Kingwa Kamencu

Vendor Biography

Kingwa Kamencu is a multiple award winning writer and poet based in Kenya. Her published works include My Soul Begins to Flower: Poetry (Blackstar Press, 2025), Women Kingmakers: Operationalizing a Politics of Care (Badili Africa, 2024), The Shy Girl (Oxford University Press, Nairobi, 2010), and To Grasp at a Star (EAEP, Nairobi, 2005).  The novella To Grasp at a Star won three major Kenyan awards at its inception (the National Book Development Council Manuscript Award, The Wahome Mutahi Prize and the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature) and is currently on the Kenyan secondary school syllabus recommended reading list. She has also published poetry and short stories in varied anthologies. She has also written scripts for popular television programmes Stay (K24), and Madame President (YouTube, Facebook).

Having had a highly fulfilling career as an arts and culture journalist for more than ten years, she set up a firm Blackstar Media to further spotlight and highlight the work of the creative scene; and a non-profit organization, Culture and Communication in Development, to give support to enable the wellbeing and sustainability of creatives. Financial literacy, institutional support training, and wellness training programs have been some of the most recent projects run to this end. She holds an MSt in Creative Writing and an MSc in African Studies from the University of Oxford, UK, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar.