Alex Nderitu prides himself as a pioneer in the epub industry in Africa. And it is for valid reason, having published his first book way back in 2001, to experiment with digital publishing that was picking up pace in the west. He writes as Alexander Nderitu. “The only reason I started using ‘Alexander’ was because it looked better on the Read More

In April, 2018, Kenyan Khadija Abdalla Bajaber was declared the winner of the inaugural Graywolf Press Africa Prize. Her winning manuscript, The House of Rust, which she began writing way back in 2015 but put on hold is inspired by the ill-documented history of the Hadrami diaspora residing in the coast region. And she does not hide her joy, and Read More

‘Father beat mother so much the only way Little Daju knows how to express love is by violence.’   I had never thought I’d review a short story for our book section. But Troy Onyango’s Little Daju is not your common story, the one you read in a single sitting and move on to the next. It’s the kind of Read More

Erick Livumbazi Ngoda is one of Kenya’s prolific authors of young adult literature. I got into conversation with him to understand his journey and what he is up to in the coming days.   Most of your acquaintances know you as a writer. Do you write full time? When did you start? How was the experience? I cannot remember wanting Read More

In my recent article, I discussed the naivety of new writers when launching into publishing. Even though I have handled a number of self-published manuscripts, my advice to a budding author is to always seek a traditional publisher. Many self-published books are normally of poor editorial quality if there is any, and paper quality. However, that does not mean there Read More

In the last one week, I have read with dismay narrations of how young eager writers were conned by someone they label a ‘rogue publisher.’ This development points to various problems in the publishing industry. One, young or new writers are too eager to cling onto any promise of a ‘deal’ to get published even when all indications show that Read More