This weekend (5^th - 7^th July) Kwani Trust will be at Africa Writes 2013 in London – an African literature and book festival hosted by the Royal African Society.

The amazing line-up includes Kwani? Managing Editor Billy Kahora, Doreen Baingana, Warsan Shire, Leila Aboulela, Diriye Osman, Nadifa Mohamed, the 2013 Caine Prize shortlist, as well as Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Mukoma wa Ngugi continuing the father and son dialogue started at  2010 Kwani? Litfest.

We have partnered with NUMBI Arts to host the Africa Writes Party at the Rich Mix, celebrating the launch of NUMBI’s Scarf magazine and Kwani? 07, our latest issue. We’ve also partnered with the Royal African Society to organize two panel discussions – one on ‘African Literature Prizes’ and the other on ‘The Place of Non-Fiction’.  Our books and journals will be on display and available to buy at the Book Market and the Rich Mix.

The full programme for the festival is available here and your can find out more about our events below.  If you are in London, we hope to see you there! 

Africa Writes Party With Numbi & Kwani?
Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Rd, London E1 6LA
Saturday 6th July, 19.00-01.00
£10 ADV/ £12 DOOR/ £5 CONCS

A special party at the Rich Mix to celebrate the launch of NUMBI's cross cultural & cross arts Scarf magazine, Kwani? 07 and the second year of Africa Writes. Come along and bring your friends!

This event has been organised by NUMBI Arts. For tickets and more information, please visit the Rich Mix website

African Literature Prizes & the Economy of Prestige
British Library Conference Centre, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB
Saturday 6th July, 14.30-15.30
Free

Panel discussion with Billy Kahora (Managing Editor of Kwani?), Jamal Mahjoub (Chair of Judges for the Kwani? Manuscript Project & Chair of Judges for The Caine Prize 2007) and Bernardine Evaristo MBE (novelist & Founder of the Brunel University African Poetry Prize). Chaired by Lizzy Attree (Administrator of The Caine Prize for African Writing)

As James English argues in his book The Economy of Prestige, to explore literary prizes is to explore literature’s relationships ‘to money, to politics, to the social and to the temporal’.  Set in the context of the recent announcements of the winner of the Kwani? Manuscript Project, the Brunel University African Poetry Prize and the imminent announcement of the winner of The Caine Prize 2013, panellists share their experiences of ‘prizing’ and ‘being prized’, addressing questions such as: Where does the power to confer cultural value on African literature reside? Which of Africa’s 250+ literary awards have been the most significant and why? What are the politics that dictate the setting up and funding of awards for contemporary Anglo-phone African literature?  And, what is the relationship of literary prizes to structures of publishing and circulation within Africa and in the West?

Re-Writing Africa: The Place Of Non-Fiction
British Library Conference Centre, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB
Sunday 7th July, 14.30-15.30
Free 

Panel discussion with Billy Kahora (Managing Editor of Kwani?), Mary Harper (Africa Editor, BBC World Service), Michael Salu (Artistic Director, Granta) and Samson Kambalu (artist and author). Chaired by Ike Anya (Co-Founder, TEDxEuston).

Focusing on the rising genre of African non-fiction, we bring together writers, artists and editors who have commissioned and created important new written and visual narratives that challenge conventional representations of Africa.  Panelists will share their experiences of the process and challenges of creating work that expands the lens through which we see the continent to envision multiple stories, identities, materialities and temporalities, exploring questions, such as: How can visual representations of Africa move away from a development discourse and colonial legacy? How do non-fiction and visual forms negotiate a relationship with fiction, the literary, truth and history? And has the recent publication of new memoirs by leading African writers Achebe, Ngugi and Wainaina shifted the landscape of African non-fiction writing today?  

Africa Writes 2013