Top authors set to light up historic city literary festival

Nigerian literary legend and Nobel Laurette for Literature Prof Wole Soyinka and Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o (below) attended the first African Writers’ Conference at Makerere University in June 1962. [File, Standard]

In June 1962, Makerere University held the first African Writers’ Conference. The forum was celebrated as historic and a major milestone in arts, with discussions centred on the question of what defines African literature.

More than five decades later, the conference is set to take place at the Kenya National Theatre (KNT) in Nairobi, from September 27 to 29.