laureate, State College, PA

Carmin Wong

Poet, Playwright, Scholar and Inaugural Poet Laureate, State College, PA

Carmin Wong is a Guyanese-american poet, playwright, and dual-title ph.d student in english Literature and African American and Diaspora Studies at pennsylvania state university. She is the inaugural poet laureate of the Borough of State College, Pennsylvania. Her poetry was recognized by the Academy of American Poetry and is featured in Xavier Review, Obsidian, and elsewhere. Wong was named the 2024-25 Shirley Graham Du Bois Creative in Residence with Castle of Our Skins, and she is the recipient of artist grants from Poets & Writers, Scholastic, Jeremy O. Harris and The Bushwick Starr, The Watering Hole, and more. Her poems and interviews were featured on WRBH and WPSU radios. Wong is the co-author of A Chorus Within Her (Theater Alliance) and playwright of Finding Home: Adeline Lawson Graham, Colored Citizen of Bellefonte (Pennsylvania State University). Learn more at theCarminWong.com.

Carol Gatura Oyola

Communications Specialist & Storyteller

Carol Gatura Oyola

Communications Specialist & Storyteller

Carol Oyola began her career 17 years ago in broadcast media as a News Reporter. She advanced through her media career, becoming a News Anchor, Senior Reporter and Editor, covering politics, education, health, development among other topical issues throughout Africa. After eight years, she transitioned to communications, working in strategic and development communications, public relations, digital media, and policy engagement, shaping narratives across public, private, and development sectors. Carol is passionate about impactful storytelling, which she believes can elevate an institution’s brand, profile and engagement. She is currently the Lead, Global Storytelling and Engagement at Aga Khan University. She is also a public speaker who moderates events, conferences and podcasts. When she’s not on a date with her husband or playing with her two children, Carol loves to sip on a good cup of coffee, read a good book while outdoors and appreciate beautiful art.

Ciku Kimeria

Author, Journalist & Communications Strategist

Ciku Kimeria

Author, Journalist & Communications Strategist

Ciku is an author, journalist, communication and strategy specialist, adventurer and travel writer. She writes both fiction and non-fiction, focusing on African stories that need telling. She is an Opinion Columnist at Bloomberg. Before that, she was a longtime contributor and Editor at Quartz Africa and authored almost 70 articles for the site. She is the author of two mystery novels (Dance of the Monkeys and Of Goats and Poisoned Oranges). She has written for various outlets, including African Arguments, OkayAfrica, and The Africa Report. She has a wealth of communication and project management experience, having worked for and served as a communication advisor to Dalberg Advisors, The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Centre, Society Initiative of West Africa, and The Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund. Previously, she served as the Africa Communication Manager at Dalberg after years of working as a strategy consultant. She has travelled to 60 countries, half of them in Africa. She has a Bachelor of Science in management from MIT and speaks English, Swahili, and French.

Christine Mungai

Journalist & News Editor at The Continent

Christine Mungai

Journalist & News Editor at The Continent

University. Her work has been published in The Africa Report, Adi Magazine, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Harvard Public Health Magazine, The New Internationalist, and The Elephant. Until recently, Christine was the curator for Baraza Media Lab in Nairobi, a co-creation space for public interest storytelling and a resource centre for journalists and creatives. She is now the News Editor for weekly pan-African newspaper The Continent, is also a part-time media trainer with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Dennis Mugaa

Writer & Editor | Author: Half Portraits Under Water

Dennis Mugaa

Writer & Editor | Author: Half Portraits Under Water

Dennis Mugaa is a writer and editor from Meru, Kenya. He won the 2022 Black Warrior Review Fiction Contest, was shortlisted for Isele Magazine’s inaugural Short Story Prize and longlisted for the 2021 Afritondo Short Story Prize. His work has appeared in Off Assignment, Fantasy Magazine, Jalada Africa, Lolwe, The Republic, Isele Magazine and Washington Square Review. He has been an International Literary Seminar Fellow and was the 2023/2024 Rajat Neogy Editorial Fellow at A Long House. He has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, where he was the recipient of the 2021/2022 Miles Morland Foundation Scholarship. His debut short story collection, Half Portraits Under Water, was published in 2024.

