Press Release – For Immediate Release
Kigali, August 1, 2019
Huza Press is pleased to announce the launch of The Cape Cod Bicycle War and Other Stories by Kenyan writer and editor Billy Kahora in Nairobi and in Kampala.
Published by Rwandan publisher, Huza Press, this collection of eleven short stories brings together stories that have already received critical acclaim with previously unpublished stories set across Kenya, South Africa and the US. It explores tensions and transitions of lives in-between youthful folly and precarious adulthoods.
The book was first launched in Kigali on 14th June at Innovation Village on the rooftop of Kigali Public Library as part of Huza Press and Goethe Institut’s KigaliLit series. This was followed in July by launch events in the UK as part of Africa Writes-Bristol and in Somaliland as part of the Hargeysa International Book Fair.
Over this week, this new book which has been described by Namwali Serpell as‘a wondrous collection’ will be next launched in Nairobi and then Kampala.
In Nairobi, the book will be launched in partnership with Pawa254 at Mageuzi Theatre on Thursday August 1, 2019 at 6:00pm. Billy Kahora will be in conversation with South African author Zukiswa Wanner and the launch will also include readings, a performance based on three of the short stories by Abu Sense, and a book signing afterwards. This event marks a homecoming for the book as Kahora grew up in Nairobi and has spent the majority of his adult life there, as well as this being where many of the stories in the collection are set.
In Kampala, the book will be launched in partnership with FEMRITE – Uganda Women Writers Association at FEMRITE Courtyard Plot, 147 Kira Road, Kamwokya on Monday August 5, 2019. Billy Kahora will read from the collection and he will be in conversation with David Kaiza. A book signing will follow.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has said of Kahora’s writing that he is ‘a painter with words’, describing the way this short story collection ‘makes the reader see and touch and smell and feel characters and their inner turmoil as they try to survive, against the challenges of nature and nurture.’ If you are based in Nairobi or Kampala please come through this August and experience for yourself!
To purchase a copy of the book in Kenya please contact Mike Mburu (+254721837151) who also delivers in Nairobi or outside Nairobi at a cost. To purchase a copy of the book in Kampala please contact FEMRITE (info.femrite@gmail.com). For all other customers please contact Huza Press (huzapress@gmail.com).
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact:
Lucky Grace Isingizwe
Huza Press communications
+250784575762
FB: @Huzapress
TW: @HuzaPress
IG: @huzapress
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