Hello, Welcome to my little corner of influence...
I am a Nairobi-based literary advocate, podcaster, entrepreneur, and founder of Soma Nami Books, a one of its kind and the only Afrocentric book hub in Nairobi, Kenya. I believe in the transformative power of stories to ignite positive social change and have over the last couple of years championed numerous initiatives to amplify diverse African voices and stories.
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My background is in Psychology, and for the last 10 years, I have worked in the humanitarian sector in the field of Forced Migration. Working with refugees in Sub-Saharan Africa can be daunting. Every day, you encounter stories of Africans in dire circumstances - uprooted from their homes due to a myriad of reasons. Over time, and through repeated accounts of this story, it become my dominant narrative of Africa – as a place of violence and conflict, and of a people lacking in agency, waiting to be saved. As an African living on the continent, however, I recognize that although this story is not untrue, this was not my story nor is it the story of every African. It is not a balanced story. This set me on a path to seek out diverse stories of Africa that highlight the full spectrum of African experiences, fueled by the books I sought out and read.
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Through my work, I seek to restore the balance by shifting focus back to Africans as agents of their own stories and to advocate for the amplification of our stories. I advocate for readership of literature from and by Africans, I organize and build communities around literature, I engage in thought provoking discussions meant to propel us forward as humanity and I make books by Africans available and accessible.
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I have a B.A in Psychology and M.A in International Studies and I am currently pursuing my PHD. My research interests are in history and particularly African History - pre and post-colonial and the colonial legacies plaguing African states.
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When I am not reading, you will find me running a bookstore, travelling, organizing events or engaging with readers from across the globe on my Instagram.
ANCHORS
soma nami books
Soma Nami Books is a one of it’s kind and the only Afrocentric bookstore in Kenya. Since opening our doors in August 2021, we have seen tremendous growth and have gone on to become Kenya's leading bookstore for African literature and literature by women. The store was born out of a need to solve the problem of access to books. Our catalogue of books has since expanded from 50 to over 1600 titles. We serve a wide array of readers from all over Kenya through our online store and at our Brick and Mortar store located at the Greenhouse Mall on Ngong Rd, Nairobi. We have also begun venturing into the East Africa region of Tanzania and Uganda.
literary curation
My work in literary curation involves preserving literature and facilitating discovery and appreciation of literary works for posterity. I support literary programming and initiatives through organising literary events and thematic series which aim to animate communities and generate interest in reading, writing and literature as an artform.
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PODCAST
The Soma Nami podcast is a social and cultural commentary podcast that seeks to bridge the intersection between literature, life, culture, and community. Books are mirrors to the society, and they reflect back to us who we are as a people.
Through this podcast my co-host and I make this correlation by extrapolating what we read to our and our listeners’ lived experiences. The podcast aims to use thematic conversations as catalysts for real actionable social change initiatives.
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We also hope to demystify the art of reading and give our readers deeper insight into authors, their craft, and processes.
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Literary advocacy
As a literary advocate, I primarily organise, curate, and nurture literary and reading communities.
I organize and build communities around literature, I engage in thought provoking discussions meant to propel us forward as humanity and I make books by Africans available and accessible. My key message is that our stories matter, that we need to read ourselves in nuance and that our books deserve to occupy bookshelf and bookstore space.