TWAWEZA: A Prodigious Progeny of PenPen Africa

By Comfort Nyati SDB ׀ August 2020

Twaweza is not only a book but a prodigious progeny birthed from the PenPen Africa Writers Residency, a project initiated by the African Writers Development Trust (AWDT) in partnership with Writers Guild Kenya. The project was co-funded by both Culture at Work Africa and the European Union. PenPen Africa featured twelve selected writers from across Africa in two separate pens held in Nigeria (November 2019) and Kenya (March 2020) with six residents in each.

The first leg of PenPen Africa held in Nigeria had participants from five respective countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and The Gambia. The residency afforded them opportunities to share their various cultures and life experiences with each other, which created an ideal atmosphere for creative expressions. In the end, the residency delivered twelve stories into the literary incubator. The second phase of the project hosted in Nairobi had six participants from across East and Southern Africa hailing from Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda and Uganda. This was a mirror of the residency in Nigeria and ended with the delivery of twelve non-fiction stories.

The PenPen Africa project had laudable sets of objectives. Yet, one objective stood above the others; to empower African writers, both seasoned and budding writers. Some other objectives were; to spice up the African literary world with seasoned enterprises and innovative writing skills, and to unblock the literary stumbling blocks. Therefore, we are talking about sowing seeds of storytelling, creative writing, editing, publishing, marketing and writing for the 21st reader, not only in Africa but on a global scale. Sooner or later, the project would have borne a good harvest of readers, writers, authors, editors, directors, and even actors.

Interestingly, the choice of the book title remains an intriguing curiosity. Why not English? Why Kiswahili? Kiswahili is one of the widely spoken indigenous languages in Africa. It is justifiable that the title itself wins the attention of a broader local audience. Twaweza is a noun in Swahili that’s interpreted as a short phrase in English: ‘we can make it happen’. The word, Twaweza, gives a sense of the ability to perform a certain activity with vitality. Undoubtedly, the recently published “Twaweza” which was borne from a vibrant synergizing of two PenPen residencies underscores the meaning of the book title and gives expression to that sense of ability to perform with vitality. In this context, it would imply the ability to think, write and spread the gospel of literature in an African style. At the very least, this term suggests a collective ability towards achieving something.

Read – PenPen Africa Residency Berths in Kenya

Rich in storytelling and nonfiction, Twaweza is a hotchpotch of 24 African Non-Fiction Stories authored by 12 writers from nine African countries. Indeed the prodigious book is a clear testimony that the participants really made it happen. Within the book are not mere stories, rather tales that amplify and portray fundamental African themes that are both sensitive and realistic. For this reason, Twaweza charmed its way into Aso Rock and won the attention of the Nigerian President.

Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, with a copy of Twaweza

His Excellency, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari participated in celebrating the festival of the first fruits of the PenPen residency. I was both shocked and elated to see photos of President Buhari holding a copy of Twaweza. What an incredible gesture and a boost to African literature everywhere. The President’s action should send a message to other African leaders because there is a need to examine priorities and enact policies to push contemporary African writers and African literature to local relevance and global acceptance.

Given all the efforts and man-hours invested in this project, any promotion, support, and association such as that displayed by the Nigerian President would give hope to the culture of creative writing as it serves as a goodwill message to the management of the AWDT, its Board of Directors, their sponsors, and the entire community of readers and writers of African literature. One of the most notable themes embedded within the PenPen Africa project remains the promotion of cultural integration and collaboration within the African continent. This is a beautiful real-life tale of African unity and what it can produce for the continent. In fact, we need more of this collaboration so that our libraries can be flooded with sumptuous servings of African books and less of the European or American tastes. Kwa ukweli tunaweza kulifanya ili jambo (indeed we are able to make this happen).

Click here to download Twaweza

In closing, the future holds a promise. With the delivery of such a spectacular and well-received literary journey and product, Twaweza gives me hope that there will be more PenPen Africa projects, more collaboration amongst African writers, more acceptance of African literature, greater political support and promotion of a sustainable reading culture within Africa. This undoubtedly will, especially with the consistent involvement of our civil leaders, enable African literature to grow wings that will fly and elevate the current literary, political, social and economic status of the continent.

Yes, Twaweza!

Comfort Nyati is a Zimbabwean who belongs to the Salesians of Don Bosco.  He is currently pursuing his Master’s Degree in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), Nairobi-Kenya. Comfort is a member of Writers Space Africa -Zimbabwe (WSA-Z) and is currently working on his first anthology to be published later in 2020.