Wasafiri’s literary feast on writing and human rights

Among the finest literary magazines that offer international visibility to talents of Kenyan authors is Wasafiri. Domiciled in the Great Britain, it is the only magazine in that country devoted to literature by people of Asian and African heritage.

The magazine was founded 37 years ago by the distinguished literary critic Susheila Nasta, who sat as its chief editor for over three decades. Last December, Wasafiri published a special issue focusing squarely on human rights. Zoe Norridge and Kenya’s Billy Kahora, formerly of Kwani, were the guest editors.

Kwani is Kenya’s cutting-edge literary magazine and played a key role in igniting the current literary renaissance at the turn of this century. It was pioneered by the late Kenyan writer of international distinction, Binyavanga Wainaina, who died exactly two years ago.

Like our magazine Kwani, Wasafiri plays an important role as a catalyst of literary thought and philosophies of cultural workers from across nations and continents. For years, it has been a space where literary wanderlusts of reputable authors congregate as an orchestra of thought-provoking creativity and criticism.

Kenyans have always demonstrated great acumen in tapping such spaces over the decades. In the special 2020 human rights issue co-edited by Kahora, a notable short story writer, the prominent Nairobi university critic Tom Odhiambo published a review essay.

Odhiambo’s illuminating piece focused on, among others, a new volume of literary criticism from Kenya titled: "Cultural Archives of Atrocities; Essays on the Protest Tradition in Kenyan Literature and Society (2019)."

Colomba Muriungi of Chuka University, Charles Kebaya of Machakos University and myself co-edited this tome published by Routledge, the acclaimed global academic publisher based in New York.

Indeed, the collaboration between Kenyans and the British magazine Wasafiri goes beyond the December 2020 issue. The name of the literary magazine comes from our national language. In a way, this naming anchors its cosmopolitan aesthetics in Kiswahili’s famous hybridism.

Like the speakers of our fast-growing regional lingua franca, Wasafiri surely is a terminus of travelling cultures of the world that converge and diverge under discourses of globalisation.

Interestingly, the operators of Wasafiri will be running a multilingual programme of events this May on the interactions between literature and human rights. The events are titled: "Transformative Testimonies: Online Events on Writing and Human Rights." They will run virtually from May 17-23.

The eight online events will bring speakers from four countries (Rwanda, Colombia, Argentina and Kenya) to a range of workshops, panel discussions and more. This literary extravaganza harnesses important writers. They are brought together to reflect on literary responses to catastrophes and how authors play a crucial role in the process of healing in the wake of such dire times.

As noted above, Kenyans are part of the cast of authors selected to speak in this international congress next week. They include the two fast-rising poets - Ngwatilo Mawiyoo (author of Blue Mothertongue) and Phyllis Muthoni (author of Lilac Uprising).

The award-winning major novelist Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor is the other notable name in the list of guest speakers of the upcoming Wasafiri virtual literary summit. Owuor is currently riding high with her newest stunning novel, The Dragon Fly Sea.

Another African luminary is Scholastica Mukasonga from Rwanda. Her famous memoir in French on her experiences of Hutu-Tutsi conflicts that led to the genocide was published in English as Cockroaches (2016).

She is the current undisputable queen of contemporary Rwandese prose, with more than four titles to her name. As more of her works gain English translations, more Kenyans will become acquainted with her literary splendour.

The other invited authors come from the Latin American region and remind Kenyans of the Macondo Literary Festival of 2019, hosted at the Kenya National Theatre. It brought together Kenyan authors and writers of the Lusophone world, too.

"Transformative Testimonies: Online Events on Writing and Human Rights" is timely and assuages us all in the midst of this pandemic with promises of stimulating thoughts lined up in a reading event, three panel talks, three workshops and a roundtable.

All events will occur in the evening and early night as they kick off this upcoming Monday at 7.30pm. Some of the events require prior registration, even when all are free.

More information can be found on the website of the magazine at www.wasafiri.org. The public is encouraged to attend this gala of glittering global talents of literary endowment. Eid Mubarak.

Dr Makokha teaches Literature and Theatre at Kenyatta University [email protected]