“Nairobi | Maps of Exile” literary salon kicks off in Nairobi.

Abdul Adan, Itoro Bassey, and Lutivini Majanja were the first guests at “Nairobi | Maps of Exile,” a new monthly literary salon in Nairobi on November 28, 2019. They were moderated by Hassan Ghedi Santur.

“Nairobi | Maps of Exile” is a new series organised by Warscapes and The Carrot Co examining questions of home, belonging, migration, and marginalization while exploring and redrawing the maps of African identity. Warscapes is an independent online magazine that publishes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, interviews, book and film reviews, photo-essays and retrospectives of war literature from the past fifty years. The Carrot Co is a collective of award-winning African artists, IT experts, legal practitioners, community mobilisers, high-level project managers and pan African activists working in the development sector to transform communication using art.

The first edition of the salon, curated by Fulbright scholar Bhakti Shringarpure, was hosted at the Coffee Casa in Parklands, Nairobi. The featured writers Lutivini Majanja, Itoro Bassey and Abdul Adan read excerpts of their writing that featured nostalgia of childhood innocence to the pain of family to the horror of war to the sweetness of friendship to a laugh-out-loud reflection on accents and assimilation. Host Hassan Santur expertly moderated, he’s one of the best in this town, the writers on the madness that is Nairobi living, their work and influences. Audience members also got to engage writers on their work and the processes of getting it to the world, and much more.

Below is some video of the audience engaging with the writers.

In attendance at the event were many in the Nairobi literary community including Gloria Mwaniga, Ngwatilo Mawiyoo, Zukiswa Wanner, and visiting Zimbabwe author Tsitsi Dangarembga.