From literary safaris a la Hemmingway to sailboat excursions on the Indian Ocean, plus the usual dose of 'Afropolitan' workshops, dinners and symposiums in Kenya's capital Nairobi, KLF 2008 will harness all of this country's vivid diversity.

"Kenya has never been more relevant to global development than today," notes Binyavanga Wainaina, founding editor of Kwani? magazine and contributor to Vanity Fair, National Geographic, Granta, and other notable publications. "For the best writers on the continent to gather in a setting that embodies Africa's greatest hopes and deepest fears is an extraordinary opportunity."

It seems this gathering has been noted overseas: “Those in the know are buzzing about an African Literary renaissance…. Nowhere is this more evident than at the Kenya Kwani? Litfest...the African revolution is on your doorstep,”  gushed Vanity Fair who then profiled a series of African writers - over half of which had been at Litfest 2006.

The 2008 faculty also includes Chimamanda Adichie, the Nigerian star whose novel Half of a Yellow Sun charmed the world and won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction; Sierra Leone's Ishmael Beah, whose book A Long Way Gone thrust the plight of child soldiers into western hearts and minds; plus many more prize-winning journalists, authors, influential editors and publishers from across the literary spectrum.

In addition to honing participants' skills in poetry, fiction, nonfiction and journalism, this year's litfest will be informed by the horrific post-election chaos from which Kenya recently emerged. The role of the written word in conflict situations will be examined by writers fresh from the field, their experiences and insights sure to electrify colleagues and participants alike. A special symposium entitled Revisioning Kenya will allow thinkers, visionaries and innovators to creatively rethink the many facets of Kenya and Kenyaness that broke down in the violence of early 2008.
 
This unique festival kicks off August 1 to 15, 2008. Information and registration forms for the workshop are available at KwaniLitfest.com.