EA golden age of popular fiction lives on, beautifully reimagined

Tabitha Githechi gets a book copy signed by renowned Kenyan author, John Kiriamiti at a book signing event during the 254 Kitabu Fest by Text Book Centre, held at Two Rivers Mall, Nairobi.[FILE/Standard]

Every generation has its passions. And every generation in East Africa has had its own literary watershed. In the old days, it was song, dance and oral storytelling. Later, with the spread of Western education, the fireside tales gave way to bedtime reading. These bedtime stories linked children to global narratives their families could access. That was the case in the 1970s and 1980s for the few households that had discovered the written word. Some came by some very good titles in school.

The 1980s through the early 1990s was the golden literary age for those of my age and above. We read good stories, gripping, memorable, and often life-changing. For the young, there were The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Files, among other series.