Kwani Lit Fest – Nairobi & Lamu, Kenya – August 1-15, 2008

exchange of opinion on your work in a dynamic group setting. Taken by

experience authors, each workshop will focus on essential craft attributes.

genres, differences between the short story and the novel. Focus will be on

character development, plot, conflict, dialogue and story telling.

Designed for essayists, writers of memoir, this will explore the art of telling

true stories. Developing scenes, holidng interest, voice, narrative arcs will all

be explored.

Creating racy plots, compelling storylines, believable plots. This workshop

will focus on the lucrative and exciting genre of crime writing. It will look at

noir,

Discussion of poetry, performances, structure, elemental issues. Please bring

a max of 6 poems

A guide to news and feature writing, journalistic techniques, how to produce

a story and sell it to a newspaper or magazine. Citizen journalism and

blogging will also be touched on.

Readings are a vital part of an author’s creative life these days. The abilty to

bring the works on the page to life is critical. A day’s guide to how best to

use your voice, to engage your audience and to make the best of your work.

Freewriting is the best way to disengage that inner writing critic that can

snuff out or stifle creative writing. Emotions can also be released and guided

in this process by yoga. Different asanas engender different responses which

are visible in the writing. Especially when freewriting. The idea is to explore

the links between mind, body and emotion using both yoga and

freewriting. More to be revealed in the process…

How to set up your blog, chose your subjects, deal with comments, make

thigns interesting and get your blog to stand out among the millions added

daily to the internet. A successful blogger tells all.

Discuss the role of children’s literature in shaping the next generation. What

are the new ‘morals of the story’ in the 21st century? Can children’s books

help to build bridges between cultures/tribes in this globalised world? Try

your hand at creating one

A look at writing poetry for yourself, public performance and for school

children. Some tips on selling and a performance of his own work from Nii

Parkes. Bring a poem if you want.

Ever fancied writing for Conde Nast? Or Lonely Planet. A look at the

requirements and methods to write interesting travel stories complete with a

trip to one of Kenya’s tourist sites to practise for yourself

A one day symposium featuring the best and most innovative speakers in

their fields. Hear inventors, economists, farmers, social entrepreneurs, ICT

experts, intellectuals, businessmen, creatives and more outline their vision

for the way forward in Kenya. Be inspired! Find a template, discuss, take part

in the vision to move Kenya to a better place. Prominent guest speakers tbc

readings, and interview. Ask questions, get your book signed, sip the wine

and enjoy!

back. Meet writers, see performance poets, purchase books, all in a delightful

garden setting.

author read and discuss their work, and get yourself a signed copies of their

book

How does one reconcile the mundane acts of everyday life with acts of daily

violence and horror? Writers who struggle to make sense of humanity in

times of overwhelming calamity discuss how to capture the enormity of these

events in fiction.

“There’s nothing post about colonialism. Merely a shift in the modus

operandi,” says Adib Khan in A Spiral Road. Is post-colonial fiction a

construct of western publishers and the literary community? Does it deny

writers their history and nationality in order to position their work pure
ly in

relation to their colonised past? Writers discuss time, placement and history.

Your opportunity for a one-on-one 45-min intensive ‘super’ session about

your completed manuscript with a published writer. Unsure what to do with

your completed manuscript and how to approach publishers? This is a

fantastic opportunity to get advice from someone with excellent inside

knowledge of the publishing industry. Bring the first chapter of your

manuscript and any other material you think is relevant to the interview. And

come with questions! By appointment only.

See some of Kenya’s best know sites in the Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and

Tsavo in our literary safari. Travel with a Kenyan writer, find inspiration and

guidance from our expert help and the extraordinarily beautiful surroundings.

information from the intensive workshops and fora and to focus on their own

writing. We will move to the island of Lamu, explore the archipelago, have

readings, launches, and many events centred around inspiration and writing.