Kistrech International Poetry Festival in Kenya is currently the most popular and largest literary event in Africa. Started in 2013 by Dr. Christopher Okemwa, its aim is to bring local and international poets together on one platform every year. In 2022 the festival was held from Friday 7th to Friday 14th October. The guest poets who participated were: Karla Brundage (USA), Yolanda Castano (Spain), Chrys Salt (Scotland), Richard Macfarlane (Scotland), Gili Haimovich (Israel), Turczi István (Hungary), Niels Frank Alvarado (Denmark), Miss Sudipta Banerjee (India), Maria Dixen (Denmark), & Prof. Dr. Laksmisree Banerjee (India).
In 2022, the festival also published two important publications:
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The yearly festival magazine:
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The anthology of poems written by participating poets in the festival, since 2013:
Next year’s festival will take place on Friday 6th to 13th October 2023, when the festival will be celebrating its 10th year, to celebrate that Kistrech Poetry Festival will prepare an anthology of poems by those who will attend next year’s event. Those who will not be able to attend can also send in their poems. Each poet will be required to send two poems, less than 30 lines each, and a bio of 200 words. Subject: Kistrech Anthology 2023. Send the poems to: festival@kistrechpoetry.org
The project is part of the subtheme Connect not divide.
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Kistrech Poetry Festival
Kistrech International Poetry Festival in Kenya is currently the most popular and largest literary event in Africa. Started in 2013 by Dr. Christopher Okemwa, its aim is to bring local and international poets together on one platform every year. It promotes poetry, art and cultural exchanges between local and foreign artists. Spoken-word, rap, song, poetry reading, and oral poetry, are featured. Students and upcoming poets, especially those from Africa, have benefitted a lot from this festival: Several of them have had their poems published by reputed magazines and literary journals. Others have published their poems in book form with reputed publishers. Through the festival, some local poets have received invitations to attend international poetry festivals. Several student-poets have landed scholarships to study abroad, courtesy of the Kistrech Poetry Festival. MA & PhD students of literature in Kenyan Universities get the opportunity to learn of foreign authors and their literary works that they didn’t know existed. Academic papers on poetry and related genres that are presented by guest poets, alongside the festival activities, benefit the post-graduate students in Kenya.
