Soma Nami Books

Soma Nami, a Swahili phrase which translates to ‘Read with Me’ started as a book review blog that I founded in 2017. It later grew into a book club that I run from 2018 to 2020.

 

In late 2020, I partnered with Wendy Njoroge on a shared dream to open the first ever Afrocentric Book Hub in Nairobi, Kenya. On 6th August 2021, we officially opened the doors to our Brick-and-Mortar store, Soma Nami Books, at The Greenhouse Mall on Ngong Road.

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The Book hub encompasses an bookstore that is designed as a cozy sitting and social space to encourage discovery, connections and conversations around books. We primarily focus on books by Africans in the continent, the diaspora, and women. The store was born out of a need to address the problem of access to books in the continent and since we launched, our catalogue of books has expanded from 50 to over 1600 titles. We have an online store that serves readers from all over the country and we have also begun venturing into the East Africa region with deliveries to Tanzania and Uganda. 

 

Our work at Soma Nami Books  extends beyond selling books; we act as an essential community institution, providing a space for learning, community building, knowledge exchange and consciousness-raising.

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Soma Nami Books continues to grow tremendously and is revolutionizing  the way in which Kenyans engage with and consume literature. In December 2021, Soma Nami Books was named Literary Platform of the Year in the Brittle Paper Books Awards for pushing the boundaries on what it means to make space for African literature.