Storymoja

Win 2 Season Tickets to the Storymoja Hay Festival in 4 easy steps. (10 season tickets available for a random 5 people) There are 183 photos from this Facebook Album from Hay Fest – Nairobi 2012. 1. Spot yourself and at least two friends 2. Comment on the photo identifying yourself and your friends by … Continue reading »

This is the blog editor’s response to comments posted on a poem posted on this blog. The thoughts are not the complete body of thought on critique, critics and authors. Therefore, the editor would greatly appreciate further comments about the topic from all you  readers and writers out there. Dear Mr. Nena and Mr. Obiya, … Continue reading »

Here are all the poems posted from these series. If you had read this post, scroll to the end for the links.

P.S. There will be four 250/- airtime prize for most useful comments posted up on the poetry to be determined after April 30th. Continue reading »

Well, we are done with the #KeDecides2013. There are many ways to look at how we go one from here. If you were to write a short story, how would you represent the ‘living’? Continue reading »

As promised here is this month’s winning short story: Written in Song and Blood: A lone man climbed a mountain. His palms were rubbed raw against the rocks and the wind beat against him mercilessly sending the tail of his ripped shirt flapping behind him. 1 point for half the title. 1 point for being brave … Continue reading »

Well, you writers sure rose up to the challenge! I’ve spent the last week reading through all your entries. And wow, what a nice surprise! I even had to call in reinforcements, and after a while, we have a shortlist. I hope you’ll enjoy reading the entries and speculating on the storylines as much as … Continue reading »

Africa Creates: The Radio Show Africa Creates is an online radio show that will provide a platform for African writers, musicians and filmmakers to be heard and promoted both locally and internationally. Every week, the show will highlight and interview one artist. We already have one online radio station (based in the USA) that has … Continue reading »

Dear Writers, A huge thank you to everyone who submitted entries to this contest. We will now take some time to sort through all the entries. We will post up the top four entries for you to read through and comment on during the course of this week. The winner of the contest will be … Continue reading »

I will be looking at the story as a whole, but the prize will go to the writer who manages to hook me with the opening words of the story, and whose ending leaves me thinking “What in the world? I wish I’d thought that up!”

Also see information about a Storymoja Singles Event. Continue reading »

The Hon. Martha Karua took part in the Read Aloud & Break a Record event with children from Kawangware Primary School this morning (31/01/2013). “Thank you very much for inviting me to the Read Aloud Day event at Kawangware Primary school. I greatly enjoyed interacting and reading with the children and teachers in order to … Continue reading »

This book is a thrilling read for the young as well as the not so young. Attack of the Shidas: AKAs Save Planet Earth will be used in the Break a record by Reading Aloud event on January 31st, 2013. Continue reading »

What makes a good children’s writer? The writer must have a genuine and powerful wish not only to entertain children, but to teach them the habit of reading. The writer must be a jokey sort of fellow and must like simple tricks and jokes and riddles and other childish things. He must be unconventional and … Continue reading »

Galleria Mall, Saturday 15th Dec 11.00am-5.30am The Storyhippo Family Fiesta was conceptualised following the success of the Storyhippo Village (kids area) at the Storymoja Hay Festival 2012. The kids area was packed with kids of all ages, all playing differently and experimenting with new play ideas. When children play, they remember. It is even more … Continue reading »

“Attack of the Shidas:AKAs Save the Planet” is the story of three communities who live in a desert town which depends on a lone borehole for all their water. But the people are threatened when they discover that the water is mysteriously being emptied at night. Three children in the town discover they have special powers as only they, can see and hear the invisible water thieves that bring with them numerous other problems to the three communities. Yet nobody believes what the children have to say, because these three children possess special powers of equality and tolerance that enable them to see what others in their communities cannot see. Can the children stop the aliens before war breaks out in the town? Continue reading »

It’s that season again for making merry, spreading joy and cheer and thanking God for the year past. It’s that time of year again that you get together with your friends and colleagues and collect your old clothes, buy foodstuff and spend time in a children’s home before breaking off for Christmas. This year however … Continue reading »

So the judges have decided that the winner of this contest, by virtue of being the item that reflects closely the perspective called out for in the contest guidelines, is: Just Beyond Busia by Stella Riunga Just Beyond Busia: You wouldn’t expect there to be such a difference-it’s just one bus ride across the border, after all. I’m not some … Continue reading »

Nairobi Bitch by Eme Ferreira I get home. Home is the place where I can be alone. And nothing happens. I had lunch in Karen (southwest of the Nairobi centre). A vegetarian dish, spicy and disgusting. A friend said love. I said “hehe”. I said also “that dish is giving me butterflies in my stomach.” … Continue reading »

