BookNest in Nairobi
Our east african listening hub. It is --:-- in Nairobi right now, and 148+ readers here are in the listening room. Nairobi is one of 9 hubs across 68 countries.
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Local time
148+
Listening now
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Partners in this city
Nairobi dispatch
Bringing the McMillan back
McMillan Memorial Library opened in 1931 and is the only building in Kenya protected by its own Act of Parliament. It was restricted to European settlers until 1958, when it passed to the city and opened to the public, and it has been Nairobi's oldest library ever since, carrying a rare historic collection through decades of underfunding.
Book Bunk, the trust restoring Nairobi's public libraries, has renovated the Makadara and Kaloleni branches and is working to bring the McMillan itself back as a free public space for reading and events. Alongside it, Kwani Trust's publishing helped launch a generation of East African writers. Our Nairobi listeners are reading in a city actively rebuilding its libraries.
Reading life in Nairobi
The festivals, libraries, bookshops and publishers our listeners in Nairobi actually walk into. Every one of them is a real, working institution.
Festival
Nairobi International Book Fair
Kenya's largest book trade event, organised by the Kenya Publishers Association for publishers, authors and readers.
VisitLibrary
Book Bunk
The trust restoring Nairobi's public libraries, including the McMillan Memorial Library, as free public spaces.
VisitPublisher
Kwani Trust
A Kenyan literary network and publisher that helped launch a generation of East African writers.
VisitPlaying in Nairobi
Sessions from the BookNest listening room, ready to play at this desk.
Crime Desk · 55 min
A Scandal in Bohemia
Arthur Conan Doyle
Open the listening roomClassics · 18 min
Pride and Prejudice, opening chapters
Jane Austen
Open the listening roomLiterary Fiction · 44 min
Heart of Darkness, part one
Joseph Conrad
Open the listening roomGothic · 33 min
Dracula, chapter one
Bram Stoker
Open the listening roomShort Fiction · 14 min
Twelve Creepy Tales, opening story
Edgar Allan Poe
Open the listening roomAdventure · 24 min
The Call of the Wild, part one
Jack London
Open the listening roomPresented by
Niphie Debaî
Author Spotlight interviews
Amara Okoye
The Book Talk, literary discussions
Daniel Mbeki
Author Spotlight, second chair