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Meja Mwangi: Reclusive novelist who took readers across the world

He grew up near ranches and wildlife reserves in Nanyuki, a setting that influenced his writing. Meja was publicity-shy and avoided the media and photo opportunities.

By Henry Munene 1 month ago

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Versatile Mulwa has rested, but the show he loved will carry on

It is Chinua Achebe who says that some people (are so lucky that they) have their kolanuts broken for them by the gods. And when it comes to talent and versatility it is David Kakuta Mulwa.

By Kamau Muthoni, Henry Munene 1 month ago

Of Mbeere, magical realism and the rich African literary world

Over the past couple of weeks, the political discourse in Kenya has been dominated, in part, by Mbeere, a Bantu community found in the southeastern part of Embu County.

By Henry Munene 1 month ago

African journals offer writers a sure path toward literary fame

Africa urgently needs journals sponsored by regional agencies.

By Henry Munene 2 months ago

Autofiction: Thin line between private lives and great literature

This week, I found myself reflecting on the relationship between fiction and reality.

By Henry Munene 2 months ago

Of self-hatred, mimic men and fallacy of detesting your ways

For the so-called urban dwellers, some children have been taken upcountry to spend time with their extended family and, hopefully, to learn a bit about their cultural roots.

By Henry Munene 2 months ago

Popular and serious literature are two sides of the same coin

One of the hottest literary issues of my youth was the supremacy war between two types of fiction writing in Africa.

By Henry Munene 2 months ago

EA golden age of popular fiction lives on, beautifully reimagined

Every generation has its passions. And every generation in East Africa has had its own literary watershed

By Henry Munene 3 months ago

Of heroism and the Odingas' rich literary legacy

Books whisper nuggets of wisdom to people you have never seen - and who will probably be living in a world that would be alien to you.

By Henry Munene 3 months ago

Unified learning shows 'town games' for what they really are

Linguists have differed on many things, but they are unanimous that no language is primitive or superior to another.

By Henry Munene 3 months ago

Mirror, lamp and why those broken souls in books are us

One of the oldest and most enduring debates in world literary thought concerns the role of literature in society.

By Henry Munene 4 months ago

Cyborgs, advertising men and how poets could buy Ferraris

Sudanese poet and literary scholar Taban lo Liyong is one of the earliest and most virulent African critics of the consumerist world we live in today.

By Henry Munene 4 months ago

Crafting compelling children's storybooks is no child's play

There is a whole mystical world in the minds of children that gradually gets lost as we age.

By Henry Munene 5 months ago

Socials, BookTok and resurgence of the novel in today's digital age

Imagine sending a 48,000-word script for a novel, short story collection, or another literary work to a publisher.

By Henry Munene 5 months ago

Let's tap into passionate efforts of those who carry the beauty

Makumi Njue has a number of reggae songs to his name, has a group that re-enacts traditional Embu music, carrying on the work done by the late historian, Prof Mwaniki Kabeca.

By Henry Munene 5 months ago

Spare a thought for that writer with a dream and not much else

Most Kenyans I've met seem to harbour fond memories of their high school days - especially the set books they studied for their final-year exams.

By Henry Munene 5 months ago

It's time we accept, appreciate the world's new oral artforms

It is said that, in Africa, stories grow on trees. There could be a million interpretations for this aphorism, but for me it captures the centrality of stories in the African cosmos.

By Henry Munene 6 months ago

Literature is a dancing mask, not one story bound in a cultural straitjacket

For me, and I take this line unapologetically, it is ignorant to rank African and indeed world writers by their perceived greatness.

By Henry Munene 6 months ago

If you must drink alcohol this Christmas, do so responsibly

Christmas should be a time to reflect and share, not to move around like so many headless chickens and causing pain to the wallet and to others.

By Henry Munene 1 year ago

Spare no resources to ensure varsities teach, innovate and conduct research

Universities should epitomise managerial, administrative and governance excellence.They should be the campus of prudent management practices and innovation.

By Henry Munene 1 year ago

Turn creativity surge among youths into a force for good

If we do not provide a conducive environment, some evil schemes could take advantage of the high levels of unemployment to marshal that talent towards nefarious ends.

