James Murua

Hello everyone, this week's focus is on the late greatKenyan writer and academic Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, who passed away on May 28. Enjoy. Please remember that you can support our project on Patreon, PayPal, Ko-Fi, or mobile money. You can get that informationat WritingAfrica.com/donate.We have been featured in Feedspot among the 25 Best African Literature Podcasts athttps://podcast.feedspot.com/african_literature_podcasts/

Writing Africa is a project that celebrates writers of African descent, be it on the continent or the diaspora; this week's focus is on Kenya’s first recognised female playwright and novelist, Rebeka Njau. Enjoy.Please remember that you can support our project on Patreon, PayPal, Ko-Fi, or mobile money. You can get information on how to do that atWritingAfrica.com/donate.

Welcome to episode 43 of the Writing Africa podcast. Writing Africa is a project that celebrates writers of African descent, be it on the continent or the diaspora; this week's focus is on the award-winning novelist from Senegal, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr. Enjoy. Please remember that you can support our project on Patreon, PayPal, Ko-Fi, or mobile money. You can get that information at WritingAfrica.com/donate.

This week's focus is the Writing Africa project, which started on April 24, 2013. We talk about some of the highs and achievements over the last 12 years. Please remember that you can support our project monetarily on Patreon, PayPal, Ko-Fi, or mobile money. You can get that information atwritingafrica.com/donate.

Our focus this week is on Rwandan-born French writer BeataUmubyeyi Mairesse, who writes in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, and is one of the most decorated Africanswriting in French today. Please remember that you can support our project monetarily on Patreon, PayPal, Ko-Fi, or mobile money. You can get that information at writingafrica.com/donate.

Our focus this week is the NYrobi Book Fest 2025, which runs from April 11 – 13. It is one of the fastest-growing festivals on the African continent. Please remember that you can support our project monetarily on Patreon, PayPal, Ko-Fi, or mobile money. You can get that information at writingafrica.com/donate.

Our focus this week is Prof Niyi Osundare who has made a name as a linguist, a critic, and an experienced journalist and teacher is a poet who gained degrees in English at the University of Ibadan (BA), the University of Leeds (MA), and York University, Canada (PhD, 1979). Previously professor (from 1989) and Head of English (1993–97) at the University of Ibadan, he became professor of English at theUniversity of New Orleans in 1997. He is an Emeritus Distinguished Professor of English at the University of New Orleans.Please remember that you can support our project monetarily on Patreon, Paypal, Ko-Fi, or mobile money. You can get that information at writingafrica.com/donate.

This week’s spotlight is Percival Everett, the author of numerous novels, short story collections, poetry, children’s literature, and other forms. He is also a Distinguished Professor of English at the University of SouthernCalifornia (USC). He has shown his love for humanity by appending his signature to the Israel Boycott Pledge, which has been signed by many. He also showed his love for non-humans with his herd of mules, horses, and donkeys on his 14-acre ranch in Moreno Valley, California, where he did farm work and found inspiration for his writing. Remember you can support our work on PayPal, Ko-Fi, and Patreon starting at US$3 a month at WritingAfrica.com/donate.

Welcome to episode 37 of the Writing Africa Podcast where we focus on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's return with her new novel Dream Count. Please remember that you can support our project monetarily on Patreon, Paypal, Ko-Fi, or mobile money.

For the Writing Africa Podcast Episode 36, we say goodbye to Kenyan publisher Henry Chakava as we speak about awards, books, and events around African letters. We also have an exclusive interview with legendary academic Carol Boyce Davies. Remember that you can support the work we do archiving African and Black literature via PayPal, Mobile Money, or Patreon starting at $3 a month. For more information please click here.

We say goodbye to Trinidad and Tobago author Michael Anthony, talk about the NBO LitFest, as well as the awards that have been given in August. We also debut novelist Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu. Remember that you can support the work we do archiving African and Black literature via PayPal, Mobile Money, or Patreon starting at $3 a month. For more information please click here.

