The Ituĩka Multilingual Anthology of Stories in Kenyan Languages is set to be published in Spring 2025 by the The Ituĩka Literary Platform. The anthology features 14 Kenyan languages in two separate volumes.

The languages included in the anthology are Bukusu, Dholuo, Ekegusii, Embu, Gikuyu, Kiduruma, Kimeru, Luhya, Maa, Sheng, Somali, and Wanga, with each piece translated into (or from) Kiswahili and English.

The anthology includes 23 different contributors that worked for 3 years to provide the first Kenyan reading public. So far, the anthology will be available in a limited print version with the hope to expand with the help of Kenyan and international book distribution services.

The Founder and Editor in Chief of the Ituĩka Literary Platform, Munyao Kilolo, edited both of the volumes. In 2021, Kilolo organized the start of the work of the project and provided editorial help. In the preface of the anthology, Kilolo expresses gratitude for the “unique opportunity to go beyond the established binaries of spoken and written use of African languages to a more multilingual expression and creative production in writing and translation.”

Here’s more of what Kilolo had to say about writing an anthology about Kenyan languages:

To write and publish only in Kiswahili and English for a Kenyan audience limits the experience of Kenyan readership because the Kenyan experience with language is not limited to these two languages. And yet, to create bridges and allow others to access our stories, we cannot ignore these languages of wider communication and the invaluable place of translation

The principal investigator in the “Literary Activism in Sub-Saharan Africa” project, Madhu Krishnan, found that translation in literature has become increasingly important. As a professor of contemporary African writing, Krishnan has seen the development and growth of literary translators across the world firsthand.

Madhu Krishnan spoke more about how she feels about the project:

As the publication demonstrates, there was one key difference with the Ituĩka project: the existence – and indeed, the centrality – of African languages as literary languages worthy of visibility and status as both target and source

Here’s a list of contributors of Volume 1, The Wily Polygamist and Other Stories:

  • Kenyan teacher and writer Ajiambo Nafwa
  • Essayist and short story writer Ochieng’ Obunga
  • Professor Jack Ogembo
  • Kenyan storyteller Sahara Adbi
  • Kiswahili and English editor Paul Nganga Mutua
  • Film maker and journalist Felix Omondi
  • Writer Makena Onjerika
  • Writer and researcher Dr. Beverlyne Asiko Ambuyo
  • Kenyan poet and novelist Bonface Nyamweya
  • Poet and writer Maina wa Mũtonya
  • Professor Madhu Krishnan
  • Founder and Editor in Cheif of Ituĩka Literary Platform Munyao Kilolo

To see the full bios of the contributors, go to the acknowledgements and contributors of Volume 1 here,

Here’s a list of contributors of Volume 2, Evening Pass-Time and Other Stories:

  • Poet and short story writer Nyatichi Makini
  • Children’s stories and short story writer Kapante Ole Reyia
  • Linguist and phonologist Peter Kuria Mburu
  • Teacher and writer Naomi Ndumba Kimonye
  • Computer scientist and lecturer Dr. Isaac Nyabisa Oteyo
  • Teacher and writer Mwalimu Kefah Onchaga
  • Fiction writer D. Simiyu Wanyonyi
  • Swahili and Religious Education teacher Doreen Nyaga
  • Journalist and writer Matano Nyundo 
  • Lecturer Doseline Kiguru
  • Founder and Editor in Cheif of Ituĩka Literary Platform Munyao Kilolo

To see the full bios of the contributors, go to the acknowledgements and contributors of Volume 2 here.

Both of these volumes capture the “Kenyan linguistic way of being” and offer “a tripartite reading experience of the tripled lifeworlds of each story” aligning with the foundations of Ituĩka.

Ituĩka was founded as an online and print platform in 2021 with the goal to be a platform for writers publishing in African languages to raise the visibility of those languages. In addition to this inaugural anthology, the platform has also created literary workshops for writers and a database of teachers in African languages.

The Ituĩka Multilingual Anthology of Stories in Kenyan Languages is going to be a great celebration of Kenyan languages and we’re excited to see it!

Learn more abut The Ituĩka Literary Platform and the Ituĩka Multilingual Anthology of Stories in Kenyan Languages on their website.