Nairobi, our #TurkanaNaturePoetryRetreat cohort officially landed in the city and the energy was already 10/10. 🤳 Swipe to see their group selfie.
We’ve just sent them off to Turkana to immerse themselves in ecology and silence, but here is your formal invite to the "welcome back" party.
Save the Date (and the time!)
📅 Saturday, 23rd May
🕕 6:00 PM EAT
📍@chechebooks
Come for the poetry, but please stay for the beautiful conversations and connection. We live for moments like this!
P.S. When they’ll be back we need to take them for our legendary dawa, where is the ONE place in Nairobi they absolutely have to get a dawa? Drop your recs below! 👇
#MacondoNiNairobi #MacondoLitFest #TurkanaNaturePoetryRetreat #MacondoCitizens #NairobiEvents
I made a little thing. It's nice and warm like chai in the cold. and I'd like for you to come and kick it with me as we go through it. I promise an uncoordinated evening with a plan.
Please save the date . And bring a date. Just come in and sit
5th June.
The 4th edition of Substack Satos is here and if you've been looking for your people, this might be the room.
Come ready to read Substack articles out loud, dig into ideas, and connect with a community of writers and readers. 📅 Saturday, 16th May · 2–5PM
📍Cheche Bookshop & Café (@chechebooks ), Kauria Close, Lavington
🎟️ Entry: Ksh 150/-
📞 Enquiries: 0798694000
Organised with the @qwanibok
Tag someone who needs to be in this room.
WE ARE BACK for the beginning of our May screenings with two evenings of cinema, music and even more post-picture yapping than usual.
On May 22nd, we begin with The Harder They Come (1972), Perry Henzell’s landmark Jamaican classic that brought reggae to the world and made Jimmy Cliff an international star. Following a young man chasing fame through the streets of Kingston as he moves between music, crime, and outlaw legend, the film remains one of the most influential and electrifying works of Caribbean cinema ever made.
The night will also continue with a DJ set from our favourite soundmaster, Sam The Digga, drawing from the sounds and spirit of the film.
Discussion and party-prep by @kulnzu
📍 Cheche Books — Kauria Close, Off Muthangari Road, Lavington
🕕 From 6PM
🎟️ Entry Fee: KSh 500 (at the door or via Mpesa: Lipa na Mpesa - Pochi la Biashara - 0710103681)
May 29th screening announcement coming soon.
Macondo Citizens,
We invite you to the #TurkanaNaturePoetryRetreat Showcase on 23rd May at @chechebooks in Nairobi.
After a week in Turkana immersed in ecology, silence and the non-human world, our 2026 poets return with new experiences and work informed by nature, place, and reflection.
This showcase will bring together both poets and our wider creative community for an evening of poetry, beautiful conversations and connection. We live for this! 🥰
Save the date and join us as we gather stories formed in conversation with the earth.
P.S: The event starts at 6pm EAT.
#MacondoLitFest #TurkanaNaturePoetryRetreat #MacondoCitizens
Poetic Ruminations and Exchange
May 6th
1:30 PM — Poetry Workshop with award-winning poet Nick Makoha
Join award-winning poet and playwright Nick Makoha for an intimate writing session focused on developing your poetry in a supportive, thoughtful space.
Open to poets at all stages.
Register via the link in bio.
Selected applicants will receive a confirmation email.
… and in the evening, from 6:00 PM
Join us for poetry readings, reflections, and conversation led by Nairobi-based writer + poet Abigail Arunga. We’ll gather around words, ideas, and reflections on Nick Makoha’s latest collection, The New Carthaginians, and more.
Free Entry!
Thank you to everyone who joined us and donated books and funds the past two days, we really appreciate you all ✊🏾
Also big thank you to @chechebooks for giving us the space to do everything 🤎
Shout out to @kadi_ma for making the powerful documentary we screened, and for joining us for the Q&A, that’s a reminder to us all that our stories belong to us, and we should take the initiative to tell them before someone else does 👀
Also we appreciate you @kabhula_kabhula@ruphin_bwira_bwira_@david_kazimoto_richard@postcardsfromkoko for sharing your art and your precious time, thank you 🤎
The past two days have been beautiful and wholesome, truly a reminder that there’s something we can do! There must be something we can do, there’s no room for despair!!!
We come together, we break bread, we talk about what’s happening to our beloved continent, we share our art and our music and we build community ✊🏾🫂 #allpowertothepeople
Join us tonight @chechebooks as we continue with our Congo series. Tonight we watch a powerful documentary made by our Congolese brother @kadi_ma about the incredible Patrice Lumumba followed then by a panel discussion with the filmmaker joining us virtually and ending the night with a discussion by the artist @kabhula_kabhula & @ruphin_bwira_bwira_ in conversation with the talented @postcardsfromkoko
Welcome all! Hope to see everyone from yesterday 🤎✊🏾🇨🇩
📢Join us this Friday for an evening of Congolese art, live music and food in benefit of the collaborative project Building a Pan-African Library @_ingoma_afrika___
On Saturday evening, we will be screening the short MWAN'ENGO and the documentary film From Patrice to Lumumba followed by a panel discussion.
And of course book donations are still being accepted till the end of April. Let's build this library together.
All are welcome! ✨️
Artwork by @kabhula_kabhula
📢Join us next Wednesday evening for the Nairobi launch of The Friendship Bench: How Fourteen Grandmothers Inspired a Mental Health Revolution. Visiting Zimbabwean psychiatrist and author Dixon Chibanda will be in conversation with the ever insightful Mshaï Mwangola.
This book is a primer on how human connection forms the bedrock of our resilience. It gives readers the tools to facilitate transformative healing by reaching out to those who are struggling and isolated from the world around them. In a world where suicide is now a leading cause of death amongst young people, the book is a case study of how interventions supported by robust scientific evidence rooted in African cultural values can be scaled using community elders. Ultimately, it’s a celebration of the collective wisdom and knowledge of those rooted in their communities and their profound ability to foster belonging, purpose, and healing.
Books will be available for purchase and signing. All are welcome! ✨️
It’s time to release and rest
Karibuni nyote to the garden of bijou this May as I showcase the labor of love I have been birthing for a year 👁️ 👁️
To be continued…
The full conversation between Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah and Ciku Kimeria on Seeking Sexual Freedom: African Rites, Rituals and Sankofa in the Bedroom is now live on our YouTube channel.
If you missed the book chat—or want to return to it more slowly—you can watch the entire recorded episode via the link in our bio.
On our YouTube channel, you’ll also find more Conversations with Authors episodes, with many more still to come.
