The day was Saturday 20th July 2024 and all roads led to the Alliance Francaise Multimedia Library. The occasion — “Seeing Our Sisters” anthology book launch. I found myself there because I am a writer and things like book launches are like The Oscars to us. The other reason I was there is because I am a long-term fan of one of the writers in the book, Rehema Zuberi, whose writing always hits too close to home for me.
But before I say much about the exemplary event, a little context about the book. Seeing Our Sisters is an anthology of ten stories by six writers — Munira Hussein, Rehema Zuberi (ResH), Joanna Cockerline, Ellah Hallets, Hellen Mwololo and Jacque Nzioka (TJ). The six, all female and who prefer not to be referred to as madams, are part of a group called Girlship.
The Girlship started as a way of connecting and bonding with friends, and slowly, since all the friends in the group were writers, it transformed into a body of work we were celebrating on Saturday. On the back cover of Seeing Our Sisters, the anthology is described as:
“Seeing Our Sisters is an anthology born out of a beloved community, the desire to empower, sisterhood, a belief in the power of story, and what we can do when we come together. This anthology, created by a collective of women whose experiences transcend borders – international, demographic and the ones societal expectations try to impose – is a celebration of diverse voices and visions for what is possible. With stories by acclaimed Kenyan and Canadian authors, who have achieved national and international accolades – alongside exciting new voices – this collection offers a broad spectrum of insights and ways of seeing the world.”
The ten stories in the book, which range from tales of self-realisation to those of leaving homes and finding homes, are a true testament to the mission The Girlship had set out to achieve. At the book launch, which was hosted by the beautiful and bubbly award-winning writer Scholar V Akinyi, the writers introduced each other by reading passages from the stories each had written.
From the introductions they made of each other, which included a brief description of what the other writers did for a living and their personal attributes, it was clear that the bond the Girlship shared was strong. Rehema described Hellen as the person who made her laugh the most, Joanna described Ellah Hallets as a pillar of strength, and TJ described Munira as a wonderful writer.
But more than the strength of their bond, there was some common ground all the excerpts they read shared. In Rehema’s story Learning This Body, for example, the story starts off bold, describing an incident of what seems like two female lovers embracing. This boldness carries on in Munira’s story Seeing Our Sisters, which is also titular to the book and the rest of the other stories in the book.
In the Q&A session, one guest asked if this boldness was predetermined or if it happened naturally. The response from the writers was that since they all led bold lives in both their professions and personal encounters, it was only fitting that this aspect translated into the book. Bold and beautiful writing seemed to be the theme of the day, and the writers, each adorned in spectacular attires, matched the theme perfectly.
Since Seeing Our Sisters is an all-female project, it was only obvious that one of the guests asked if the book was the beginning of the feminist era in Kenyan writing. The question might have come from an innocent point of view, but it rubbed the wrong nerves. First, because Kenyan feminism writing has existed since the era of Barbara Kimenye, Grace Ogot, Marjorie Oludhe, to mention but a few.
Second, all the writers in The Girlship have each accomplished their own share of publications when it came to their own feminist writing. Munira Hussein, who is known for her fiction and poetry, has authored several books including Highland Cactus, Unfit For Society, Curve of Darkness and many others. Rehema Zuberi’s works, which have been published in several journals and who won the Qazini writing contest in 2022, has had successes of her own. And Hellen Mwololo and Jacque Nzioka have each been involved in the writing of the Kenyan curriculum books.
To counter the question, the Girlship clarified that theirs was not a project that was the beginning of feminist writing in Kenya, but rather a continuation of the work all the women who came before them had already set a path of. The answer was a perfect one, and the audience all nodded in agreement.
Nevertheless, there is no denying that The Girlship is a powerful house. Their book Seeing Our Sisters might be the first project the group of close friends have produced, but it is not the last. According to them, they aim to produce more written works under their flagship, and encouraged any female writers to submit their work to their upcoming projects (which they have yet to officially confirm).
The event took an exciting turn when Scholar, the MC of the day, asked guests who had come in late to dance to the now-popular Anguka Nayo song. We laughed as we watched the guests try their best to emulate the TikTok trend. We are Kenyan after all, and if the government has refused to anguka nayo, we might as well find joy in these little moments by dancing to what is now like the official National anthem.
Later on, there was cake. Of course, one cannot go to such an event and not expect cake. The cake was as beautiful as it was tasty. After it was cut, we ate it, we washed it down with the soda, we mingled, we took pictures, and above all, we saw our sisters celebrate their wonderful accomplishment.
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Grab a copy of Seeing Our Sisters anthology at Nuria Bookstore at KSH 1200.
