Soma Nami Podcast

On this episode, we discuss the significance of King Charles visit to Kenya and how neo-colonialism persists and thrives at the seeming aid of African leadership. Fret not though, while leadership is the weakest link in the decolonial dialogue, artists and authors continue to push back and write alternative narratives. We share some of our reading recommendations that we feels challenge and push back against colonial narratives.

Books we mention:

1. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

2. It's a Continent by Chinny Ukata and Astrid Madimba

3. Africa is not a Country by Dipo Folarin

4. Uncommonwealth by Kojo Karam

5. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

6. Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

We'd love for you to add on to this growing list.

What happens when two kindred spirits, driving purely by passion and vision and not so much common sense come together? They dare to put together an African Book Fair and commit to bringing in 10000 books to the country in their first attempt! Madness!

This is Muthoni and Wendy’s story of bringing to life the African Book Fair, held from 1-5 August 2023 at the McMillan Memorial Library. In this episode, they go back, tracing where the idea started, how it was birthed and grew legs and then wings, and took off! It was an interesting journey to say the least, with lots of highs and lows and in-betweens, but fuelled by the support of the community around them, they executed the largest fair of African Books that Kenya has ever seen!

Strap in, it's going to be a great ride!

Since her debut Stay with Me came out in 2017 to critical acclaim, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ has gone on to become a household name. The story of Yejide and Akin is one that tagged at our heartstrings and for a lot of readers, it opened up wounds and conversations and reflections. We here at Soma Nami Podcast, as with the rest of the world, have been waiting with bated breath for a sophomore book to drop, so when we heard rumours that A Spell of Good Things was in the works, we knew we had to get Ms Ayọ̀bámi on the podcast.

A Spell of Good Things, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ second book was published on 7th Feb 2023 by Knopf (US) and 9th Feb 2023 by Canongate (UK), and he reception across the globe has been really positive. We wanted to have a conversation with Ayọ̀bámi to not only introduce this new book to readers but to also talk to us a little bit about her two journey as a writer, her views on the reception of ‘Stay with Me’ and hopes for ‘A Spell of Good Things’ and  and her writing process. Ayobami candidly talks to us about all this, including the number of rejections she faced with her debut novel.  We also tease out some of the themes her two books carry - all spoiler free, we promise.

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.

P.S  This episode was recorded through a virtual live recording with an audience who had the chance to have their questions answered in real time.

When we sat down to reflect on how our reading habits have changed or evolved over the years we quickly realised that this could not be a one-dimensional conversation.  As a starting point, we sought to answer the question, 'Why do we read?' And with so many things influencing why and how we read, we had to go back to the beginning to unpack. We take a journey back in time and reminisce on our reading evolution from reading age inappropriate books as pre-adolescents to reckoning with the influence of social media on our reading choices. We pose the question to the listener, what has been your reading evolution story? 

On this episode;

- We reflect on our early influences on reading and the kind of books we read growing up

- We talk about coming into our consciousness and being deliberate with our reading choices 

- We talk about how Bookstagram algorithm has affected our reading choices and debate whether this is a good or bad thing; and

- Finally, we talk about our intentions moving forward. 

Join us as we take several tangents, all worthy of your time, with this conversation 

P.S Remember to subscribe to the podcast so you can get notified when new episodes go live. It is also a great way to support the work that we do here. You can get in touch with us through our socials or email info@somanami.co.ke

We missed you and are so glad to be back for another season on the podcast!

When we closed for season one, we set out to find out all we can about Literary Festivals on the continent, are they worth your time, money and travel? How is curation done? What would we do different if we curated our own festival? Would we recommend that you save up for the next LitFest in your locality? In the last few months we attended 2 Literary Festivals – The Macondo Festival in Nairobi, Kenya and the Ake Arts and Books Festival in Lagos, Nigeria and boy, do we have stories for you!

On this first episode of the season, we unpack Literary Festivals on the continent as talk about our individual experiences at both Macondo and Ake.

• How did we get to attend the festivals?
• What were our best and worst experiences?
• How were the authors we met?
• Who are the audiences of literary festivals?

We also speak to two amazing guests and they share their own experiences at literature festivals.

Are Literary Festivals really worth your time and money? Listen in to find out.

