Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Okwiri Oduor for Literary Crossroads in Goethe Nairobi

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and Okwiri Oduor are the featured guests at the Literary Crossroads at the Goethe Nairobi on Thursday June 29, 2017.

Literary Crossroads is a series that brings together African writers on the continent and from the diaspora to discuss contemporary trends and themes in literature. Under this project, the Goethe-Institut invites writers from outside Kenya and pair them with Kenyan writers for a moderated panel discussion in front of an audience.

Some of the writers who have featured in the past are Prof Austin Bukenya and Hilda Twongyeirwe (both from Uganda), Ifeoma Chinwuba (Nigeria), and Zukiswa Wanner (South Africa). This year the crossroads hosted Nigerian writer and satirist Elnathan John and Kenyan writer Kinyanjui Kombani in discussion.

The next edition of the much loved series will be happening on Thursday June 29 and the featured writers will be Ugandan writer Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and the Kenyan winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2014, Okwiri Oduor. The session will be moderated by the Kenyan writer and performer Aleya Kassam.

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi who is currently invading the US is a Ugandan novelist and short story writer living in Manchester. She first emerged when she won the Kwani Manuscript Prize in 2013 for her debut novel Kintu. The novel Kintu would go on to be longlisted for the Etisalat Prize 2014. This win was followed by her winning both the Africa region and international prize for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for 2014 for her short story Lets Tell This Story Properly.  She is currently working on a collection of short stories set in Manchester, UK which will form her third book.

Okwiri Oduor won the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2014 for her short story called My Father’s Head. In April 2014 she was named on the Hay Festival’s Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature.

So literary people see you at the Goethe next Thursday. It will be lit.