Kenyan author Peter Kimani was the guest of the Bookish People at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi on the morning of Saturday June 16, 2018.
Bookish People is a small community of book lovers from Kenya with a bias toward African Literature. They read, review, recommend and promote African Literature and host literary events. The group hosted Peter Kimani whose most recent book is The Dance of The Jakaranda to a reading and signing at the theatre.
The Dance of The Jakaranda is a book set in the shadow of Kenya’s independence from Great Britain that reimagines the special circumstances that brought black, brown, and white men together to lay the railroad that heralded the birth of the nation. The book which launched in April last year has gotten international praise including as a New York Times Notable Book of 2017.
It was a pretty decent turnout with most seats filled at Ukumbi Mdogo, the smaller hall at the theatre, if you consider that it was a Saturday morning. The event was extremely well moderated by Maureen Wamuyu as the author did a few readings from his book as well as giving opinions on a variety of topics. Here are a few of our tweets from that morning.
If you want to write about rural urban migration and how to be a Moran and a student at the same time then publish go with that way (Kenyan publishers). If you want the world to read you, you have to look outside – #PeterKimani
— #WomensMarchUG (@jamesmurua) June 16, 2018
It takes a few individuals on Muranga Road, where the Kenya Institutes of Curriculum Development is, to decide the decide the direction of Kenyan writing – #PeterKimani #Bookishpipo
— #WomensMarchUG (@jamesmurua) June 16, 2018
Don’t think about the broken system, look out for eve the online forums that publish you – #PeterKimani #BookishPipo
— #WomensMarchUG (@jamesmurua) June 16, 2018
Peter Kimani wanted to be a writer but didn’t know what it meant. He decided to go to journalism because he read that Ngugi and Achebe had worked as journalists. #Bookishpipo
— #WomensMarchUG (@jamesmurua) June 16, 2018
Every writer has to find the rhythm that works for them. Some people write faster, some people write slower – Peter Kimani. #BookishPipo
— #WomensMarchUG (@jamesmurua) June 16, 2018
If I had written the book like Achebe had written “Things Fall Apart” or Ngugi had written “The River Between” and other texts, this book (Dance of the Jakaranda) would have been very bleak – Peter Kimani. #BookishPipo
— #WomensMarchUG (@jamesmurua) June 16, 2018
I was in Jamaica a week and a half ago and someone came and told me that his uncle was the lead counsel at the Jomo Kenyatta trial in Kapenguria. – Peter Kimani. #BookishPipo
— #WomensMarchUG (@jamesmurua) June 16, 2018
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