Kwani?

Kwani?
Cover for the October 2010 issue
FrequencySporadic
Founded2003; 21 years ago (2003)
CompanyKwani Trust
CountryKenya
Based inNairobi
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.kwani.org

Kwani? (derived from the Sheng slang so what?) was a prominent African literary magazine headquartered in Kenya.[1][2] It has been hailed as "undoubtedly the most influential journal to have emerged from sub-Saharan Africa".[3][4]

The magazine originated from discussions among a group of writers based in Nairobi during the early 2000s.[5] Its inception was led by Binyavanga Wainaina, who initiated the project after winning the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing.[6][7] The inaugural printed edition was released in 2003.[8]

Kwani? was produced by the Kwani Trust, an organization dedicated to fostering Kenya's and Africa's intellectual, creative, and imaginative resources through strategic literary initiatives.[9] The organization receives substantial funding from the Ford Foundation.[10]

During its run, the magazine evolved into a significant platform for African continent literature and has propelled the careers of various writers, including Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, who won the 2003 Caine Prize;[11] Uwem Akpan, acclaimed author of the bestselling short-story collection Say You're One of Them,[12] and Billy Kahora, now the magazine's managing editor.[7] Each edition of the journal comprises over 500 pages of new journalism, fiction, experimental writing, poetry, cartoons, photographs, ideas, literary travel writing, and creative non-fiction.[13]

Each volume of Kwani? revolved around a central theme. For instance, the seventh issue (2012/3), titled "Majuu" (a Sheng word meaning "overseas"), was "a 570-page testament to the journal's diasporic roots".[14]

After the Ford changed its funding models in East Africa and ended support programs for arts and the media in 2014/15, "Kawani?" ceased publication. [15]

  1. ^ "Binyavanga Wainaina Reading", Miami Herald, 16 November 2011.
  2. ^ "Kenyan Writers Turn the Page on the Past; First Literary Magazine Is Sign of New Freedoms - The Washington Post | HighBeam Research". 2014-06-10. Archived from the original on 2014-06-10. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
  3. ^ Dzekashu MacViban, "One Day I Will Write About This Place - Kwani Litfest", Moving Africa, 31 January 2013. Goethe Institut.
  4. ^ Anna Clark, "How To Write About Africa", Boston Review, July/August 2011.
  5. ^ "Kwani Trust :: Our History". www.kwani.org. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
  6. ^ "Caine Prize 2002: top award goes to Kenya's Wainaina. (Events)". The Free Library. IC Publications. 1 September 2002. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  7. ^ a b "About Us". Kwani. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  8. ^ "Our History". Kwani. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  9. ^ "Kwani Trust" Archived 3 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Africa Rising.
  10. ^ "Kwani Trust". Ford Foundation. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  11. ^ Michelle Pauli (15 July 2003). "Kenya celebrates Caine prize double". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  12. ^ "Q. & A.: Between Two Continents". The New Yorker. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  13. ^ "Kwani? Journal Series by Kwani Trust". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
  14. ^ Parselelo Kantai, "Kwani? 07, An Eclectic Tapestry - Book", The Africa Report, 18 April 2013.
  15. ^ Carey Baraka, "Intimations of an ending—Carey Baraka on the unspoken demise of Kwani?, and the death of a dream", The Johannesburg Review of Books, 27 August 2020.