Mutinda Kilonzo is the Creative Director at Qwani, where he has been curating the books being published, the films being shot, and the weekly events for the Qwani community. In addition to that, he is also one of the co-founders of The Drunken Lectures.
Celeste Wamiru is a political cartoonist, visual storyteller and illustrator. Passionate practitioner of artivism through comics.
Felistas Thairu is a Comic Artist and 2D Animator who loves to tell authentic, unique, and captivating stories. She loves creating content for children. She has illustrated a children’s book called “The Misadventures of Ema and Lo, A Little Nap,” written by Yvonne Wamuyu.
Dennis Mugaa is a Kenyan writer and editor from Meru. He won the 2022 Black Warrior Review Fiction Contest, has been published in journals such as Transition, Jalada Africa, and Lolwe, and was the 2023/2024 Rajat Neogy Editorial Fellow at A Long House. A Miles Morland Foundation Scholar with an MA from the University of East Anglia, he published his debut short story collection, Half Portraits Under Water, in 2024.
Michelle K. Angwenyi is a writer from Nairobi, Kenya. She was shortlisted for the 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize and for the 2017 Short Story Day African Prize. Her writing has been featured in the collaborative art exhibition, Wanakuboeka Feelharmonic, organized by the collective Naijographia, and her work has appeared in Jalada, Enkare Review, Kalahari Review, the Mays, notes, 20.35 Africa, and elsewhere. She is the author of the chapbook “Gray Latitudes,” included in New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Saba).
Keith Ang‘ana is the Founder & Executive Director of Qwani, which is a youth collective meant to provide a platform for young creatives to showcase their works. In his personal capacity, he is a historian, researcher and writer, majoring in non-fictional essays. His work has been published in Afrospatial Magazine, Brittle Paper, The Elephant & Africa Is A Country, among others.
Clifton Gachagua is a Nairobi-based author of Madman at Kilifi. His work appears in Tramset, Obsidian, +doc, ANMLY, Prism, Glassworks, the87press, Harvard Divinity Journal, Poetry Foundation, and elsewhere.
Marcelline Akinyi is a comic author and visual artist passionate about telling African stories. Her work focuses on climate change and pre-colonial African history.
Joan Thatiah is a seasoned print journalist with over a decade of experience at Daily Nation. She is the author of ten books, including the acclaimed Confessions of Nairobi Women (Book 1), which was first runner-up for the 2025 Text Book Centre Penmanship Award
Kabubu Mutua is a writer and translator who grew up in Machakos, Kenya, and spent most of his childhood in boarding school. His writing has appeared in adda, Exposition Review, A Long House, Short Story Day Africa, and elsewhere.
Dr. Dino J. Martins, a Kenyan entomologist and evolutionary biologist, is a Research Scholar and Lecturer at Princeton University. Formerly the Academic Field Director for the Turkana Basin Institute Field School. He holds a PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University (2011).
Florence Onyango is a Kenyan speculative fiction writer based in Nairobi. Her short stories have been published in the Fresh Paint Volume II anthology(2013), the Short Story Day Water Anthology(2015), the Let Us Conspire and Other Stories anthology(2024), Kikwetu Journal(2022,2024), Omenana(2024), Will This Be A Problem(2024), Myths, Gods & Immortals: Anansi(2025) among other literary journals.
Dorechi is a writer from Kenya whose work explores psychological horror. When not writing, they enjoy reading and creating art—both of which inspire their storytelling.
Natasha W. Muhanji is a Kenyan writer, editor, and digital strategist at Kairos Futura, where she helps to build narratives around imaginative futures and community-centered innovation. Her work has appeared in several magazines and anthologies including Voices of the Revolution and Our Stories Redefined (2024).
Soreti Kadir is an Oromo storyteller, educator, and political activist.
Chao Tayiana Maina is a Kenyan historian and digital heritage specialist with a unique expertise at the intersection of memory, digital humanities, and public education. Leveraging a background in computing and a specialization in heritage studies, her work is dedicated to exploring and excavating African histories, while simultaneously building and enhancing the infrastructure needed for the preservation and dissemination of these vital pasts.
