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 budding author with a passion for storytelling. With her thought-provoking narratives, she takes her readers on a literary adventure. Bongiwe's works on the human condition from a fresh perspective have earned her recognition and publications in the Avbob Poetry Anthology of 2019, The Writer's Club of South Africa 2021, and JAY Lit in 2021. She hopes to cement her place in the literary community.
