The State of African Publishing: Storymoja
“We dream of the day when the ordinary Kenyan is as excited by reading as he is by Kenyan music, Nigerian DVDs and the mobile phone! Growing Kenya’s reading culture would benefit and profit all of us”.
Storymoja is a Kenyan-based publisher formed in 2007 by five writers, which publishes contemporary East African books to get Kenyans to read for pleasure. They want to challenge the perception that Kenyans do not read (other than required educational text) by providing them with the stories they can identify with.
Growing Kenya ’s reading culture is Storymoja’s mission. As I said in an earlier post, we are not short on academic textbooks in Africa so I love that they are nurturing a reading culture that goes beyond academics and politics. I also love their motto “A book in every hand”. They also organise the "Storymoja Hay Festival", which is a three-day literary festival in a temporary "tented city" in the heart of Nairobi celebrating stories, ideas, writing and contemporary culture through storytelling, music, books, live discussion forums, demonstrations, workshops, open mic sessions, debates, exhibitions, performances and competitions. This year it's September 14-16 and it's all about showing that reading is fun, smart and sexy. What is there not to love about this publisher?
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