9th-16th December 2012 Readings, performances, writers in conversation, public lectures, panel  discussions, film screenings, art exhibitions, workshops, music and food. Free Entry Venues : Kifaru Gardens, Goethe-Institut Nairobi, University of Nairobi, Habesha Restaurant, K uona T rust, Nairobi National Museum , Eastleigh & KICC The fourth edition of Kwani? Litfest, our biennial gathering of writers, … Continue reading »

Three shows in Bangalore, another two in Hyderabad and at the United World College in Pune, ecstatic audiences, and all in a language that  hardly anybody understands! How does it work? Well, we must credit the timeless brilliance of Shakespeare’s comic observations of the frailty of human behaviour (is there a more loveable and yet … Continue reading »

Outside Looking In is a writing contest looking for the perspective of someone looking in.

Your main persona is either a

- foreigner who lives and works in Kenya

- kenyan living and working outside Kenya

Your entry can be poetry or short prose or a mixture of both. Continue reading »

It took one year for me to lose my kindness. When I’m driving along Peponi Road and the children ask me for money, I just say: Hakuna pesa, pole sana. I don’t have any money, sorry. And then I protect myself behind the tinted windows. Continue reading »

Written by Virginia Kamau Nowadays I have a different prayer: Don’t keep me from trouble, Teach me how to walk through trouble. Don’t lift me up to the sky, Give me wings so I can fly, When they want to bury me, Don’t get me out of the pit, Help me shake the dust and … Continue reading »

The Sylt Foundation calls all Writers of contemporary African literature to apply for the two month African Writer’s Residency, offered as part of the Sylt Foundation Residency Programme. One residency will be awarded annually to Africa writers who have published poetry, prose, plays and novels. The Foundation is located on the island of Sylt, off the … Continue reading »

“It was truly inspiring, not just to hear the writers gathered together, but to meet all the exceptional people we came across every day: performers, poets, schoolchildren, musicians – I felt we had been allowed a  glimpse into the spirit of Kenya.” Imtiaz Dharker, Scottish/Pakistani Poet The fourth international Storymoja Hay Festival was a feast of writing, performance, … Continue reading »

A pictorial tribute to Africa’s most wounded city
Date: Thursday, November 22, 2012

Times: 6.30pm

Place: Istituto Italiano di Cultura

Organized by: Istituto Italiano di Cultura Continue reading »

A short story by George Magunga: He lay on my bed looking up at the white nothingness encrypted on the ceiling. His hands were neatly folded on his chest and his legs trimly forming an obtuse angle at his knees. All this time while he kept raving and ranting… Continue reading »

The African Poetry Book Series is the major feature of the work of the African Poetry Book Fund. Beginning in January 2014, the imprint will publish four new titles by African poets each year. In addition the series will publish every few years an anthology representing African regions, themes, and ideas. An Editorial Board made … Continue reading »

Dear Writer, Do you yearn to celebrate the rhythm, the love and passion within the East African heart? Do you wish to capture and celebrate the love story behind the beautiful, sexy, confident, focused, hardworking and romantic East African – irrespective of ethnicity or race? DrumBeats Romance invites East Africans to tell their own love … Continue reading »

Warscapes [www.warscapes.com] is an online magazine providing a lens into current conflicts across the world via literature, literary reportage, art and image. Warscapes provides a highly professional and beautifully curated space for writers from all over the world to publish fiction, non-fiction, analysis and perspectives that are missing in mainstream publishing. Meanwhile, it offers readers … Continue reading »

Tony Mochama’s latest literary foray, the novel “Princess Adhis and the Naija Coca Brothers” weaves through two stories that attempt to navigate the underworld of Kenyan crime. Read more from wamathai.com If you are one of those ‘nyahunyo-bearing’ grammar cops, then this book will assault your senses and have you pulling at your hair, because … Continue reading »

A Festival of Happiness by Jekwu Anyaegbuna – 2012 Commonwealth Short Story Regional Winner Writers don’t write words; they write ideas. The StoryMoja Hay Festival in Nairobi, Kenya, was a well-crafted basket filled with the fruits of ideas. I ate the apples of camaraderie there. The laughter was almost electrocuting, with its sparkling seeds sprouting … Continue reading »

The UNESCO-Aschberg Bursaries for Artists Programme is open to young professional international writers and visual artists… Continue reading »

Written by Kenne Mwikya A few minutes to 3 PM, the Louis Leakey Auditorium starts filling up. Outside, people are shuffling hurriedly to pick up the last seats but on coming inside find that there are still many seats to be filled. Security is tighter than usual, with the ubiquitous hand-held scanner going over clothes … Continue reading »