If you have attended a LitFest or are planning to attend one in the near future, let us know all about it! Let's keep the conversation going on our social media platforms. 

On this episode we speak to Trinidad and Tobago author of Pleasantview, Celeste Mohammed. 

Celeste has been a lawyer since 2001 but she has been telling stories all her life.

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, in 2016, she graduated from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, with an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction).

Celeste’s goal is to dispel all myths about island-life and island-people, and to highlight the points of intersection between Caribbean and North American interests. In particular, she aims to showcase Trinidad’s entrenched political, racial, and class alliances; the generosity (and yet, cruelty) of the average Trini; the sense of optimism (and yet, harsh reality) which permeates everyday interaction; and the musicality and resonance of Caribbean creole (kriol) expression.

We discuss all this and her remarkable debut collection of interrelated stories also referred to as a Novel in Stories, 'Pleasantview' in this conversation.  Celeste takes us through how this novel in stories came to life, her early literary influences, nurturing her love for writing and making the bold decision to abandon a successful career in law to pursue her first love - writing. 

It is quite the treat and we hope you will be inspired to boldly chase the things that persistently tug at your heartstrings! 

Listen in and enjoy. 

On this episode, we speak to Nana-Ama Danquah on her 2022 AKO Caine Prize shortlisted story ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’, originally published in Accra Noir (2021) edited by Nana-Ama herself. We talk about how a love story ends up in Noir fiction and explore the very thin line between love and hate, or something like it. What happens when a couple’s essence is upended and they are unable to redefine their new reality? Listen in and enjoy!

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Nana-Ama Danquah is an author, editor, freelance journalist, ghostwriter, public speaker, actress, and teacher.

Her groundbreaking memoir, Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman’s Journey Through Depression was hailed by the Washington Post as “A vividly textured flower of a memoir, one of the finest to come along in years.”

A native of Ghana, Ms. Danquah is the editor of four anthologies:

· Becoming American: Personal Essays by First Generation Immigrant Women (Hyperion);

· Shaking the Tree: New Fiction and Memoir by Black Women (W.W. Norton & Co.);

· The Black Body (Seven Stories Press); and,

· Accra Noir (Akashic Books)

Ms. Danquah earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing, with an emphasis in creative nonfiction, from Bennington College. She has published articles in newspapers, journals, and magazines, such as the Africa Report, the Village Voice, the Los Angeles Times, Allure and Essence.

Her essays and poems have been heavily anthologized and used in high school and university textbooks.

Between 2012 and 2016, Danquah was the International Speechwriter for H.E. John Dramani Mahama, the President of Ghana, her birth country. In that capacity, Ms. Danquah wrote four United Nations General Assembly speeches, several State of the Nation addresses, and various speeches delivered by President Mahama at high-level conferences, meetings, and panels.

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This conversation was made possible in partnership with the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. 

Drawing her inspiration from her home town of Kilifi on the Kenyan Coast, Idza Luhumyo tells the story of a lonely but gifted young girl who has the gift of growing rain in her hair. This gift however comes with its own challenges as she falls out of favour with her family and her quarter. Along the way, she will also meet people who will disguise their true intentions for her. Will she discover this too late? On this episode, Idza speaks to us about her inspiration for this 2022 AKO Caine Prize shortlisted story ‘Five Years Next Sunday’, her writing process and what it means to go through life as an observer. Listen in and enjoy!

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Idza Luhumyo was born in Mombasa, Kenya, and holds a law degree from Nairobi University.

She was the recipient of the Inaugral Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award 2020

Luhumyo is currently a student and Rose Fellow in the MFA Creative Writing program at Texas State University.

Her work has been published by Popula, Jalada Africa, The Writivism Anthology, Baphash Literary & Arts Quarterly, MaThoko's Books, Gordon Square Review, Amsterdam's ZAM Magazine, Short Story Day Africa, the New Internationalist, The Dark and African Arguments.

She won the Short Story Day Africa Prize 2021 with her story "Five Years Next Sunday", which in June 2022 was also announced on the shortlist for the Caine Prize.

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This conversation has been made possible in partnership with the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. 

