TOKYO – African literary voices are set to take centre stage in Tokyo this October as Kenyan writer Troy Onyango and Nigerian author Onyeka Nwelue prepare to headline the 2025 Tokyo African Literature Festival (TALF). The four-day event, scheduled from October 2 to 5, will also feature renowned Nigerian academic and novelist, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo.
The festival brings together writers, poets, scholars, translators, and readers from Africa, the diaspora, and Asia to explore African literature, memory, and the imagined futures being crafted by storytellers across the continent.
TALF is the first African literary festival of its kind to be hosted in Japan. Organisers say Tokyo’s multicultural growth and literary openness made it a natural venue for such an exchange.
This year’s theme, Reclaiming Memory, Imagining Worlds, encourages participants to delve into how African stories traverse languages, geography, and generations, while asking what futures are being created by today’s writers.
Festival-goers can expect a packed programme of author readings, keynote lectures, film screenings, book fairs, panel discussions, and craft workshops. Events tailored for youth and community groups will include storytelling sessions, open mics, and cultural showcases.
Troy Onyango, founder of Lolwe, a Pan-African literary platform and bookshop, brings a decade of literary achievements to the festival. His debut story collection, For What Are Butterflies Without Their Wings, published in 2022, has earned him praise from literary critics and fellow writers alike. Onyango has appeared in global publications such as TIME and Prairie Schooner, and was previously a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Writing. He currently sits on the judging panel of the 2026 International Booker Prize.
Joining him is Onyeka Nwelue, a prolific Nigerian writer and filmmaker whose book The Strangers of Braamfontein won the Crime Fiction Lovers’ Award. Known for his cross-genre approach, Nwelue has authored more than 40 books and held academic positions at Oxford, Cambridge, and Ohio University. His recent novel The Nigerian Mafia: Mumbai is being adapted for the screen by Indian filmmaker Ramesh Raparthy.
Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, a celebrated scholar who has taught at top institutions in Nigeria, the UK, and South Africa, will also feature. A three-time head of the English Department at the University of Lagos, she has published widely across genres and was recognised with the Best Researcher Award in the Arts and Humanities by the same institution.
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