From poetry to thrillers: Kenyan authors you should read today

Author Ciku Kimani-Mwaniki. (Courtesy) These books, which include romance, science fiction, psychological thrillers, and creative nonfiction, share stories about contemporary life, with a few delving into mythological tales. This is a shift from the initial authors' approach to writing, who intended to have their works selected as set books. Alternatively, they are bold in their writing, laying bare themes of love, sex, politics, and grief. Nuria Bookstore, a book distributor that passionately promotes books by Kenyan authors, released its top 100 bestseller list of 2024. A good number of the books by these authors, revealing the increasing thirst for Kenyan reads. Most of these authors were rejected by major publishers for being little-known and they had no other choice but to get into self-publishing route. Moreover, book distributors, apart from Nuria Bookstore and Kibanga Books, were scared of stocking books by Kenyan authors for the worry that readers here won't read them. This was backed by the fact that popular books of Kenyan writers were self-help and autobiographies but lately readers avidly read their fiction. We took a look at their bookshelves to bring you some of the top Kenyan fiction writers you should start reading today. Kendi Karimi Kendi is an author, poet, and artist who describes herself as a writer for the lovers, dreamers, and believers. She first published her poetry collection, 'The Cages We Built', on Amazon Publishing, and it went on to rank fourth in Amazon's bestseller list in the world. In 2020, she launched it in Kenya, and it sold out. Kendi, noting the lack of popularity of poetry books in Kenya, attributed its success to pure luck. Afterwards, she wanted to try her hand at fiction writing. She published 'Murdering Romance' in 2022, and it is now one of the top 100 bestsellers at Nuria Bookstore. 'Murdering Romance' is about how the absence of a father in a girl's life can affect her romantic life. Kendi has authored other fiction reads: 'Life in No Order' and 'My Cat Family and Friends'; her poetry collections: 'All the Petals of the Universe', 'All the Petals of the Universe 2', 'What I Mean When I Talk About Love', 'Knitting My Soul', and 'Liquid Love'; and non-fiction works are 'Her Story Unleashed' and 'The Six-Figure Lifestyle'. She was shortlisted for the African Writers Awards and Wakini Kuria Prize for her short stories 'Number 27' and 'What Does It Mean to be Kind Anyway', both found in her short story collection, 'Life in No Order'. Her favourite authors are Fyodor Dostoevski, Virginia Woolf, Meja Mwangi, Binyavanga Wainaina, Okot p'Bitek, and Rumi. Silas Nyanchwani Launching his career as a journalist, Silas built his community of readers when penning stories about masculinity and the urban Nairobi scene in 'The Nairobian'. Silas now has a roaring success with books 'Man About Town', 'Birthday Break Up & Other Stories', 'Sexorcised', and '50 Memos to Men'. His writing is provocative, depicting the Nairobi nightlife in its rawness while exploring the dating scene. In '50 Memos to Men', Silas writes a letter to men, giving his insights about topics that men grapple with, from relationships to finances and religion. Ciku Kimani-Mwaniki Ciku is a newspaper columnist and the author of romance novels: 'Nairobi Cocktail', 'NaiRoberry Cocktail', 'Immigrant Cocktail', 'Cocktail from the Savannah', and 'A Cocktail of Unlikely Tales'. In 'Cocktail from the Savannah', the character Masikonde is torn between the love he has for his wife and his extramarital relations with Terian and looks into whether his unfaithfulness is influenced by cultural norms or personal flaws. Dennis Mugaa Dennis' 'Half Portraits Under Water' hooks you in with a colourful book cover, evoking feelings of sky-high anticipation of what the book has in store for the reader. Like every book we have spotlighted here, this also attests to the refinement of book covers-and yes, writing too. Last year, Dennis' debuted this short story collection, which explores love, death, politics, and grief, among other human experiences. 