Alexander Nderitu is a poet, novelist, and playwright from Kenya, East Africa. Coincidentally, my birthday is on 23rd April, the same day as William Shakespeare’s birthday and UNESCO’s World Book and Copyright Day. In addition to writing fiction, I am a literary and theatre critic and a promoter of progressive rap music.
PB: You are regarded by many in the publishing sector as one of the pioneers of digital books in Africa. You released your first e-book in 2001. To begin, how would you define an e-book, and what was the origin of your initiative?
AN: An e-book is simply a book in digital rather than printed form. Many people consider me an African pioneer in the e-book space because I published my first novel, When the Whirlwind Passes, online in 2001. The backstory is quite interesting. I had written two novel manuscripts during my college years, but at the time, publishing leisure reading material in Kenya was extremely difficult. Most local publishers focused almost exclusively on educational content. But I wasn’t interested in producing textbooks—I wanted to entertain, to write thrillers like the ones I grew up reading.
I subscribed to two international writing magazines, and through them, I learnt about the emerging world of e-books. IT companies were beginning to offer conversion services, and authors like Stephen King were experimenting with digital releases. In the UK, Patricia Le Roy had even been shortlisted for the Booker Prize for her e-book Angels of Russia—a landmark moment for digital literature.
