N. Farah

Launch: Hiding in Plain Sight by Nuruddin Farah at 2015 Kwani? Litfest, Dec. 5 2015 @ Kwani Trust

N. Farah
On Saturday 5 December the Rift Valley Forum and Kwani? Litfest 2015 will host Nuruddin Farah for the launch of his book Hiding in Plain Sight.

Date: Saturday 5 December 2015
Venue: Kwani? Trust
Location: Off Riverside Drive, Chiromo
Time: 2 – 4pm

About
Nuruddin is the winner of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the Lettre Ulysses Award, and has been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. His body of work includes two trilogies, Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship (1980) and Blood in the Sun (1986). The novel Hiding in Plain Sight is partially set in Nairobi and explores themes of family, freedom and loyalty. Says the New York Times Book Review, “The rewards of reading Hiding in Plain Sight lie in Farah’s sensitive exploration of grief and his depiction of a family’s love for one another…Farah is particularly adept at evoking the way in which the sight of a familiar face or place can trigger painful memories and how comfort can come to us from unexpected sources.”

This year’s Kwani? Litfest, themed “Beyond the Map of English”, will also host a variety of conversations on language and writing, including:

Language and its changing relations to African experience and writing on the continent, a panel discussion featuring Siphiwo Mahala, Patrick Mudekereza, and Yvonne Owuor. Wednesday 2 December 2015, 6:00pm – 7:30pm, at the Kenya National Theatre.

Capturing African Worlds, a public lecture by acclaimed Ghanaian-Nigerian writer Taiye Selasi about her work and the different worlds language that capture African experiences. Taiye will later join Yvonne Owuor in conversation with Dr. Sheila Ochugboju. Wednesday 2 December 2015, 7:30pm – 9:00pm, at the Kenya National Theatre.

Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature winners Anna Samwel, Mohammed K. Ghassani, Enock Maregesi and Christopher Bundala Budebah in conversation with Mukoma wa Ngugi. Friday 4 December 2015, 6:00 – 7:30pm, at Kwani Trust.

New contemporary narratives – escaping the straitjacket of genre. Where do fiction and non-fiction meet? A conversation with Wu Ming 1 and Mikhail Iossel, moderated by Billy Kahora. Friday 4 December 2015 ,7:45pm – 9:30pm, at Kwani Trust.

Pre-registration is not required.

More information and the full Kwani? Litfest 2015 programme are available at http://kwanilitfest.tumblr.com.

Kwani Lit Festival

5th Edition of Kwani? Litfest: Beyond the Map of English, Dec. 1-6 2015 @ Various Venues in Nairobi

Kwani Lit Festival
Dates: December 1-6, 2015
Venues: Kwani? Trust Offices, University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, the Elephant, Kenya National Theatre, Alliance Française

About 2015 Kwani? Litfest
The fifth edition of Kwani? Litfest, a biennial gathering of writers, artists and thinkers from across Africa, takes place from 1st – 6th December 2015. This year’s literary festival, Beyond the Map of English: Writers in conversation on Language hosts readings, performances and discussions that explore issues of language and how this relates to African experiences and writing on the continent.

Confirmed participants include Nuruddin Farah, Taiye Selasi, Boris Boubacar Diop, Yvonne Adhiambo Owour, Wu Ming, Prof. Aldin Mutembei, FOKN Bois and Siphiwo Mahala.

The Kwani? Litfest will also launch the East African edition of Nuruddin Farah’s book, Hiding in Plain Sight, a novel set in the wake of a terrorist attack that kills a Kenyan UN worker in Mogadishu, published by Kwani Trust.

The festival features public lectures by Mr. Farah, Ghanaian and Nigerian novelist, Taiye Selasi, Senegalese writer, Boris Boubacar Diop and Tanzanian scholar and novelist Prof. Aldin Mutembei. The latest issues of the Kwani? Journal, Kwani? 08, is also set for release during the festival.

A book party featuring the Ghanaian music group Fok Bois will introduce this issue, featuring work on the 2010 Kenya constitution, the 2013 general elections and devolution. Featured writers include Paul Goldsmith, Okwiri Odour, Laura Fish, Jackie Lebo and Ngala Chome.

Over the past few months, Kwani Trust has been working on a collection of narratives from the Coast and Northern Kenya regions. During the course of this work, we have found that issues around the relationship between Western-oriented creative writing, up-country English-language publishing dominance and the use of Kiswahili at the Coast to warrant a special session at the Kwani? Litfest.

Therefore, writers from the Coastal region will feature prominently on programming. Through a partnership with Mabati Rolling Mills, we are also thrilled to host the winners of the inaugural Mabati-Cornell Prize for Kiswahili Literature, who will be announced at the festival.

See full programme here: www.kwani.org