| Kwani Trust
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Mission:
Kwani (meaning “Why not?”) is dedicated to nurturing and developing Kenya’s and Africa’s intellectual, creative and imagination resources through strategic literary interventions.
Who they serve: African writers and readers of African authors.
What they do:
- Edit and publish Kwani?, the foremost literary journal in the region.
- Locate, nurture and develop East African literary talents
- Expand the reading and contemporary story culture in Kenya
- Represent and promote the works of new authors
- Establish regional and global literary linkages with writers, publishers, editors, agents and policy makers
- Stimulate imaginative and creative exchanges that contribute to global dialogue in a variety of issues
Year founded: 2003, by Binyavanga Wainaina
Website: http://kwani.org/main/home/
Needs:
- Outlets for African literature in Africa and globally
- Partnerships for literary projects
Binyavanga Wainaina was raised in Nakuru, Kenya and studied commerce at the University of Transkei in South Africa. He worked in Cape Town for a few years as a freelance food and travel writer. In 2002 he won the Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story “Discovering Home”.
Binyavanga mourned that Kenya did not have a reading culture, even though a majority of Kenyans have basic education. He believed that was in part because there were no stories or other writings in the market that they could relate to. In 2003 he founded Kwani? as a vehicle to nurture and publish African writers and make publications available and affordable.
Kwani? hosts monthly gatherings where writers and poets can talk shop, share ideas, and encourage each other. And the annual Kwani? Literary Festival has led to global collaborative projects between writers and publishers.
Other Links: Africa Rising News Story about Kwani Publication Binyavanga Wainaina gives an interview on the Ethics of Aid
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