Kwani? Journal

Kwani? 06

Editor: Billy Kahora
ISBN: 978 9966 739262
No. of pages: 525
Size of book: 220mm x 140mm
Price: Ksh 800 ($ 23)
Year of Publication: 2010

Kwani? 06, isan anthology of short fiction and poetry by Kenyan And African writers born after September 1978. Farah Aideed Goes To Gulf War by Mehul Gohil is a dystopic paean that explodes our obsessions with mono-Kenyan identity and binary understanding of Nairobi (Nairobbery vs Green City In The Sun) into a huge chessboard patchwork of lives. The runners up and second runners up, respectively, All In The Family by Brenda Mukami and The Activist by Wilson Wahome are interrogations of national political culture through dysfunctional families.Chicken by Benjamin Ikaal is a fable of political dynamics through the eyes of that domestic bird. Baboon House by Waigwa Ndiangui is a bleak apocalyptic look at a family in Nakuru threatened within by its internal cracks and without by a troop of baboons. ‘Africa’ is strongly represented by Nigeria, Uganda, Somalia, Ghana, South Africa and Cameroun. Earthling by Diriye Osman, Demonstrations Of Craziness by Akenji Ndumu and Three Levels Of Elevation by Michael Akiyo Asaja give the Kenyan stories a serious run for their money. Poetry compiled by Stephen Partington and Ngwatilo Mawiyoo mirrors the prose.