Nairobi will host Africa Forward Fest 2026 from May 7 to 10 at Alliance Française Nairobi. The festival will feature publishers, writers, educators, performers, and readers from Africa and beyond.
Organised by Alliance Française Nairobi in collaboration with eKitabu, the festival puts Nairobi at the centre of conversations about the future of African literature and publishing.
eKitabu will focus on helping African stories reach more readers across different languages and markets. It will also support the travel and participation of publishers from across Africa to encourage collaboration in the industry.
“Across Africa, we are seeing an explosion of talent, stories, and publishing energy. But for that momentum to become real impact, those stories need to move across borders and languages, and into the hands of more readers,” said Will Clurman, CEO of eKitabu.
The four-day programme will include publisher and translation roundtables on rights, circulation, and work across languages, including a session moderated by writer and literary translator Edwige Dro from Côte d’Ivoire.
There will also be sessions for readers through book club discussions and networking events to build reading communities. Poetry, performance, and open mic sessions will feature both established and new voices.
A highlight will be a stage adaptation of After 4.30 by writer David G. Maillu, published under eKitabu’s Mvua Press imprint. First staged in 2025, the production represents the growing interest in bringing African books to the stage.
The festival will also host the second edition of the Prix de l’édition jeunesse africaine, started by eKitabu in 2025. The prize recognises French-language children’s publishing in Africa and helps bridge Francophone and Anglophone literary markets.
The programme will also include a book launch for Mwikali and the Forbidden Mask by Shiko Nguru, together with book discussions and book club sessions.
Evening events will feature conversations, theatre, and performance, while weekend sessions will explore new topics such as the role of artificial intelligence in writing. The festival will end with creative workshops.