Meet the Writers

Natasha Muhanji is an emerging author from Kenya. Her work  has been previously featured in literary magazines and collectives  including SecondSkin Mag and Synergy Collective (sxynergy.com).  Her pieces are mostly dramatic monologues with a tweak of prose  primarily arising from repeated thought patterns and intense soliloquies.  Her work generally explores the relationship between the extremes of  human emotion and the absurdity of life's experiences in different  degrees and with diverse influences in the literature world. She is  currently doing her undergrad at the University of Nairobi and besides  writing, she also enjoys gaming and reading novels and comic books.  In our book, she has written a piece called An Ode to Bathroom Sinkholes and the Scalding Afternoon Sun.

Yvonne Wanja Mwangi is a 21-year-old currently taking her undergraduate course at the University of Nairobi. She is an upcoming writer whose main ideas stream from diverse life analogies and their integration to mundane human experiences. With a passion for storytelling and a natural gift for weaving together vivid characters and settings, Yvonne crafts compelling short stories in a monological, poetic and satirical manner. Her work often explores themes of human nature, death, relationships, and personal growth; drawing on both personal experiences and observations of the world around her. Aside from writing, Yvonne is a lover of philosophy who spends time debating the essence of life. She also enjoys reading books and her main influence is Stephen Chbosky. Wanja is also talented in coding, data analysis, and basically mathematics; in all its forms. She believes that it is impossible to be a mathematician without being a poet in soul.

My mama always told us that the sky is not the limit. Dream, pray, do. Writing came to me as naturally as breathing and I have never looked back since. I enjoy cooking, reading and socialising as much too. My writing style is controlled by experiences in my daily life, whether mine or someone else's; past, present and future. My emotions, friendships and even the music I listen to. Inspiration comes from the world around me. I prefer free verse and prose because it always feels like I am writing letters, and of course I love letters especially handwritten ones so every time I scribble a few lines, it always ends up being a letter to a piece of my heart. So far I have only written on my instagram inconsistently but in my books, daily.

My name is Ryan Kiruri and I am 21 years of age, studying Computer Science at Strathmore University. I love writing, drawing, singing and gaming in my free time. I have no other works as of now but I will update as soon as possible.

Amanda Nechesa is a fiction writer and poet from Nairobi, Kenya. Her work has been featuredin WSA-K , Kikwetu Journal, and Salamander Ink magazine. When she is not writing, you will find Amanda dreaming about what to write next.

I have a penchant for the unknown, I am a curious person whose hunger for knowledge is always insatiable. I want to know everything if that was possible, but alas I only have one life. I wish I was a cat.9 lives would do me a lot of good. Psychology and the human mind are generally my forte, the subconscious and the unconscious. I have written about chaos, psychedelics, our shadow self, and many more others.

Ngei Sheila Kaleche is a twenty five year old living and writing from Kenya. She is an Arts Student at the University of Nairobi under the departments of History, Kiswahili and Literature. Her first published short story appears here in the Qwani Anthology. Purely in words, she hopes to decode and record as much of her world as she possibly can.

Occupation: Geospatial Information Science and Remote Sensing Undergraduate Student at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology

Extended roles: Communication and IT Director at YouthUp Global, Kenya.

Passion/ hobbies: A GIS and RS Enthusiast, youth empowerment advocate, youth leadership promoter and SDGs advocate. Previous appearances and performances: Written for Youthup Global magazine on youth unemployment, performed at several stages and platforms especially the Inspired edition 1-5 of Coffee and Poetry, out of Africa Film Festival edition, KIPPRA Universities Mentorship Programme and many other programmes.

Areas of Interest: Nature, societal ills, politics, love, and environment.

Inspiration: I write on these topics because I experience them first hand and can easily relate to them. I have also experienced them first hand.

Lewis-Miller Kaphira is a young freelance writer and journalist who likes to describe himself as a bohemian. He is hell-bent on telling very Kenyan stories in a very Kenyan way. In our book he has written a piece called "Diaries Of A Strong Boy"

Pleasure to meet you dear reader. I believe one of my duties, assigned by yours truly, is to document various phenomena and thoughts that I come across and find interesting. By profession, I subscribe to software engineering though I consider myself somewhat of a computer scientist. I tend to lurk in dark silent places with minimal human interaction so I wouldn't blame you for thinking that I am a vampire. However, that would be ironic as I am from the Coast, which isn't known for it's cold. Aside from isolation, I love books and indulging in self-destructive behaviour. I have no social media handles (I promise I am not a serial killer, or am I?) but you can reach me at my email.

