Destination: Kenya
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Books
Reading about Kenya could take a lifetime, with everything from fiction to memoirs and social analysis covering the country. These favourites encompass the broad spectrum of Kenyan writing and writing on Kenya.
Mzungu Boy (2005) Meja Mwangi
Petals of Blood (1977) Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Flame Trees of Thika (2000) Elspeth Huxley
I Laugh So I Won’t Cry: Kenya’s Women Tell the Stories of Their Lives (2005) ed. Helena Halperin
A Primate’s Memoir (2004) Robert M Sapolsky
The In-Between World of Vikram Lall (2005) MG Vassanji
Tick Bite Fever (2004) David Bennun
The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience (2005) Wangari Maathai
Wildlife Wars: My Battle to Save Kenya’s Elephants (2002) Richard Leakey
The Tree Where Man Was Born (1972) Peter Matthiessen
Films
Kenya’s spectacular landscapes have made it a magnet for film-makers from across the globe, serving as a backdrop for a thousand human stories. This selection highlights a blend of fact and fiction, bringing together Hollywood and Nairobi’s disparate approaches to the medium.
Nowhere in Africa (2002) Director: Caroline Link
Enough is Enough (2005) Director: Kibaara Kaugi
Safari ya Jamhuri (Road to Freedom; 2003) Director: Wanjiru M. Njendu
Africa, the Serengeti (1994) Director: George Casey
The Constant Gardener (2005) Director: Fernando Meirelles
Babu’s Babies (2003) Director: Christine Bala
The Oath (2004) Director: Nathan Collett
14 Million Dreams (2003) Director: Miles Roston
Born Free (1966) Director: James Hill
Out of Africa (1985) Director: Sydney Pollack
Photo Books
Kenya has provided a fertile field of inspiration for generations of photographers, and in many Nairobi bookshops you can’t move for glossy pictorial tomes showcasing every aspect of the country’s geographical and cultural marvels. These are just some of the best examples.
Africa Adorned (1984) Angela Fisher
Shootback (2000) ed. Lana Wong
African Ark (1990) Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher
Maasai (1990) Tepilit Ole Saitoti and Carol Beckwith
Turkana: Kenya’s Nomads of the Jade Sea (1997) Nigel Pavitt
African Visions: Diary of an African Photographer (2001) Mirella Ricciardi
This Is Kenya (2005) Jean Hartley
Journey Through Kenya (1994) Mohammed Amin, Duncan Willets and Brian Tetley
Through Open Doors: A View of Asian Cultures in Kenya (1983) Cynthia Salvadori
African Ceremonies (1999) Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher
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