Troy Onyango is the founder of Lowle, a new literary magazine launched in January 2020. A Kenyan writer, editor and lawyer, his work has been published in several literary platforms. He is the winner of the inaugural Nyanza Literary Festival Prize and first runner-up in the Black Letter Media Competition. He has also been shortlisted for the Short Story Day Africa Prize, the Brittle Paper Awards, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Here, he talks about Lolwe’s focus, his writing journey, awards, and more. Excerpts:
What was the major trigger for establishing a literary magazine at this time?
The African literary space has benefited from literary magazines like Saraba, Chimurenga, Jalada, Bakwa, JRB, Kwani?, and many others. All of them have worked to achieve different things while promoting African literature, and yet, there’s still more spaces needed as more voices need to be amplified. Lolwe comes in to complement and supplement that work being done by these magazines. Curating work has always been an interest of mine and it is my way of giving back to the African literary scene which has been so generous to me and has contributed to my growth as a writer. Through Lolwe, the hope is that more voices can be heard and we can all together build an even more vibrant literary community.
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