Dipo Faloyin

Journalist & Author, Africa Is Not a Country

Dipo Faloyin

Journalist & Author, Africa Is Not a Country

Dipo Faloyin is a journalist and the author of the book 'Africa Is Not a Country'. His writing on culture, history, identity and colonialism has featured in VICE, the Guardian, Esquire, Dazed, Newsweek and others.

Dr. Eghosa Imasuen

Author & Publisher

Dr. Eghosa Imasuen

Author & Publisher

Eghosa Imasuen is a Nigerian writer and cofounder of Narrative Landscape Press Limited. He graduated with a 1999 medical degree from the University of Benin. His second novel, Five Boys, a coming-of-age novel, was received to wide acclaim in 2012 and was published in North America by the Ohio University Press’ Modern African Writers Series in 2021. Imasuen is also an advocate for literature and publishing and has worked with such partners as the UBA Foundation, to distribute books across Africa for reading children, and the CANEX initiative of Afreximbank to highlight the book value chain on the continent. Imasuen's next book is The Challengers, narrative nonfiction examining Nigeria's post-2008 entrepreneurs. He lives in Lagos with his wife and twin sons.

Dr.Mamka Anyona

Political Analyst, Global Health Expert and Founder, AROSE Africa

Dr.Mamka Anyona

Political Analyst, Global Health Expert and Founder, AROSE Africa

Dr Mamka Anyona is the founder of AROSE Africa, an organization dedicated to building women’s political power across the continent. She is also the host of A Certain Amount of Madness, a pan-African political analysis podcast offering commentary on a range of political and economic issues. A clinician and global health expert, she advises various international institutions, including the World Health Organization, on chronic illness and health systems. Her research and writing focus on global governance and the political economy, with work published in journals and outlets such as Al Jazeera and The Guardian.

Dorphanage

Spoken Word Artist, Lyrical Historian and Slam Africa Champion

Dorphanage

Spoken Word Artist, Lyrical Historian and Slam Africa Champion

Dorphanage is a gifted lyrical virtuoso – a blender of verse, hip hop, theatre, music and improv in his mission to be a truth-teller, a historian of self and society. His spoken word performances travel from the anguish of the personal to the uncertainties of living in a broken world. He opens the door to vulnerability and poignancy so rare in performance spaces chasing the momentary relief of comedy and lets the tirades verbalizing the pains of dispossession flow freely – telling the stories of the forgotten, the scarred, and the disenfranchised peoples – from the juicy bustle of Meru’s Gakoromone Market to the mad flavours of Eastlands Nairobi. He's the 34th Slam Africa champion.

Edith Kimani

Award-Winning Journalist, Television Presenter & Global Moderator

Edith Kimani

Award-Winning Journalist, Television Presenter & Global Moderator

Edith Kimani is a renowned Kenyan journalist and television presenter known for her strong news judgment, engaging style, and fearless interviewing techniques. She hosts Deutsche Welle's (DW) award-winning Africa flagship program, The 77 Percent, serving as a prominent voice and advocate for Africa's vibrant youth. Prior to her tenure at DW, Edith honed her skills as a news anchor at Kenya Television Network (KTN), where she documented compelling human-interest stories across Kenya, showcasing her exceptional storytelling abilities and deep understanding of the region's dynamic. Edith has extensive experience in producing and reporting on diverse news and current affairs topics. She is also a seasoned moderator, having facilitated discussions at prestigious events such as the World Economic Forum, the G20 Summit, the World Trade Organization, and the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) Summit. Her expertise has been showcased on global stages, including the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Summit and the DW Global Media Forums. Beyond her professional accolades, Edith is a passionate environmental advocate. Her dedication to raising awareness about global warming led her to join a distinguished delegation covering its impacts in the Arctic region. Edith is a CNN Journalism Fellow, she has been honored as one of Africa's top 100 most influential young people, solidifying her position as a trailblazer in journalism and media.

Eric Wainaina

Songwriter, Performer & Musical Theatre Creator

Eric Wainaina

Songwriter, Performer & Musical Theatre Creator

Eric is a songwriter, performer, music producer, musical theatre composer and book writer, as well as a husband, father and lover of nature. He is the Founding Artistic Director of the Nairobi Musical Theatre Initiative (NBOMTI), whose mandate is to create compelling musical theatre for local, regional and international audiences through uniquely Kenyan and African stories.

