eKitabu Monthly Newsletter August 2024
Dear Friends,
In September, the fourth edition of Macondo Literary Festival will take place from 20th - 22nd September at the Kenya Cultural Centre in Nairobi. The theme for this year’s festival, “The Sea is History,” is inspired by a poem by Caribbean Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. Macondo 2024 will extend the festival’s geography to the spheres of the Swahili Sea.
Macondo will feature workshops and panel sessions, including a book publishing process workshop on Friday 20th September that will demystify the journey to author success. It is a conversation crafted to equip writers to navigate the steps of publishing with practicing professionals in contracting, editing, design, production, and marketing.
Macondo Director Anja Bengelstorff and author and Macondo co-founder Yvonne Awuor have worked to make Macondo a jewel of Africa’s literary calendar, a forum for both local and global writers to share ideas and showcase their works.
This year’s "Kenya Writes" panel will feature writers Scholastica Moraa, Scholar Akinyi, Kiprop Kimutai, Buke Abduba, and Alexis Teyie in a discussion celebrating and unpacking Kenya’s vibrant literary landscape. The Kenya Writes session is on Sunday, 22nd September in the main Auditorium of the Kenya Cultural Centre. Mercy Kirui, eKitabu’s Senior Manager, Publishing, will moderate the panel. The full Macondo program is now live at the MLF 24 website.
In related news, also in September, Kenya Publishers Association will celebrate 25 years of excellence and innovation, the silver jubilee of Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF) from Wednesday 25th September to Sunday 29th at the Sarit Expo Centre. At NIBF, eKitabu will, among other activities, award the 2024 Digital Essay Competition (DEC) young writers and artists for their creativity, ideas and perspectives in essays in Swahili, English, French, German, Arabic, braille, Kenyan Sign Language video, and in artworks.
This year in DEC, we have received over 18,000 essays—our largest number ever—from upper primary and secondary school writers with and without disabilities across all of Kenya’s 47 counties. Pongezi sana Waandishi, Walimu, Wazazi! In the 12 years of DEC, we have gone far together. I look forward to seeing you at the prizegiving in September!
Warmest regards,
Will
Digital Essay Competition
Digital Essay Competition (DEC) 2024 came to a close on 8 August 2024. Students from various schools in Kenya took part and submitted their essays at?essay.eKitabu.com ;? handwritten copies were handed in at the eKitabu office.
Primary and junior secondary school?students answered the question:?“How can we take care of our environment at home and in school?” For secondary school students, the question was:?“How can students contribute to addressing climate change in their communities and globally?”?This year, eKitabu received over 18,000?essays. The judging process to shortlist the top essays is ongoing and is being conducted by teachers from all over the country with wide experience in invigilating and marking Kenyan national exams. The top winners will be contacted by?eKitabu and invited to the awards?ceremony, which will take place during the Nairobi International?Book Fair in September.?We look forward to sharing the final results of the competition with you.
In addition, DEC is offering a special category sponsored by the French Embassy, aimed at young women and girls, with the question: “What is the role of young women in the Solar Energy Sector?”?The submissions are done at?essay.eKitabu.com ?and the?deadline for this category is Friday 6 September 2024.
Featured Blog - Kenya
By Nyarinda MaureenOrganized by Soma Nami Books, a pan-African bookstore, the African Book Fair (ABF) was a week-long affair that promised?readers and literature enthusiasts an eclectic collection of African books. Now in its second year, it kicked off on Tuesday, 6 August, and ended on Sunday, 11 August. The venue was?one of the city’s oldest buildings,?opened in 1931 for Europeans only and its doors flung open for Kenyan users in 1962 as the country approached independence.
“We are immensely proud to see our reader-focused celebration of African storytelling continuing to attract thousands of readers in Nairobi. We are committed to expanding the representation to all 54 African states in future editions.”? Noted?Wendy Njoroge, the co-founder of the ABF.
The hybrid nature of the Fair—a combination?of panel discussions, master classes, experiential activities, and book sales—made it wholesome and even more vibrant than the first edition. The African Book Quiz was a fun activity testing people’s literary knowledge of African books.?Read more
EdTech Ecosystem
领英推荐
In this year’s Macondo Literary Festival program, linguistic influences of the?Swahili coast and the Indian Ocean.?The Sea Is History?is a theme intended to highlight the coastline’s?historical connections with other parts of Africa, connections found—in storytelling, art, technology, cultural?memories, and society. From its inception, the Macondo Literary Festival’s anchor has been an Africa-centric survey of histories and potential futures based on literary perspectives.?
Featured on the program will be the closely watched Nigerian novelist Chigozie Obioma, whose?The Road to the Country ?was released on June 4 by Penguin Random House UK’s Hogarth unit. Obioma has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction, first in 2015 for?The Fishermen?and then in 2019 for?An Orchestra of Minorities.
Drawing from the title of a poem by the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Derek Walcott, the festival’s organizers have chosen?The Sea Is History?for the show’s theme. The sponsor for the show is the e-learning platform?eKitabu , which you may remember sponsored a rights trading program at the 2023 Nairobi International Book Fair. eKitabu’s sponsorship is credited by organizers with helping to keep ticket prices down.?Read more
Upcoming Events
Book of the Month
3 Bolts From The Blue?by Lesalon Kasaine represents three unexpected things in three thriller stories. In Just a Sleepover, Isaac wakes up with a dead girl next to him, following a romantic sleepover. It wasn’t his house, and the girl wasn’t his, either. It’s a mystery that Detective Njagi of the DCI must solve. We All Weep introduces a creepy psychopath who does the unthinkable after a girl he loves betrays him. He does his best to drag a branch behind to cover his tracks, but will he out-fox Detective Njagi? Find out?more by getting your copy in audiobook , print , or ebook at shop.eKitabu.com
Featured Profile
Abdullahi Bulle, a visionary Kenyan entrepreneur, founded Nuria Bookstore, an innovative online bookstore in Nairobi. With a strong academic foundation, including a Bachelor’s in Commerce from Africa Nazarene University and two MBAs from USIU and Strathmore University, Bulle skillfully navigates the world of commerce and entrepreneurship.
" Nuria Bookstore is more than just a place to buy books; it's a hub for literary and cultural engagement," said Bulle. "Visitors can explore a wide range of genres, attend author events, and participate in book signings. We’re excited about the upcoming Macondo Literary Festival in September, where readers will be drawn to the works of talented Kenyan and international authors. These books are available at?Nuria Bookstore ,?both in-store and at the festival," he added.
Interesting facts about Bulle
I love?to?see African literature flourish. Our commitment is promoting African content and supporting self-published authors further highlighting our dedication to the literary world.
My best experience?is?promoting local content and supporting self-published authors is a significant contribution to the literary community in Kenya.
My?favorite?food?is Athola.
During my?free time,?I focus on understanding and reflecting on the needs of my readers at Nuria Bookstore.
I get?inspired?by my people and our problems. I would like to make Kenya and Africa a better place. Home is Africa.
My principle:?"Work hard or go home."