Taiye Selasi, Bernardine Evaristo, and Aminatta Forna.

The full program from the 2024 NBO Litfest is out and it features a star-studded cast of African authors including Bernardine Evaristo, Taiye Selasi, Aminatta Forna, and more. The festival will take place from June 27–30, 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Created by Book Bunk in 2021, NBO Litfest is a burgeoning biennial event on the international stage. Over one weekend in Nairobi’s Kaloleni Library, Eastlands Library and McMillan Memorial Library, this year’s event will bring over 50 local and international writers together with readers for an ambitious program of over 32 conversations and performances.

Launched at Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye 2024, the NBO Litfest program features masterclasses, a children’s festival, concerts and performances taking place across three iconic public libraries in Nairobi. See the full program here.

Some of the interesting masterclasses include Evaristo on crafting the novel, Shafinaaz Hassim on writing YA fiction, and BBC East Africa Correspondent Mercy Juma and BBC Monitoring’s Africa Specialist Beverly Ochieng on non-fiction/reportage.

The children’s festival will take place on Friday, June 28, and features a live reading session with Taiye Selasi, Amani Muthoni and Sihle-isipho Nontshokweni and a kiddy masterclass on Nontshokweni’s book, Wanda the Brave.

The main festival will take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 29-30, and some of our favorite upcoming events include “We Need New Narratives: The African in the Diasporas” featuring Aminatta Forna, Taiye Selasi, and Ndinda Kioko; “Existing in Translation” featuring Richard Ali A Mutu, Nesrine Malik, Mia Couto, and Edwige-Renee Dro; “Telling the Hard Stories” featuring Ibrahima Balde, Amets Arzallus, Sihle-isipho Nontshokweni, and Kamwathi Peterson Waweru; and a live recording of A Palace For The People podcast featuring Evaristo herself.

We cannot wait for this exciting festival! Register here.