Faith Odhiambo

President of the Law Society of Kenya | Advocate, Educator & Legal Trailblazer

Faith Odhiambo

President of the Law Society of Kenya | Advocate, Educator & Legal Trailblazer

Faith Mony Odhiambo is a distinguished advocate with 13 years of experience, currently practicing as a partner at Ombok & Owuor Advocates LLP. She has honed her skills in diverse legal areas, including Company Law, Competition Law, Telecommunications Law, Banking Law, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Her profound knowledge and practical experience have established her as a respected figure in the legal profession. Beyond her legal practice, Faith is a committed educator, serving as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi. Her academic contributions in Commercial Law, Banking Law, Competition Law, and Consumer Protection Law have been instrumental in shaping future legal professionals. Faith's involvement extends beyond the courtroom and classroom, as she has played pivotal roles in various legal organizations.

Francis Mutagi

Editorial & Communications Consultant, Language Expert

Francis Mutagi

Editorial & Communications Consultant, Language Expert

Francis Mutegi is an editorial and communications consultant, project manager, musician and singer — particularly of church chorals as a staunch Catholic — and a language expert specialised in English, Kiswahili, and basic Chinese. He also speaks all central and eastern Bantu languages. Based in Kenya, he has served as Chairman of the Caritas Self Help Group for 8 years, the Nation Staff Consumer Cooperative Society for 18 years, and the Nairobi Catholic Choirs Association for 6 years. He is married and has two sons.

Frankline Sunday

Award-winning Journalist & Co-founder of Down River Road

Frankline Sunday

Award-winning Journalist & Co-founder of Down River Road

Frankline Sunday is an award-winning data journalist currently based in Nairobi, Kenya. He has worked for the Standard Media Group for the past 14 years as a financial journalist and features writer. Before that, he worked for the Nation Media Group and Business Daily newspapers, contributing articles on capital markets, technology start-ups and economic policy. His work has also appeared in several international outlets, including the Guardian UK, Mail and Guardian SA, New African and Economist. He is also one of the founders of Down River Road, a literary journal based in Nairobi that publishes online and in print.

Garnette OLunya

Researcher, Literary Scholar & Cultural Advisor

Garnette OLunya

Researcher, Literary Scholar & Cultural Advisor

G Olunya is a researcher and literary scholar. She teaches at the Technical University of Kenya, is a researcher for the GoDown Arts Centre, and an advisory board member for culture journals Jahazi & Awaaz.

Gil Ndi-Shang

Writer & Literary Scholar

Gil Ndi-Shang

Writer & Literary Scholar

Gilbert Shang Ndi is Heisenberg Professor of Comparative Literatures and Cultures, with focus on Africa and Latin America, at the University of Bayreuth. He is co-leader Project: Black Atlantic Revisited: African and South American UNESCO-World Heritage Sites and “Shadowed Spaces” of Performative Memory, Cluster of Excellence - Africa Multiple, University of Bayreuth. An alumnus of the Young Colleague Programme of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, he was Feodor Lynen Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Bayreuth in Germany (2014), where he completed his Habilitation (2022). Gilbert is the author of State/Society: Narrating Transformations in Selected African Novels (2017) and Memories of Violence in Peru and the Congo (2022) and has co-edited Of Worlds and Artworks - A Relational View on Artistic Practices from Africa and the Diaspora(2024); Tracks and Traces of Violence (2017) and Re-Writing Pasts, Imagining Futures: Critical Explorations of Contemporary African Fiction and Theater (2017). In addition to monographs and book chapters, his articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as English in Africa, French Studies in Southern Africa, and Comparative Literature Studies. He is author of two creative works: Letter from America (2019) and The Radio, and Other Stories (2021). He has recently been awarded the Heisenberg Programme by the German Research Foundation and is currently working on a forthcoming book, Bodies in (con)texts: Intersections of Corporality in the Novels of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Sony Labou Tansi.

