World Book Café: Nairobi

Available for over a year

Despite its status as a regional hub for East Africa and as a dynamic young city and melting pot, the thriving literary scene in Nairobi is largely sustained by a ‘do it yourself’ work ethic. Lawrence Pollard meets a panel of writers-with-a-hyphen: a teacher, a banker, a podcaster and a journalist – all of whom have found success against the odds in Kenya, a country whose publishing industry has been slow to adapt to modern tastes. Lawrence’s panel includes writer, teacher and winner of the 2018 Caine Prize Makena Onjerika; novelist and journalist Peter Kimani; podcaster Beverley Ochieng; and author and banker Kinyanjui Kombani. Producer: Simon Richardson