Ahmed Aidarus is the founder and CEO of Jahazi Press, a Nairobi-based independent publisher of literary fiction and nonfiction by Kenyan authors, and also serves as the manager of the influential Prestige Bookshop, where he actively promotes African literature through book launches, readings, and workshops.
Dorphanage is a Kenyan performing artist/poet who uses his creative ability as a writer and performer to express the human experience, especially the disenfranchised one. He’s the 34th Slam Africa champion, a mentor and a strong proponent for social justice. He has been extensively involved in the Kenyan poetry/art scene through advocacy, performances, delegations, events curation and workshop facilitations.
Sham Patel is the founder of the „Homeless of Nairobi“ project, a Facebook initiative started in Kenya that provides a voice to Nairobi‘s homeless population by sharing their stories and photos to foster understanding and support. Patel has dedicated himself to improving the lives of street children and hopes to create a shelter where individuals can learn new skills and receive mental health support.
Dr. Paula Kahumbu is a prominent Kenyan conservationist and the CEO of WildlifeDirect. She earned her Ph.D. from Princeton University, focusing on Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Kahumbu has been instrumental in redefining wildlife conservation through education and engaging storytelling, aiming to inspire worldwide action for environmental preservation.
Dominion is a poetry writer and performer based in Kenya, whose passion for storytelling and artistic expression knows no bounds. He strives to captivate audiences with heartfelt and thought provoking performances. As the co-founder of Eldoret Art Cafe, Dominion fosters a vibrant artistic community and provides a platform for local talent to shine.
Stoneface Bombaa (Brian Otieno Akoth) is a community organizer at the Mathare Social Justice Centre (MSJC), where he runs the MSJC Kids‘ Club and Art for Social Change. He is also a member of the Mathare Green Movement, a volunteer group that, through planting trees throughout the informal settlement, practices collective imagination and action.
Lisa Oduor-Noah is a Kenyan singer-songwriter and producer whose soulful compositions are a reflection of the many different genres she was exposed to as a child by her music-loving family. Since graduating from Berklee College of Music, she‘s dropped several singles including ‚Daylight‘, ‚Today‘ and ‚No Way‘.
Joe Kobuthi is a scholar and advocate. He holds a dual Master’s degrees in Philosophy and Public Policy. With a career marked by intellectual rigor and advocacy, Joe has served as the senior editor of The Elephant, a prestigious Pan-African magazine, for eight years. Throughout this tenure, he has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to amplifying critical African voices on issues of governance. Kobuthi’s extensive body of work encompasses profound explorations into the philosophical underpinnings of public policy and the ethical dimensions of governance.
Karwitha Kirimi is an artist and writer based in Nairobi. They work with words, images, ritual, and research. Their poetic practice attends to the word, the line, silence, and space. They use performance as a medium for ritual practice — they perform where their beloveds are to be found.
Kato Change is a guitarist/ producer from Nairobi, Kenya. His self-directed style draws from a heritage of African music as well as Blues and Jazz. Kato‘s debut album ‚The Change Experience‘, is a collaborative journey, with each artist sharing a unique perspective on creating music. Kato plays regularly alongside his ensemble and several other groups in Nairobi.
Ach13ng’ is a singer-songwriter, vocal arranger and recording and performing artist based in Nairobi. She is inspired by real life events to create music that is unafraid of diving into the depths of our emotions. Using her intuitive yet abstract songwriting and vocal prowess, Ach13ng‘ expresses in her pieces the joys and sorrows of the human experience; doing so with incomparable honesty, freedom and warmth that speaks to the truest version of ourselves.
Christian Kibamba is an award-winning instrumentalist from East Africa, primarily known for his work as a drummer, who resides in Kenya and was named East Africa‘s Instrumentalists of the Year in 2018.
Nile Dawta is a Kenyan-based progressive musician, fusing roots and reggae music, with conscious chants to create a blend of uplifting and melodic African inspired vibrations: to educate, entertain and motivate towards social change
Nekoye Ommeh is a Kenyan artist who engages with both Music and Spoken Word art-forms. She was formerly known as Asali and was part of the Tuma vs Asali (TvA) music outfit. Nekoye is passionate about humanitarianism and activism which she expresses through her art. Her personal philosophy is „Wakati Is Now“ (WIN) which translates to „The time is now“