We chat with graphic novelist Chief Nyamweya on how he got into writing graphic novels and the Trust novel which incorporates blockchain in the storytelling. Get your copy of the book ⁠by clicking here⁠. Remember that you can support the work we do archiving African and Black literature via PayPal, Mobile Money, or Patreon starting at $3 a month. For more information please click here.

In episode 33, we say goodbye to Good Micere Mugo and Kole Omotoso, and talk about what has been happening is the awards and festivals in African and Black literature scene.

Transition Egyptian Novelist Hamdy Abu Golayyel has passed away Egyptian Novelist Hamdy Abu Golayyel passed away on Sunday, June 11, 2023. Exhibition Litafrika: Artistic Encounters II exhibition for Zurich organised by Swiss partners Litar Foundation and Strauhof Zurich. Curator Zukiswa Wanner gives a tour here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c1_lcyLnuk&t=95s&pp=ygUJbGl0YWZyaWth Festivals Abuja Literary and Arts Festival 2023 for September, Ake Festival 2023 for November, and Feira do Livro de Maputo 2023 kicks off on July 27. Awards Ananda Devi wins Grand Prix de l’Héroïne Madame Figaro 2023, Gracia Mwamba and Feranmi Ariyo win Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2023, Reem Gaafar wins Island Prize 2023, and Paterson Joseph wins UK’s RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2023.

Welcome to episode 29 of the Writing Africa Podcast. It’s a blockbuster one as we say goodbye to author, poet, playwright, and academic Ama Ata Aidoo and South African writer, political analyst, journalist, and broadcaster Eusebius McKaiser. We will be chatting about the prize the Kendeka Prize, Arablit Short Story Prize, and the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF) Short Fiction Story Contest as well as we recommend that you read Caribbean books this Read Caribbean Month. We have an interview this week. We caught up with Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2022. Apologies for the quality of the interview sound. The interview was conducted in a corner at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Thank you so much Frankfurter Buchmesse for making the interview happen.

For the first time in a decade, we have a new identity in Writing Africa and we explain a bit about why this was so. We also talk about the winners of the Dylan Thomas Prize, Nebula Awards, Pulitzer Prize Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique as well as those shortlisted for the Island Prize. We also talk about some festivals like the 72 heures du livre Conakry which ran in April and the forthcoming Mogadishu Book Fair, Calabash Festival, and the Ake Festival.

Welcome to episode 27 of the James Murua Literary Podcast. Today’s guests of Khadija Abdalla Bajaber won the Greywolf Africa Prize in 2018 and went on to write House of Rust. In this episode, we chat to the Mombasa-born and bred writer about winning the Graywolf Prize and how it changed her life, her writing influences, and loads more. This podcast has been supported by Goethe-Institute Kenya as part of the "Kenya Writes" series. Enjoy.

Welcome to episode 26 of the James Murua Literary Podcast. Today’s guest is Zimbabwe-born, USA-based Munashe Kaseke, the writer of the debut short story collection Send Her Back and Other Stories as well as the founder of independent publisher Mukana Press. In our episode, she speaks about her writing, her journey as a publisher, and how she hopes to navigate the markets both in the USA and on the continent. Enjoy.

The Kenya Writes guest for today is Kisumu-based lawyer and author Patrick Ochieng who was shortlisted for the 2010 Golden Baobab Prize and the NALIF Writing Competition in 2017. He has been published in Kikwetu, Munyori, Brittle Paper, and other literary publications. He lives in Kisumu, Kenya, with his family. His debut book for children is Playing a Dangerous Game, published by Norton Young Readers. We talk about his entry into the writing business, why he writes for children, what inspired his book Playing a Dangerous Game, and some of his forthcoming projects. Enjoy.

The Kenya Writes guest for today is Mombasa-based writer and festival organiser Lorna Likiza whose debut literary offering is the children’s book Oi Gets Lost. She tells us their journey to her first book, working with her Ukrainian illustrator, about her festival the Heroe Book Fair, and about the writing scene in her adopted town of Mombasa.