Kids & Teens

Khole and Other Untold Stories from Africa, an anthology of short stories, is based on Chinua Achebe’s postulation about the need for African writers to refrain from Afropolitan rejection of African subjects. This would enable audiences to taste “the balance of stories of the world’s peoples” because, for centuries, readers had been served with a single Western story. The contributors in this collection return to the African past and explore positive attributes of African culture. Nyongesa’s Khole explores the potential of African spiritual healing in contrast to modern medicine. Muruli Muhandi, in When Kumtoto Dances, is on the pre-eminence of African spirituality as personified in altars that are of great influence in African lives. Robert Rotich’s My Grandfather’s Old Coin is on Kipsisgis marriage rites, while Felix Okuku explores the impact of the spiritual among the Mijikenda of Kenya. The stories, as well as the others in this collection, affirm Edward Blyden’s postulation that African peoples are destined to make an outstanding spiritual contribution to the world. What Others Say Khole and Other Stories from Africa is an invaluable textual artifact that preserves the rich oral traditions of African societies. It is a platform for historically marginalized voices and celebrates the resilience of African epistemologies in the face of relentless cultural imperialism. The anthology challenges readers to engage with the complexities of African spiritual and cultural systems, offering insights that transcend mere folkloric appreciation and delve into the deeper philosophical underpinnings of African life. - Prof. John Mugubi, Kenyatta University.