Conversation with Kinyanjui Kombani ,author of Den of Inequities and others.
“How did you find this book?”
I really liked it!really did
“And if I was to change anything on it,what would it be?”
Maybe the length?make it longer.
That is how our conversation started.It had been my first time having a one on one with any author.My happiness was unexplainable,even though I had been abit nervous,all went well.
I must say,Author Kombani is a really planned man regarding to the way he mentioned about his upcoming stories and how he releases a book after the other.
“The trick is to work with more than one publisher “
His stories have been published by different houses and been sold up to China!!His particular book,den of Inequities is actually 4 stories in one.The author says he wasn’t able to publish the short stories independently due to the kenyan industry back then so decided to incorporate them into one story. Added more aspects and Aileen story’s to make it whole.
The dominant theme is about Police brutality here in Kenya. He opens our eyes to relatable issues affecting us in our daily livelihood.One of his characters also portrays how the court system is corrupt and that only people of class matter.He goes on to say that everything recorded in this book is what is happening today.
Den of Inequities is not a lengthy book but it will keep you at it till the last page.I read it in one sitting.
“Meja Mwangi is my mentor,I hope to meet him one day.”
This statement made me leap,I am also a big fan of Meja’s works and having to share the same mentor really warmed my heart.
“My works are mirrored to Meja’s”
Author Kombani praises Meja for his exemplary works and says that most of his writing are inspired by him.What a joy!I hope I will meet both of them soon.
~Sir,could you comment on the reading Culture here in Kenya?~
“It’s not entirely true that Kenyans don’t read, I think the main issue is the distribution of books and the right mentality about reading. Kenyans will only read when asked to.”
“Oh true!”
“Yes,and another reason is because books are expensive to purchase.The government has issued high taxes on the books,for example,den of Inequities should go for 400Kshs but due to taxes it goes for 600kshs.”This is what I fail to understand honestly..books should be cheap as beer!!Author Kombani also says that our books aren’t promoted well like in other countries.”
~Tell us about Publishing in Kenya~
“It is not easy if you’re writing fiction books because they’re less chances to get a house that will publish your book and give it a push.You only get a high chance if you’re writing a book that would be used as a textbook or a set books in schools. Children books also do sell well than adult books.—-but I am glad there’s new publishing houses that work on fiction.This book was published in a year because the author had a base and experience in the publishing industry. After publishing The last villains of Molo,his first novel ,getting other books out got easy.
I’m glad I got to learn a lot from the author!The Kenyan Readathon is ongoing 🇰🇪check out @kreadathon on Twitter or @lexa_wendy on Instagram to get all the updates.Happy reading!🇰🇪😊
Lexa lubanga 
Leave a comment