'Half Portraits Under Water' was included in the literary magazine Brittle Paper's 100 notable African books of 2024. Dennis won the 2022 Black Warrior Review Fiction Contest, was shortlisted for Isele Magazine's Short Story Prize, and was longlisted for the 2021 Afritondo Short Story Prize. His works have been featured in literary magazines Off Assignment, Jalada Africa, Lolwe, Isele Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, The Republic, and Washington Square Review. The writer and editor has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia as a recipient of the Miles Morland Foundation Scholarship in 2021. He was the 2023-2024 Rajat Neogy Editorial Fellow at A Long House and an International Literary Seminar Fellow. Peter Wanjohi Peter's longing to have Africa tell their own stories spurred him to write riveting fantasy novels, 'The Sasabonsam' and 'The Black'. In the former, Peter brings back to life African mythological creatures, weaving African folklore with adventure. 'The Black' plunges the reader into the action where Otis is on a mission to uncover the secrets of a great cultural heist by a powerful syndicate. His favourite writer is 'Sundown' author Njeru Mutendei. Sarah Haluwa Sarah has authored six children's book- one of which won the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation Prize for Literature in 2022- and an adult fiction novel, 'Sinners'. Her writing journey began in 2017 when she started writing funny Facebook posts, which eventually got her a column in 'The Nairobian'. An encouragement from author Tony Mochama led her to writing books. She sent out manuscripts to various publishers until Storymoja agreed to publish her first three books: 'Chadi's Trip', 'Mweri and the Mysterious Bird', and 'The Rainbow Grass Skirt'. Later, she ventured into self-publishing and released 'Sinners'. Sarah has a degree in Nutrition and is currently pursuing a course in Nursing. Sara Haluwa displays her book with a fan in Nairobi. {Photo/Mbugua Ngunjiri} "I didn't study literature in school. Writing was nowhere near my dreams back then. My love for storytelling grew from reading and a keen interest in societal issues," she says. Now working on 'Sinners 2' and a teen fiction novel, she says Kenyans are readers and equally advises authors to invest in a team of editors and cover designers to give their book a good look. "If my sales are anything to go by, Kenyans are robust readers. You just need to give them what they want to read," she says. W.B Njeru (Wilfred Bundi Njeru) Wilfred, a producer and author, published his debut African fantasy young adult fiction, 'Son of Akanga', in 2022. Similar to Sandra Nekh's 'The Eastern Butterfly' the American Embassy selected the book for its global literature collection, and it is now available in the Library of Congress and in select libraries in America. Kimuyu (Kariuki Kimuyu) Novelist, short story writer, and poet K. Kimuyu grips the reader with contemporary fictional novels 'The Sponsor' and 'Drug Paradise' and the short story collection 'Imperfect Match'. He will be releasing his first poetry collection 'Lust, Love & Longing' and novel, 'Kesho & Malkia' this year. Joan Thatiah Joan has dominated Nuria Bookstore's bestseller list with 'Confessions of Nairobi Women', 'Guilty'. 'Things I Will Tell My Daughter', 'I'm Too Pretty to be Broke', 'Confessions of Nairobi Men', 'Letters to my Son' and 'Everything I Know About Life'. Her books are funny and raw, giving away the real stories in the society. Sandra Nekh Sandra is a filmmaker and psychological thriller author with titles 'Amir', 'Ophelia', 'Eastern Butterfly' and 'The Burgundy', published in that order since 2018. Her earliest releases were e-books: 'Dissociate Nalia's Resolve', 'True Nairobi' and 'Silent Nairobi'. 'The Burgundy', a 2024 release, offers a duality of stories around sexual assault. One person decided to share with the world what happened, but she got judgement, while the other chose to live with the guilt and shame on her own. 'The Eastern Butterfly', published in 2022, was selected for display at the Library of Congress and in several libraries in America. In her work, she employs the suspenseful style of the author of 'Interpretation of Murder' Jed Rubenfeld; and the descriptive poeticism of Okot p'Bitek and Ben R. Mtobwa's 'Dar es Salaam by Night', these three being her favourite authors, to create spellbinding fictional works. Sandra credits her parents for nurturing her love for books and cinema. "I would change some of the stories that I read. If an author kills a character, I would rewrite them back to life in my own story," she narrates. She holds a bachelor's degree in English Literature in Education, Arts, from Masinde Muliro University. Her next novel, 'No Saints', is in the pipeline.

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