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 legendaryacademic Carol Boyce Davies. Remember that you can support the work we do archiving African and Black literature via PayPal, Mobile Money, o…

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 inform…

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. F…

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 haspassed away Egyptian Novelist Hamdy Abu Golayyel passed away on Sunday, June11, 2023. Exhibition Litafrika: Artistic Encounters II exhibition for Zurich organised by Swiss partners Litar Foundation andStrauhof Zurich. Curator Zukiswa Wanner gives a tour here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c1_lcy…

Welcome to episode 29 of the Writing AfricaPodcast. 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 theKendeka Prize, Arablit Short Story Prize, and the Brooklyn Caribbean Lit…

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 DylanThomas 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 C…

Welcome to episode 27 of the Writing Africa 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 with 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…

Welcome to episode 26 of the Writing Africa 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 nav…

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 Playi…

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. This…

Fatma Shafii is a Swahili writer who likes to write about human behaviour and emerging issues affecting the continent based in Mombasa. Her poems, fiction and nonfiction have been published in various platforms including creativewritersleague.co.keand the online literary magazine Lolwe. She is the founder of SHIWAKI (Shirika La Waandishi wa Kiswahi…

This week’s podcast, repurposed from the livestream that happened on November 25, 2020 featuring Mariette Tchamda Mbunpi and Annette Michael. The podcast is a production of James Murua Literary in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office. Enjoy.…

This week’s podcast, repurposed from the livestream that happened on Thursday, November 18, 2020 featuring Ondjaki and Philipp Khabo Koepsell. The podcast is a production by James Murua Literary in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office. Enjoy…

This week’s podcast, repurposed from the Thursday, November 12 livestream, features Maaza Mengiste and Antje Rávik Strubel. The podcast is a production by James Murua Literary in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office. This is the second part of the podcast. Enjoy…

Welcome to episode 20 of the James Murua Literary Podcast. This week’s podcast, repurposed from the Thursday, November 12 Livestream, features Maaza Mengiste and Antje Rávik Strubel. The podcast is a production by James Murua Literary in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office. Enjoy…

Abubakar Adam Ibrahim is a Nigerian writer and journalist who has written the short story collection "The Whispering Trees" and the award-winning novel "Season of Crimson Blossoms." In this podcast, we talk about his newest short story collection "Dreams and Assorted Nightmares" forthcoming from Masobe Books and publishing in Nigeria,…

Abubakar Adam Ibrahim is a Nigerian writer and journalist who has written the short story collection "The Whispering Trees" and the award-winning novel "Season of Crimson Blossoms." In this podcast, we talk about his newest short story collection "Dreams and Assorted Nightmares" forthcoming from Masobe Books and publishing in Nigeria,…

Ayesha Harruna Attah is a Ghanaian-born Senegal-based writer of the books Harmattan Rain (2008), Saturday's Shadow (2015), and The Hundred Wells of Salaga (2015). Ayesha's newest title "The Deep Blue Between," which was published on October 15, 2020, is a Young Adult offering that could be considered a sequel to The Hundred Wells of Salaga. In this…

Peter Kimani is an award-winning Kenyan author and journalist. He works across a broad spectrum of genres, from fiction to non-fiction, poetry, and plays. His latest novel, Dance of the Jakaranda, was published in New York in February 2017, to great critical acclaim. It’s a New York Times Editors’ Choice, among other accolades. On this podcast, we …

Chimeka Garricks is a lawyer, editor, and ghost copywriter. His fiction includes the acclaimed novel, Tomorrow Died Yesterday and the collection of short stories, A Broken People’s Playlist. The collection which he wrote with the aid of music while trying to avoid working on another novel is coming in June. The Lagos-based writer shared with us why…

Joe Khamisi has had a long history of public service in Kenya. For many years he worked as a journalist before transitioning into civil service and then parliament. When his legislative career ended, he wrote the nonfiction titles The Politics of Betrayal: Diary of a Kenyan Legislator (2011), Dash Before Dusk: A Slave Descendant’s Journey In Freedo…

The African Literary Podcast, sponsored by Nairobi-based Prestige Books, interviews Kenyan novelist Makena Maganjo. A few weeks ago, Makena Maganjo’s debut novel South B’s finest about life in a Nairobi estate over a few decades launched at the Goethe-Institut. The book has since gotten rave reviews from a writer very few had heard about before the…

Lauren Beukes is the author of the books Maverick: Extraordinary Women From South Africa's Past (2004), Moxyland (2008), Zoo City(2010), The Shining Girls (2013), Broken Monsters (2014), and Motherland (2019). Her comics include The Wonder Woman, All The Survivors Club, The Pretty Ponies, and The Hidden Kingdom. She has won many awards for her writ…

In Episode 12, we interview with Kenyan writer of fiction for all ages Kinyanjui Kombani. Kombani has two novels in The Last Villains of Molo and Den of Inequities has written several books for children and young adults. In this interview conducted at the beginning of the year, Kombani speaks about his career so far, why Kenyan fiction hasn’t been …

This is an exclusive interview with Kenyan novelist Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor conducted in a little café by Lavington Mall, Nairobi. She talks about her relationship with the late great Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, the China that she writes about in her book The Dragonfly Sea. She also shares some of her favourite women writers. We would like to …

South African writer Mohale Mashigo talks about her work on her novel The Yearning, how she got to work on South Africa’s first comic superhero Kwezi, writing a book from a movie as well as a few writers she recommends.

In the African Literary Podcast Episode 9, we eulogise Zimbabwe author, poet and actor Charles Mungoshi who passed away on February 16, 2019.

In Episode 8, we give you the lecture that was given by author, poet, and scholar Mukoma Wa Ngugi at St Paul's University in Limuru on Thursday, February 7, 2019. The address was on the relationship between Africans and African Americans.

The African Literary Podcast by James Murua returns with look back at what happened in 2018 , new books and festivals of note. We also say goodbye to those who passed on.

Sierra Leone novelist, short story writer and academic Pede Hollist speaks about his book So The Path Does Not Die with a focus on how he breathed life into a female character as a man, researching on the American Dream, his membership of the African Literature Association and how the organisation helps African letters. He gives his impression of t…

Interview with Zambian writer Kafula Mwila on the sidelines of the Time of the Writer 2018 in Durban, South Africa. Kafula is writer of Kafula’s Essentials a short story collection, "Deflowered" a novel and "Growing; The Beginning of journey to success" a motivational book. She talks about the nascent Zambia literary scene, her writing and how to g…

James Murua interviews Angela Makholwa on her books "Red Ink", "The Thirtieth Candle," "The Black Widows Society" which might soon be on a movie theatre near you and lastly "The Blessed Girl."

Welcome to Episode 3. Thank you everyone for liking and sharing the podcast on all social media platforms so far. Just like in previous episodes, I’ll start with the news section followed by an interview with Barbados/Nigeria/South Africa writer Yewande Omotoso from the side lines of Time of the Writer 2018. This will be followed by this week’s boo…

We interview Time of a Writer official Chipo Zhou, review "A General Theory Of Oblivion" by Angolan writer Jose Eduardo Agualusa and give news from literary festivals like Time of the Writer 2018, Hargeysa Book Fair and more. You can read the full podcast notes at the following address: http://www.jamesmurua.com/african-literary-podcast-episode-2/…

James Murua of African Literary blog JamesMurua.com's first podcast