Kenya: Authors Say Declining Book Sales Demotivating Aspiring Writers

Thika — A number of authors from Thika have complained that only a few people were buying their books saying it was demotivating and would affect the future of writing in the country.

Led by Andrew Maina, an award winning author who has authored ‘I am listening’ book they said it was heartbreaking for authors to use their time and resources to write books only for them to stay unpurchased in the bookshops for years.

Speaking while launching two of his books in Thika town Sunday, Maina said in some instances, the demotivation had forced some authors to give up in writing.

“The number of books lying in bookshops unpurchased is worrying yet they have important information that the author wishes to pass. All that is needed is to develop a serious reading culture as is in developed countries,” he said.

He said the reading culture can be boosted by inculcating reading lessons in the education syllabus to help future writers as well as help students grow their writing skills.

Maina said allowing students to only read materials for examination purposes limited their reading and writing abilities for would-be authors. “This generation is more inclined to audiovisual materials and this is slowly making writing valueless. This culture needs to change,” he said.

His sentiments were echoed by Laikipia University Lecturer Prof Paul Kamau who said poor reading cultures posed a big danger to future generations who are passionate in writing.

Kamau said reading is adored in developed countries as a lot of solutions to today’s challenges lie in books and called on the youth to adopt the reading culture in order to get more information.

On her part, Margaret Waithira, a scholar called on the Education Ministry to reintroduce traditional languages in the school syllabus so as to teach people of their culture.

She said vernacular lessons would help the many media people who eye to work for the many vernacular radio and TV stations in the country.

They spoke over the weekend in Thika, Kiambu County during the launch of two books titled ‘I am listening’ and ‘Ihua wa Riua’ authored by Andrew Maina. – Kna