Bridging shores and cultures: The 2024 Macondo festival

Preparations for the fourth edition of the Macondo Literary Festival (MLF) are at an advanced stage. This year, the festival, whose theme is ‘The Sea is History’, has attracted internationally acclaimed authors, who will appear alongside up-and-coming Kenyan writers.

Among the authors expected to headline the event is Nigerian Chigozie Obioma, who is currently riding high with his book, The Road to the Country (2024), which examines brotherhood, spirituality and the Nigerian-Biafran War.

Kenyan-born Canadian author MG Vassanji, Janika Oza, also from Canada, and Hamza Koudri from Algeria will also be at the event. Others are South African author Shubnum Khan, Shubhangi Swarup, from India, Johary Ravaloson (Madagascar), Jeferson Tenório (Brazil), and João Melo from Angola.

The Kenyan writers who will grace the event include Alexis Teyie, Scholastica Moraa, Scholar Akinyi, Buke Abduba, Khadija Abdalla Bajaber and Kiprop Kimutai.

The 2024 edition of MLF is a collaboration of the Macondo Book Society and eKitabu. It is set to take place from September 20-22 at the Kenya Cultural Centre in Nairobi.

The theme for this year’s Festival, ‘The Sea is History,’ is inspired by a poem of the same title by Caribbean Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. “While the 2023 festival celebrated literature of all of the African continent's linguistic currents — hosting authors who write in English, Portuguese, French, and Arabic — the 2024 edition will extend the festival’s geographic reach to the spheres of the Swahili Sea and the Indian Ocean,” says a statement from the organisers.

“‘The Sea is History’, pays tribute to this oceanic region’s historical connections with Africa that exist in story, art, technology, cultural memories, and society. From inception, Macondo Literary Festival’s anchor was and is African histories and futures from African perspectives in literature,” adds the statement.

In 2024, Condé Nast Traveller magazine listed MLF among the nine Best Literary Festivals in the World. The Macondo Book Society has in the previous three festivals hosted 59 authors and artists from 20 countries, including the 2021 Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah.

“Each festival offered 18 topical sessions and three craft workshops with platforms for emerging Kenyan writers and art forms including music, film, spoken word poetry, and exhibitions. With support from eKitabu, Macondo will, in 2024, continue its tradition of low entry fees to help make the festival as accessible as possible to all literature lovers.”

The authors

Obioma’s novel, The Fishermen, won the 2016 Los Angeles Times Book Prize (The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction), the 2016 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, the 2015 FT/Oppenheimer Emerging Voices Award for Fiction, and was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. His other book, An Orchestra of Minorities, was also a finalist for the Man Booker Prize.

M.G. Vassanji is the author of 10 novels, three collections of short stories, a travel memoir about India, a memoir of East Africa, and a biography of Mordecai Richler. He is twice winner of the Giller Prize (1994, 2003) for best work of fiction in Canada.

Janika Oza (Canada) is the author of A History of Burning, winner of the 2024 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and a New York Times Editor’s Choice.

Hamza Koudri (Algeria) is the author of Sand Roses. He currently serves as the Director of the British Council in Algeria.

Shubnum Khan (South Africa) is an artist and author. Her 2024 novel The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor's Pick.

Shubhangi Swarup (India) is a writer and educator. Latitudes of Longing, her debut novel, was a bestseller soon after its release in India. It won the Tata Literature Live! Award for debut fiction and was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Indian Literature.

Johary Ravaloson is a Madagascar-born author and publisher. His English-translated novel, Return to the Enchanted Island, earned him the Prix du Roman de l‘Océan Indien. He lives in France.

Jeferson Tenório (Brazil) is the author of The Dark Side of Skin, which won the PEN Translates Award in the UK and the 2021 Jabuti Prize for the Best Novel published in Brazil.

João Melo (Angola) is an author and journalist. His works include poetry, short stories, novels, articles and essays and have been published internationally.

Scholastica Moraa has a passion for poetry and stories. She expertly weaves her poems to present the full mix of emotions associated with love. Her poetry collection, Beautiful Mess, has been translated into Italian. It has also been converted into audio format by eKitabu. Moraa, who studied actuarial science at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University, won the 2022 Kendeka Prize for African Literature with her short story “Chained”. Her work has been featured in reputable magazines such as the Konch Online Magazine and Imbiza.

Buke Abduba is a Kenyan writer and pharmacist who was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2023. Her work has been featured in publications like Adda Stories, Lolwe, and an East African short story anthology Let Us Conspire and Other Stories. She is currently working on a manuscript with a vision to authentically reflect the lives and experiences of people in her community.

Alexis Teyie is an artist and researcher. Previous books include a poetry chapbook, Clay Plates: Broken Records of Kiswahili Proverbs, and a children's book, Shortcut. Teyie was one of the co-founders of Enkare Review and currently works with Down River Road (DRR). They also provide advisory for non-profits and start-ups.

Award winner

Kiprop Kimutai is a rising Kenyan writer who won the 2023 Graywolf African Fiction Prize for his manuscript The Freedom of Birds, set to be published by Graywolf Press in 2026. His fiction has appeared in No Tokens, The Johannesburg Review of Books, Kwani?, Evergreen Review, and Jalada Africa. A 2023 Miles Morland scholar and a finalist for the 2018 Gerald Kraak Award, Kimutai’s work is known for its cultural depth and emotional resonance, making him a notable voice in contemporary African fiction.

Scholar Akinyi is an award-winning writer. Her debut book, Hop, Skip, and Jump, brings to light the experiences of children caught up in Kenya’s 2008 post-election violence. Akinyi's work has earned her the YouthHubAfrica Flash Fiction Award, and she was shortlisted for the inaugural African Writers Awards in Flash Fiction. She served as Editor-in-Chief of Writers Space Africa (2023-2024). She currently works as an editor at Oxford University Press, East Africa.

Charges for a single-day entry are Sh800 advance and Sh1,200 at the gate, while a combo ticket for Saturday and Sunday will be Sh1,400 advance and Sh1,600 at the gate. Students will be charged Ksh200 per day at the gate (student ID required).