Date: Saturday 29^th September 2012
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Venue: Sarit Centre Expo Hall, Nairobi.

The Kwani? Manuscript Project, Kwani Trust’s new literary prize for African Writing was set up to celebrate the African novel – its adaptability and resilience. Launched in april of this year, the prize called for submission of unpublished manuscripts from across the continent and the Diaspora. The prize was envisaged in an attempt to uncover and promote fresh,  original writing that challenges the possibilities of the African novel, and to start a conversation through this writing. Submissions closed on 17^th September 2012 and the response to our call-out exceeded expectations, with close to 300 manuscripts received from diverse locations from Sierra Leone to Rwanda, Zambia to Cameroon, the Czech Republic to China.

In the context of this, Kwani Trust is holding a panel discussion at the Nairobi International Book Fair to question the idea of the contemporary African novel, and explore its foundations and possibilities.  Bringing together perspectives from writers, publishers and critics, the discussion will explore past and future directions for the African novel and is intended to both inspire new writing and provoke debate.
 

Speakers
Dr. Tom Odhiambo – Lecturer, Department of Literature, University of Nairobi (@uonbi)
Billy Kahora – Managing Editor, Kwani Trust (@kwanitrust)
Kinyanjui Kombani – Author (@kkombani)