Cassius Clay was on my mind all night. Even now in the morning, as I hurried home from my grandmother’s house, he was circling Oscar Bonavena, stinging his face with left-right combinations. Ping-ping. zing -zing. Bonavena lunged forward and attacked the air with sledge hammers for fists– vaap ! vaap! Clay called from behind him, […]
Tag Archives: kenya
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor On the 600-Year Tale That Inspired Her New Novel
Kenyan novelist Yvonne Owuor who brought us the critically acclaimed novel Dust has a new book in the works. The Dragonfly Sea centers on a largely unexplored period in Africa’s past: the Chinese-African encounter via the Indian Ocean. The novel centers on a girl named Ayana who lived a solitary life on the island of Pate, […]
Book Excerpt | Peter Kimani’s “Dance of the Jakaranda”
Saqi Books is releasing the UK edition of Peter Kimani’s Dance of the Jakaranda, originally published last year by Akashic Books. Set in 1960s Kenya, “the novel traces the lives and loves of three men—preacher Richard Turnbull, the colonial administrator Ian McDonald, and Indian technician Babu Salim—whose lives intersect when they are implicated in the […]
Zukiswa Wanner Calls Out Misogyny in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe, Takes on Politicians and the Media
Zukiswa Wanner has called out misogyny in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe, taking on politicians and the media in the three countries. In an essay in Mail & Guardian, titled “Three Countries. Three Heartbreaks. One Week,” she writes: “I have had this feeling that I live on a continent that harbours a deep hatred for […]
Jalada Announces Mobile Literary and Arts Festival
After more than a year of behind-the-scenes planning, Jalada Africa has announced a mega-step: a mobile literary festival covering five countries in East Africa. Slated for March 3-31 of 2017, the festival is a hybrid between a traditional place-based festival and a bus tour and will cover twelve towns: Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu and Mombasa in Kenya; Mwanza, […]
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