The Ituĩka Multilingual Anthology of Stories in Kenyan Languages is set to be published in December of 2024 by the The Ituĩka Literary Platform. The anthology features 14 Kenyan languages in two separate volumes.
The languages included in the anthology are Bukusu, Dholuo, Ekegusii, Embu, Gikuyu, Kiduruma, Kimeru, Luhya, Maa, Sheng, Somali, and Wanga, with each piece translated into (or from) Kiswahili and English.
The anthology includes 23 different contributors that worked for 3 years to provide the first Kenyan reading public. So far, the anthology will be available in a limited print version with the hope to expand with the help of Kenyan and international book distribution services.
Here’s a list of contributors of Volume 1, The Wily Polygamist and Other Stories:
- Ajiambo Nafwa
- Ochieng’ Obunga
- Jack Ogembo
- Sahara Adbi
- Paul Nganga Mutua
- Felix Omondi
- Makena Onjerika
- Dr. Beverlyne Asiko Ambuyo
- Bonface Nyamweya
- Maina wa Mũtonya
- Madhu Krishnan
- Founder and Editor in Chief of Ituĩka Literary Platform, Munyao Kilolo
Here’s a list of contributors of Volume 2, Evening Pass-Time and Other Stories:
- Nyatichi Makini
- Kapante Ole Reyia
- Peter Kuria Mburu
- Naomi Ndumba Kimonye
- Dr. Isaac Nyabisa Oteyo
- Mwalimu Kefah Onchaga
- D. Simiyu Wanyonyi
- Doreen Nyaga
- Matano Nyundo
- Doseline Kiguru
- Founder and Editor in Chief of Ituĩka Literary Platform, Munyao Kilolo
The Founder and Editor in Chief of the Ituĩka Literary Platform, Munyao Kilolo, edited both of the volumes. In 2021, Kilolo organized the start of the work of the project and provided editorial help. In the preface of the anthology, Kilolo expresses gratitude for the unique opportunity to go beyond the established binaries of spoken and written use of African languages to a more multilingual expression and creative production in writing and translation.
Ituĩka was founded as an online and print platform in 2021 with the goal to be a a stage for writers publishing in African languages to raise the visibility of those languages. In addition to this inaugural anthology, the platform has also created literary workshops for writers and a database of teachers in African languages.
Ituĩka is Gikuyu name for break/rupture and revolution, transformation, and transition. At ituika Literary Platform they believe that by centering the writing, the teaching and translation of African languages, they can transform African societies.
Copies of the two volumes will be available in print from December 2024.
Congratulations to the exceptional writers whose stories made it to Ituĩka!
To read more on Ituĩka and the anthology as well as its author bios, tap here.
Bongiwe T. Maphosa
Bongiwe Maphosa is a writer whose fiction and poetry offers fresh, imaginative perspectives on the human condition. Her work has been published in prominent literary spaces, including Isele Magazine, Akowdee Magazine, the AVBOB Poetry Anthology, Journal of African Youth in Literature (JAY Lit), and more. She was also nominated for the 2025 Best of the Net Anthology. Bongiwe is one of six writers selected for the inaugural Caine Prize Online Editing program and serves as a content writer, peer reviewer, and tier three awards judge for JAYLit. Bridging inner reflection with speculative worlds, she continues to carve out a distinctive voice within contemporary African literature for a growing global audience.
