Heritage

Westgate memorial tops list of non-fiction menu at festival

obama

Dr Auma Obama was this year’s Storymoja festival patron. PHOTO | MARGARETTA WA GACHERU

Exceptional performances at the Storymoja festival were not confined to fiction. There were also amazing events scheduled that were non-fictional.

Top of the list was the Westgate memorial concert, including candle lighting and survivors’ reflections at the Nairobi Museum’s courtyard on the final Sunday of the festival that started on Wednesday.

A memorial address for the late Ghanaian poet, scholar and pan-African diplomat Kofi Awoonor, who came to Kenya to participate in last year’s festival but died in the Westgate attack, stood out.

On a light note, there were talks on everything from entrepreneurship and etiquette to the future of men and media misogyny against women, to a wide range of workshops on “how to do” 101 things.

These practical hands-on talk-shops included discussions on “how to write” poetry, prose, literary criticism and writing to “change the world”, among a myriad of other topics.

Some of the most engaging and troubling yet energising discussions were associated with political affairs ranging from anti-corruption strategies and arts advocacy to Daily Nation columnist Rasna Warah’s provocative new book, War Crimes.

Films also featured largely during the festival, including illuminating documentaries like The Education of Auma Obama, (who was the festival’s patron this year), Beautiful Tree, Severed Roots by Kenny Mann about her parents, the late philanthropists and social activists, Dr Igor and Erica Mann, Battle for the Elephants brought by the conservationist “Hands off our Elephants” campaign and Learning Curves about growing up different in Kenya.

Pan-African perspective

Soon after the screening of Learning Curves was a fashion show of Outrageous Fashion Subcultures in Africa moderated by local bloggers and fashion designers.

But some of the most well attended events were given by local published writers like Kinyanjui Kombani, Ciku Kimeria, Alex Nderitu and Jeff Koinange whose autobiography, Through My African Eyes has clearly appealed to Kenyan youth who appreciate the award-winning journalist’s pan-African perspective.