Goretti Kyomuhendo

Author & Founding Director of African Writers Trust

Goretti Kyomuhendo

Author & Founding Director of African Writers Trust

Goretti Kyomuhendo is a leading Ugandan novelist and founding director of the African Writers Trust and TUBAZE African Books. She is the author of five novels: The First Daughter (1996); Secrets No More (1999), winner of the Uganda National Literary Award for Best Novel; Waiting (2007), Whispers from Vera (2023), first runner up for the 2024 Aidoo-Synder Book Prize for Creative Writing and Promises (2025). Her work has been translated into Spanish, Amharic and forthcoming in French. She was the first Ugandan woman to receive an international writing fellowship from the University of Iowa. She has chaired the judging panel for the Caine Prize, and in 2019, was featured among the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African. Goretti is a founding member of FEMRITE, a women writers’ association and publishing house in Uganda, and served as its first director for ten years.

James Murua

Blogger, Journalist & Podcaster

James Murua

Blogger, Journalist & Podcaster

James Murua is a blogger, journalist, and podcaster who has written for a variety of media outlets in a career spanning print and web. He has been nominated for “Best Creative Writing Blog” for the 2018 Bloggers Association of Kenya Awards. He was also announced as Best Writer “Theatre, Art and Culture” at Kenya’s Sanaa Theatre Awards and listed as one of the top men in digital in Kenya in 2018.

James Rugami

Vinyl Curator & Collector

James Rugami

Vinyl Curator & Collector

James has been a vinyl records and players dealer since 1984, with a deep passion for restoring vintage players and preserving music in its original format. Born over six decades ago, he opened his first record shop in Meru town before relocating to Nairobi in 1989. While the world embraced digital music, James remained devoted to retro formats, often travelling far and wide in search of rare records. With a massive personal collection and an unwavering commitment to authenticity—no bootlegs—he has become a curator of sorts, even if some view his dedication as eccentric.

Jane Obuchi

Writer, Translator & Educator

Jane Obuchi

Writer, Translator & Educator

Jane Bosibori Marando Obuchi is a writer, researcher, and educator. She has taught English and Kiswahili in secondary schools and universities. Her research interest lies in Oral Literature, Translation and Interpretation, Language and Gender and Children's Literature. She has published; Gender Biases in the Language of African Music, The Linguistic Roots of Structuralism, Endabasia Yechinkwana chi’Ekegusii, Chingero chi’Abagusii, Ekegusii translation of: The Upright Revolution, The River Between, I Will Marry When I Want, Things Fall Apart, Romeo and Juliet, Kwenzi Gizani, Bembea ya Maisha, Murambi, The Book of Bones which she has also translated into Kiswahili, The Dakar Declaration and Mandela Comes to Leah. She is a member of the Ngugi wa Thiong’o Foundation and Collaborative for The Renewal of Africa. She facilitated the 2021 Itúika Workshop on Writing and Translation in African Languages. Jane is Jury Chair of Young African Writers, sponsored by African Union-Economic, Social and Cultural Council.

Joan Otieno

Visual Artist

Joan Otieno

Visual Artist

Joan is a visual artist that works with recycled materials and mentors young women and girls.

Joan Thatiah

Author & Founder, Stori Zetu

Joan Thatiah

Author & Founder, Stori Zetu

oan Thatiah is a prominent Kenyan author, journalist, and former columnist for the Daily Nation in Nairobi. With a background in law, she has established herself as a compelling voice in contemporary African literature, focusing on themes of womanhood, empowerment, and societal introspection. Thatiah's writing journey began in 2016 with her self-published debut, Things I Will Tell My Daughter. Since then, she has authored ten books, blending personal narratives with broader social commentary. Her works often draw from real-life stories, particularly those of Kenyan women, offering candid insights into their experiences. Notable titles include Confessions of Nairobi Women (Books 1 & 2), Confessions of Nairobi Men (Books 1 & 2), Letters to My Son, I'm Too Pretty to Be Broke and Other Lies You've Been Telling Yourself, Damn, Girl! Stop That, Everything I Know About Life, and Guilty. Her tenth book, Confessions of Nairobi Men: Book Two, was released in November 2024, marking a significant milestone in her career. She is also the founder of Stori Zetu, a bookstore initiative aimed at promoting African literature.

Joe Sacco

Advocate for Environmental Justice

Joe Sacco

Advocate for Environmental Justice

Joe Sacco is a cartoonist and journalist. He has written and illustrated several graphic novels about his travels, including Palestine, Footnotes in Gaza, Safe Area Goražde, and Paying the Land. He is based in Portland, Oregon, USA.