By Henry Munene 1 year ago

An African literary guru Chakava has rested ... go well, namesake!

Henry Chakava took over Heinemann East Africa and converted it into a force for the advancement of African cultural heritage

By Henry Munene 1 year ago

How to unlock the potential of Kenya's publishing industry

So long as a publisher has good, approved products that the teachers like, give them a fighting chance in the market!

By Henry Munene 2 years ago

Mindset change is essential in the war against corruption

We must acknowledge the commendable efforts of the EACC that have seen individuals return millions of shillings to public coffers and illegally acquired public land being reclaimed.

By Henry Munene 2 years ago

Tough times don't last, Kenyans will weather these raging storms

They say it's darkest just before dawn. Besides, we still have a lot to thank God for.

By Henry Munene 2 years ago

Spare the piggy bank, but enjoy Christmas cheer

There is no need to break the piggy bank to celebrate a foreign idea dating back to the Victorian times, but which has been hijacked by capitalist forces and people living beyond their means.

By Henry Munene 2 years ago

Banker’s comical take on Kenya’s betting craze and hypocritical ‘slay queens’

Every waking day in Kenya, hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of youths place a bet on the likely outcome of a football match played far away

By Henry Munene 7 years ago

Messi and Trump interpreter set for Nairobi conference

Chicago-based Tony Rosado is linked to such celebrities as US President Donald Trump and Barcelona football ace Lionel Messi

By Henry Munene 7 years ago

Maillu’s novel on ‘Black Jesus’ set to whip up fresh controversy

It breaks years of silence from the 70s, when the writer stunned the world with wildly popular novelettes that came with explicit scenes

By Henry Munene 7 years ago

South African apartheid writer found dead in house

Renowned South African novelist and apartheid critic Peter Abrahams is dead. Abrahams, whose novel, Mine Boy, was a set book in Kenya in the late 90s, was found lying in a pool of blood in his house in Jamaica Thursday.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Unholy trinity of tribe, politics and greed the bane of Kenya

The season of political madness is here, again. In case you have just landed from Mars, or from those rarefied climes where Nigeria is thought to be a continent and that we Africans live atop trees – let me bring you up to speed.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Soon, we may adopt corruption as an acceptable Kenyan way of life

Several years ago, I worked under a boss who, whenever he was miffed that someone had missed their target, would call them over to his imposing office.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

We must teach children positive values during the long holidays

Children are home for a whole two months, thanks to new school rules set by the reassuringly efficient Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Ours is country of contradictions where the rich and poor coexist

Kenya is a confounding country. So confounding that you cannot call us poor or rich without being horribly wrong.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Debate: Is the Nobel Prize in Literature culturally rigged against Africans?

My take, however, is that there could be some element of truth such West-based literary prizes may be, albeit unintentionally, biased against African literary icons.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Fix graft pigs, the tenderprenuer dark underworld will tumble

When President Uhuru Kenyatta berated top officials for failure to fight corruption, I asked myself, what exactly is wrong with Kenya, and Kenyans?

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Criminal enterprises thriving behind dirty prison walls

What followed was a one-hour horror story. A story of how inmates with no relatives to visit them are forced into same-sex “marriage” by other prisoners who work in the kitchen. The alternative is to starve, as you get only a film-thin slice of half-cooked ugali and one piece of cabbage floating in what looks like dirty salty water.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Next year’s election will probably be a replay of the same old script

The carnival mood is here, again. As the clock ticks to the next General Election, the stage has been set for a very old ritual. Politicians, even those who have not been to the village since they were elected, are keeping tabs on funerals and scheduling appearances at churches, women group meetings and every other gathering. All of a sudden, the village love bug has bitten politicians.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Governors have a duty to boost safety of boda boda operators

Fifteen years ago, upcountry Kenya was a serene mass of land where you could disappear to, away from the madding city crowds.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Teachers may have ‘papers’, but please peg pay on performance

This week, teachers’ unions slapped the Teachers’ Service Commission with a proposal demanding a 300 per cent pay rise.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago