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 international book fairs and has conducted workshops on blogging and social media in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi and has 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

References

  1. ↑ Hofele, Hans (8 August 2022). "Centering Black Literature: An Interview with James Murua". Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ Norton, Cliffordene (30 April 2020). "Afrolit Sans Frontières: An interview with Zukiswa Wanner". litnet.co.za. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 Ghosh, Kuhelika (19 June 2023). "James Murua's African Literature Website Renamed WritingAfrica.Com". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Writing Africa" – via YouTube.
  6. ↑ Gachango, Rayhab (2 September 2015). "Man Around Nairobi: James Murua". Potentash. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "James Murua on Literary Publicity and Capturing New Voices: An Interview". MeharaLit. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ "Author: James Murua". The Johannesburg Review of Books. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "About". WritingAfrica.com. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "2020 Judges". The Caine Prize.
  12. ↑ "James Murua to join the Panel Discussion on African Literature, November 12, 2023". Kabura Zakama Randomised. 4 November 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.


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