Join the Macondo Literary Festival, launching in Nairobi on Friday, September 18. Enjoy complimentary entry to the opening ceremony, with no tickets required.
The festivities commence at 4:30 PM at the Kenya Cultural Centre, welcoming readers, writers, artists, and anyone intrigued by the festival to engage and participate.
This opening ceremony signifies the beginning of the 2026 edition of Macondo, which takes place from September 18–20, under the inspiring theme “Ink, Sea, Silence.”
This year, the festival emphasizes critical discussions on cultural memory, archives, and the diverse narratives surrounding African stories—how they have been recorded, preserved, overlooked, or reshaped by others.
“Africa’s story has been inscribed by many hands, not always in goodwill. It has endured the constrained and often violent imagination of others: re-inked, overwritten, twisted into shapes that served predatory visions, not truth,” states Anja Bengelstorff, co-founder of the Macondo Book Society, regarding this year’s edition.
The free opening serves as a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in the festival before the interactive and engaging programming unfolds over the weekend.
This year’s lineup features an array of distinguished writers, including Esi Edugyan, Meena Kandasamy, Emmanuel Iduma, Yasmine El Rashidi, Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin, Lauri Kubuitsile, Itamar Vieira Junior, Deepak Unnikrishnan, Tochi Eze, and Saïd Khatibi, alongside talented Kenyan and other African writers and artists. Join us in celebrating the rich tapestry of African literature!