A hopeless romantic convinced she's a starving artist in 1920s New York/ Paris. I love writing about love stories that induce existential crises, I have religious trauma and it translates into my art.

Writing to me means a whole lot more than just putting two and two together, it's More of a purpose than a skill. I like to think of life as a book , myself a pen and the World as a space to make the most out of my pen. I am Makia and i am delighted to indulge you in my safe space. 

As an avid writer, Muinde has dedicated their life to exploring the deepest questions of existence that are found in the most basic interactions that we are subconsciously aware of yet consciously oblivious to. With a wide range of philosophical traditions and perspectives, he has written extensively on topics such as ethics, epistemology and the philosophy of axiology. He runs a blog while doing ghostwriting and hopes that his writings open up the eyes of everyone that comes across them to the basics, to the things you think you know but don't understand.

Hello there! I'm Stephanie Mukami, a Computer Science student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and an aspiring full stack engineer. I am deeply fascinated by modern media and the trends in both arts (music and film) and pop culture. I dissect my views on all of these areas and more through my blog – The Blue Notepad and a podcast which I co-host called Girls & A Pod. I hope to continue sharing the stories of talented youth to a wider audience. I usually spend my free time hanging out with my friends and watching sitcoms.

I wrote two pieces;a poem titled 'Love?!' And a blog titled "Curiosity killing the cat and whatnot'. I'm a lover of all 3 categories of art. And I practice a couple. Some like music are my first love and others like drawing, poetry and stories have been an escape to another world, a beautiful world. I enjoy both indoor and outdoor activities. I'm usually introverted but when duty calls or I find myself surrounded by friends&family then you might mistake me for an extrovert. Just like how good and bad balance each other out.I'm what they refer to as an ambivert. And that's just the beginning of the paradox that is me

I am an afrocentric. I love philosophy. I love thinking. My philosophy tends to mostly delve into existentialism. I think I am a complex conjugate of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, Victor Frankl and Franz Kafka, an encapsulation of greatness yet I still don't know myself. I had submitted a sports article titled 'WHERE IS PATRIOTISM?'

I am 21 years old and I am currently a student of both life and International Studies. I enjoy listening to music and reading a vast variety of literature, especially poetry. I love writing about my personal life experiences,opinions and random thoughts that come about in my mind.

I write about philosophy, Astrophysics, and conspiracy theories. I hope you enjoy reading.

My relationship with words is heavily influenced by emotions. The soft and savage, shameful and beautiful, strong and exquisite and the fragile and unnamed taboos to normalcy. In my work, I want to cross your self imposed boundaries in every way possible by relating these emotions to the human experience. To make you understand, empathize, sympathize and relate to every little emotion shaped into a word. Frankly speaking, I aim to violate your sensibilities and make you FEEL. Mbakaya Marion is a young Kenyan writer who is currently an undergraduate student of Electronics and Computer Engineering. She is a lover of love in all the ways it presents itself, say art, music, food, culture and films among others. She is currently running a blog on wordpress where she aims to document feelings influenced by life as short stories she refers to as emotional writing.

Wayne Nyakeirura is a final year Civil Engineering student at the University of Nairobi. He enjoys engineering (nature in all its forms). He believes water is not wet and chooses to live with alternative truths because life is just way more interesting that way. Internationally he is known as a word contortionist (don't look that up, it's factual). His goal? To paint vivid pictures with both words and numbers. This Qwani piece is his first published work and promises more is yet to come.

Just as the name suggests, Jazz is a force of nature that lights up every room she enters. Her skills have been mainly utilized in the editorial section of the book, however her skills go far beyond that. Jazz fosters creativity that allows her to have ideas on every field she attempts, making her a true enigma.

I like to create and indulge in the simpler pleasures of existence-food, art, music, literature- so sign me up and join in! After all, I am a woman, aren't I?