Literary scene slowly hots up

• Critics say we only read for examinations.
• Kenyan literary landscape is slowly coming to life.

Children were not left behind either. There was the ‘‘Spelling Bee’’ competition, which is a fun and challenging event that encourages children to perfect their spelling skills. Organised under the auspices of the Nairobi City Education Department, this year’s ‘‘Spelling Bee’’ featured over 30 public primary schools.

Aspiring writers who attended the event left the place the wiser for the tips they received on how various forms of creative writing could be financially rewarding. Some of the mentors included movie-maker Judy Kibinge, and poet-humorist Tony Mochama, among others.

There were also tips on how to write manuscripts that can get published. Here, Doreen Baingana, whose book, Tropical Fish, won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, was at hand to share her wisdom. Also in the panel was Wayua Muli, True Love magazine’s editor, and Bantu Mwaura, who runs Jahazi, a cultural and creative magazine.

Leisure reading

Research on the Kenyan publishing industry shows that the potential of textbook publishing has been exploited up to 70 per cent, which means that room for expansion is only 30 per cent. Leisure reading, on the other hand, has only been exploited up to around 25 per cent.

This means that if groups like Storymoja play their cards right, the untapped market out there is 75 per cent, an exciting prospect indeed for any serious business mind.

Martin Njaga, Storymoja’s marketing manager, prefers to look at it in a different way. “As far as textbook publishing is concerned, it can only cater for an individual up to secondary school level,” he explains.

“Our market is, however, infinite as we can have clients as old as 100 years, as long they are able to read.”

And, due to the popularity of the event, sponsors are taking note and are slowly offering their support. And, true to its name, there was plenty of nyama choma for everyone.

It is odd that in spite of Storymoja’s unique ability to pull crowds for purposes of the book, local publishers gave the event a wide berth.

Sooner or later, they will find their annual book fair being overtaken by fun-filled events like the Storymoja Nyama Choma Fiesta, in terms of popularity.