Kenyan writer Eva Kasaya came to the notice of many literature commentators when she debuted with her book Tales of Kasaya. The book published by Kwani Trust in 2010 with a lot of help from Jackie Lebo is a memoir of a young woman who dropped out of school in rural Western Kenya at 13 years of age. She goes to Nairobi city to work as a domestic worker and the book goes on to give the tribulations she goes through in earning a living. It is harrowing at times but the thing that sticks with this reader is the indefatigable spirit of the author as she goes from more drama to drama without any loss of enthusiasm. It is a vital read to understand how people in Kenya’s domestic scene have to cope in their careers.
The book was received quite well and even went on to win the Jomo Kenyatta literature award for the youth category in 2011.
The good writer has been doing a tour of the Western part of the country to promote her book in the last few weeks. These include talks at various institutions including Lion secondary school in Kisumu, Kakamega high School journalism class as well as the Masinde Muliro university journalism class. Here are images from her Western Kenya tour courtesy of our friends from Kwani Trust.
Leave a Reply