This 4th edition of NBO Litfest, co-presented by Book Bunk and Hay Festival Global, brings together writers, artists and thinkers to explore alternative knowledge systems. Scheduled for 26 - 29 June 2025 in Nairobi’s public libraries; McMillan Memorial Library, Kaloleni Library and Eastlands Library, the festival presents inspiring thoughts and perspectives from the worlds of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, music, visual arts and governance. Book your tickets here.
Natasha Brown, Inua Ellams, Nanjala Nyabola and Pol Vouillamoz in conversation with Dr. Mamka Anyona
Interview: Writing to reposess, rename, reown
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Main Stage
Kenyan essayist and political analyst, Nanjala Nyabola; British-Nigerian poet and playwright, Inua Ellams; Catalan and Swiss poet, writer and translator, Pol Vouillamoz; and Natasha Brown; named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in and the Chair of the International Booker Prize 2026 judges, discuss identity, Otherness and unpack how they employ language as a precise emotional instrument.
Supported by the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season 2025 and the Ramon Llull Institut
Moussa Sene Absa, Chris King and Maia Lekow in conversation with Kelvin Kariuki
Documentary as Memory
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Main Stage
A discussion on creative documentary storytelling with celebrated Senegalese filmmaker, Moussa Sene Absa and Kenya-based filmmaking duo, Maia Lekow and Chris King. Absa's charming, poetic films challenge dominant narratives while embracing the contradictions of post-colonial Senegalese life. Partners in life and art, Lekow and King employ an artful, long-form storytelling style —evident in their films, The Letter and How to Build a Library— that seeks to hold a mirror to our world and break down barriers.
Njeri "DJ Ziggie" Gitungo, Tunde Onakoya and Lola Shoneyin in conversation with Latoya Blackwood
In praise of the third space
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Main Stage
Celebrating the necessity and philosophies underpinning the curatorial strategies behind Ake, a globally-acclaimed festival with Director Lola Shoneyin; an all-femme dance party from the perspective of event co-founder and performer, Njeri DJ Ziggie Gitungo; and Guinness world record holder, Tunde Onakoyawho teaches the sport to low-income communities.
Alain Mabanckou in conversation with Nteranya Sanginga
History and the truthtellers
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Main Stage
Alain Mabanckou grew up in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo, and studied law in Brazzaville and Paris. A writer of poems and essays, Mabanckou wrote his first novel in 1998 with his fifth text, Broken Glass, ranked as one of the 100 best books of the 21st century by the Guardian. His work has won several prizes, including the Renaudot Prize and has been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize twice. He is now a full Professor of Literature at UCLA. He discusses retaining clarity and perspective in an ever-evolving political and cultural landscape with Congolese creative, Nteranya Sanginga.
Dr. Portia Malatjie, Muthoni Mwangi and Wana Udobang in conversation with Abigail Arunga
Experiments in form
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Main Stage
Exploring new paths to storytelling across literature, poetry, film and visual art with Nigerian writer, poet and performer, Wana Udobang; South African curator and Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town, Dr. Malatjie; and Kenyan visual research collage artist, Muthoni Mwangi. In conversation with Abigail Arunga.
Supported by the Open Society Foundations’ South-to-South Initiative
Lina Meruane, Dr. Nick Makoha and Safiya Sinclair in conversation with Lily Bekele-Piper
Mothers loom large
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Main Stage
Exploring how maternal figures materialize in fiction and life and the gray areas between truth and reverence with 2024 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature winner and poet, whose memoir, How to Say Babylon chronicles her mother's strength and sacrifices; Pol Vouillamoz, a Catalan and Swiss poet and winner of the 2018 Horta Youth Literature Prize for the play El nom de la mare ('The Mother’s Name') and award-winning Chilean writer and scholar, whose essay, Contra los Hijos ('Against Children') warns of the dangers of conservative ecofeminist ideals.
A frank conversation about how maternal figures materialize in fiction and life and the gray areas between truth and reverence with 2024 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature winner and poet, Safiya Sinclairwhose memoir, How to Say Babylon chronicles her mother's strength and sacrifices; Ugandan poet and playwright based in London, Dr Nick Makoha, whose work explores fatherhood and was recently shortlisted for the 2025 T.S. Eliot Prize and award-winning Chilean writer and scholar, Lina Meruanewhose essay, Contra los Hijos (Against Children) warns of the dangers of conservative ecofeminist ideals.
Supported by the Open Society Foundations’ South-to-South Initiative