Written by Noella Luka How do men relate with other men? For most, their conversations greatly revolve around business deals, sports and cars. However, there is so much more that goes on in our day-to-day relationships that men in particular don’t openly talk about especially to other men. Aernout Zevenbergen, Zambian-born award-nominated journalist, has dared … Continue reading »

Written by Kenne Mwikya Earlier, in another space, I had questioned the wisdom of talking about the law and religion and how it affects the LGBTI community during cultural events such as the Storymoja Hay Festival. I contented that we should focus on cultural references to queer: read books, discuss them, talk about cultural politics … Continue reading »

Written by Kenne Mwikya The Wangari Maathai memorial lecture seeks to bring thinkers from around the world who share the late Nobel Laureate’s enthusiasm for change, her courage and resilience in the face of adversity. Who, then, is a better candidate for the inaugural lecture than the writer and historian Jung Chang author of Wild … Continue reading »

Written by Noella Luka Did you know that on 31st January 1964, a small bottle of Pilsner cost Kenya’s founding father Kshs. 1.64 at the general assembly? Or that he inspected a guard of honour mounted by the last British troops Staffordshire Regiment at the Nairobi Airport on 10th December 1964, just before they left … Continue reading »

It’s always fun when you get to hang out with your friends and explore things together. It’s a lot more fun when you are young and impressionable and the smallest things amaze you. At the Story Moja Hay festival 2012, I was taken back to those days thanks to science tent which was a much needed breather to work routine. Continue reading »

Written by Kenne Mwikya At the Louis Leakey Auditorium again, this the time crowd far sparser than earlier events. Is it because no one is interested in how we will read books in the future, how content will be presented for consumption and the opportunities/challenges this brings? I hope not, because narratives of presentation, technology … Continue reading »

Written by Kenne Mwikya I didn’t expect much activity at the Louis Leakey Auditorium. It was during lunch hour, on a slow day (the festival draws larger crowds during weekends) and it was already getting hot. So it was a very pleasant surprise to see dozens of teenagers, in school uniform, trooping towards the auditorium, … Continue reading »

Written by Akinyi Okulo Creative writing is fun. However many budding writers do not know how to start. They are faced with myriads of challenges and more often than not abandon the idea. The Storymoja Hay Festival 2012 held at the Nairobi National Museum provided aspiring writers with a series of workshops on how to … Continue reading »

Written by Akinyi Okulo You wake up one morning and you realize that you are not comfortable with your life. Something is amiss. You are in a land far away from your motherland. No close family ties. No one to talk to about home. You have a burning desire to know where you have come … Continue reading »

Written by Okwiri Oduor At the Storymoja Hay Festival in Nairobi, children from the Netherlands School Society joined their counterparts from the Spring Valley Educational Centre in a session convened by Dutch Illustrator Marit Tornqvist. Marit has worked on the books of popular Swedish author Astride Lingdren, illustrating   titles such as Goran’s Great Escape, In … Continue reading »

Cables, laptops, cables and a jolly crowd. A group of young people are engrossed in a discussion as they constantly look at one of the laptop screens. A tall teenager with deep set blue eyes joins them and he hurriedly types on the laptop… Now he clicks the mouse and claps once… He stands back … Continue reading »

Written by Noella Luka If you are a book junkie or looking to get information that gives you a great new perspective about Kenya, then Nature Kenya’s tent at the Storymoja Hay Festival 2012 was the place to be. According to Liz Aching ‘I never thought that people had a place they would come together … Continue reading »

Written by Noella Luka Photographs by Aernout Zevenbergen “The Character in a story is essential and perhaps one of the most important elements that should stand out. It not only helps drive the thought, but also pushes the story forward,” these were the words of Giles Foden, a world renowned writer famed for his award … Continue reading »

Written by Okwiri Oduor Photographs by Aernout Zevenbergen For 25 years, the Hay Festival has brought together writers and readers from across the world in a celebration of ideas and writing. The festival runs in 15 countries. On the continent, it pitches tent in Kenya On Thursday the 13th of September 2012, the Storymoja Hay … Continue reading »

The Judges have decided: the winner of the Street Lit short story contest is: First Place:  King of Khoja by Esther Kariuki Second Place: Golden Lakes by Mike Ekunno Third Place: On the Verge of Salvation by Patrick Karari. The winners will be contacted on how to go about getting their prizes. We would like to appreciate … Continue reading »

The judges have been able to sort through all your submissions. They have come up with the shortlist of 6 stories. Please see the links below. The order of the stories does not in anyway indicate which story is at the top of the list. Continue reading »