In a city where things move at cut throat speed, there’s never time to stop and think about the next person. It’s not therefore uncommon for ambition and the need for survival to trump humanity and human connection. Accra’s underbelly is one of this places and Billie Mcternan in her Caine Prize nominated story ‘The Labadi Sunshine Bar’ tells the story of an ambitious sex worker with dreams of her own, who will do anything to achieve her dreams. In a hustle, it’s kind of irrelevant what you do in the hustle because 'all hustle na’ hustle'.

On this episode, we speak to Billie on her shortlisted story, originally published in Accra Noir (2021), her reflections on her home city of Accra and an encounter that inspired this story. Enjoy the episode!

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Billie McTernan is a writer, artist and editor whose practice considers ways of expanding the possibilities of writing by experimenting with form

She has written for The Guardian, Africa is a Country among others

Billie also hosts a radio show ‘A Gift from Somewhere’ on Tenthaus Radio

Stories abound about children found dumped and abandoned on the side of the road or in garbage bins across the globe. Our Caine Prize shortlisted writer has always been curious about what becomes of them and explores this in his award winning story 'Collector of Memories'. 

In this story about a young woman, abandoned as a child and learning about the circumstances surrounding her abandonment later in life, Joshua Chizoma wants to challenge you to ask yourself, 'Who are you?' What parts of your formative years have been contributed by others and what parts are known to you from your own perspective? What is your story of identity and becoming? 

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Joshua Chizoma is Nigerian writer and law student

His works have been published in Prairie Schooner, Lolwe, AFREADA, Entropy Magazine, Anathema Magazine, Agbowo Magazine, and Prachya Review.

His story, 'A House Called Joy', won the 2018 Kreative Diadem Prize in the flash fiction category.

He was the winner of the 2020 Awele Creative Trust Award (ACT award) for his short story ‘Their Boy’

Joshua is also and alumnus of the Purple Hibiscus Trust Creative Writing Workshop run by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Finalist for 2021 Afritondo Short Story Prize

His story 'Collector of Memories' has been shortlisted for the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. 

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This podcast episode has been made possible in partnership with the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. 

On this episode, the duo catch up on their June #ReadCaribbean plans. They discuss the books they have already read, are planning to read and the books they are loving. Listen along for recommendations and for ideas on what to potentially read next.

#ReadCaribbean is a campaign in celebration of Caribbean literature which takes place in June alongside the Caribbean heritage month.

On this episode, we sound off on a recent copyright stand off. We also go deep on the importance of representation in literature and art and the role it plays in forging identity and esteem.

Listen, leave a rating and share this episode with one person.

On this episode we have a family meeting on some things that need to change in the book market in Kenya. Piracy abounds and pirates are bold and fearless. We educate you on the signs to look out for for pirated books. We also sound off on the history of the Arts scene in Kenya and how that has affected the modern day book industry and the current status of Kenyan publishing. Listen in, engage and share

On  this episode, we continue the conversation between the Soma Nami Duo and Troy Onyango on reading, writing, Lolwe the literary magazine and much  more.

Troy is a writer and editor from Kisumu, Kenya. Troy’s work has been  published Prairie Schooner, Doek!, Wasafiri, Isele Magazine,  Johannesburg Review of Books, AFREADA, Nairobi Noir, Dgeku Magazine, and  Transition among others. He is also an avid reader and the  Founder and  Editor in Chief of Lolwe. Troy’s Short Story collection titled ‘For  What Are Butterflies without Their  Wings’ will be published later this  year by Masobe Books. Keep your eyes peeled for this one!

This is the second part of the conversation.

On this episode, we listen to a conversation between the Soma Nami Duo and Troy Onyango on reading, writing, Lolwe the literary magazine and much more. 

Troy is a writer and editor from Kisumu, Kenya. Troy’s work has been published Prairie Schooner, Doek!, Wasafiri, Isele Magazine, Johannesburg Review of Books, AFREADA, Nairobi Noir, Dgeku Magazine, and Transition among others. He is also an avid reader and the  Founder and Editor in Chief of Lolwe. Troy’s Short Story collection titled ‘For What Are Butterflies without Their  Wings’ will be published later this year by Masobe Books. Keep your eyes peeled for this one!

This is a 2 part conversation.