James Murua is a Kenyan blogger, journalist and media consultant, who has written for a variety of media outlets. He is a former columnist for the The Star newspaper in Kenya, leaving to become a full-time blogger.[1]
In 2013, he founded a website – James Murua.com – that became the leading online platform covering the African literary scene.[2][3] In 2023, the website was renamed to writingafrica.com.[4] Murua explained: "The name change had been something that I had thought about for many years. The actual change was however forced on me as the company that I had outsourced the hosting component of my business had an internal falling out. With the owners abandoning the company, staffers set up a separate company and moved as many of their clients as they could to a new internet host. In that melee, I lost some of my websites including JamesMurua.com which lapsed in the interim to the move. Lucky for me, my company had already saved my content on a separate server and all I needed was register a new domain and start again."[4] Murua also established a YouTube channel as a space for African literature on the web.[5]
Biography
James Murua was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya.[6] He made his debut as a blogger in 2009 with a (now defunct) blog called Nairobiliving.com,[7] and went on to work for The Star newspaper, serving for five years as editor and as a columnist for nine, being voted "Columnist of the Year" in 2009.[8] He has also contributed to Management Magazine (Kenya), The Daily Nation (Kenya), The Nairobian (Kenya), DigifyAfrica.com (South Africa), Johannesburg Review of Books (South Africa),[9] and Africa Independent (South Africa).
He has taken part in international book fairs and has conducted workshops on blogging and social media in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi. He has also been a media consultant for the Goethe Institut, Nairobi.[10]
In 2020, Murua served as a judge for the Caine Prize for African Writing,[11] and he was the founding chairman of the Kendeka Prize for African Writing, "the richest independent literary prize for fiction in East Africa".[12]
Selected articles
- "Dispatch from Conakry: James Murua attends the 2017 World Book Capital celebrations", Johannesburg Review of Books, 5 June 2017.
- "Remembering Binyavanga", The Elephant, 21 May 2020.
References
- ^ Hofele, Hans (8 August 2022). "Centering Black Literature: An Interview with James Murua". Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ Obiabunmo, Precious (14 October 2020). "James Murua Adapts African Literature to the Ever-evolving Space of Digital Content Creation". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ Norton, Cliffordene (30 April 2020). "Afrolit Sans Frontières: An interview with Zukiswa Wanner". litnet.co.za. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ a b Ghosh, Kuhelika (19 June 2023). "James Murua's African Literature Website Renamed WritingAfrica.Com". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ "Writing Africa" – via YouTube.
- ^ Gachango, Rayhab (2 September 2015). "Man Around Nairobi: James Murua". Potentash. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ "James Murua on Literary Publicity and Capturing New Voices: An Interview". MeharaLit. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ Olopade, Olusegun (4 November 2023). "The Toyin Falola Interviews: James Murua to join the Panel Discussion on African Literature, November 12, 2023". Google Groups. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ "Author: James Murua". The Johannesburg Review of Books. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ "About". WritingAfrica.com. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ "2020 Judges". The Caine Prize.
- ^ "James Murua to join the Panel Discussion on African Literature, November 12, 2023". Kabura Zakama Randomised. 4 November 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
External links
- "Blogger Spotlight: James Murua Literature Blog", Mary Okeke Reviews, 23 October 2016.
- Writing African podcast
This page was last edited on 15 January 2024, at 19:52