Nairobi: Maps of Exile

Warscapes Literary Salons March 10, 2020

Warscapes magazine launched their literary salons titled "Nairobi: Maps of Exile" in November 2019. These salons are an attempt to reframe African identity by engaging the city as a site of dynamic multiculturalism and multilingualism. Nairobi is home to a vast range of ethnicities, nationalities and languages. These literary salons redraw the map of Nairobi's diversity by featuring local as well as migrant writers both of whom have a complex and challenging relationship to the city. Rescuing African identities from the simple categories that are either group-based or then Afropolitan, Maps of Exile literary salons offer nuance and depth to these questions. Salons were developed in collaboration with Warscapes contributor Hassan Ghedi Santur and organized by Warscapes' Bhakti Shringarpure and Michael Bronner alongside Taye Balogun of The Carrot Co. We hope to continue bringing exciting programming in Nairobi but also urge cultural platforms in other African cities to try our model. We are also grateful to James Murua of the James Murua African Literature Blog for archiving the salons and below is an ever-growing playlist of recorded videos from the salons.

Salon 1: November 28, 2019

Featuring Lutivini Majanja, Itoro Bassey and Abdul Dahir Adan. Hosted by Hassan Ghedi Santur