Meet Wanjiru Koinange.
A cultural powerhouse and literary strategist — part preservationist, part provocateur. A writer who doesn’t just pen stories but revives the spaces they’re born in. From reimagining Nairobi’s historic libraries to shaking up global stages, she blends vision with gritty execution. Whether fundraising, festival building, or archival resurrection, she leads with heart, hustle, and heritage. The kind of leader who asks hard questions and chases sustainable solutions- all while making time to sharpen a keynote, secure a board, or charm a room full of funders. Wanjiru wears many hats, but every one of them says: “Let’s build something meaningful.”
The text above was generated by artificial intelligence. Keep scrolling for Wanjiru’s full, human-generated biography below.
Biography
Wanjiru Koinange is an award-winning writer, library restorer, and entrepreneur from Nairobi, Kenya. Her debut novel, The Havoc of Choice, was published in the UK (2019) and Kenya (2020), where it became a national bestseller from 2020 to 2024. The novel, which explores the human cost of Kenya’s 2007 post-election crisis, has been described as “one of the best accounts of the new Africa in years.” It was translated into Arabic in 2022 and re-issued in the UK in 2023.
Wanjiru’s writing has appeared in journals and magazines across the continent, including Chimurenga, SlipNet, and Commonwealth Writers, where she served as a cultural correspondent for East and Southern Africa. In 2015, she published a piece about Kenya’s second-oldest library, McMillan Memorial Library. This story went on to spark something much bigger.
That spark became Book Bunk, the independent non-profit she co-founded to restore and manage Nairobi’s historic public libraries. The Eastlands and Kaloleni branches are now fully renovated, with library usage increasing by over 240% since Book Bunk’s interventions. Their flagship project, the McMillan Memorial Library, is currently the focus of a major fundraising effort. Wanjiru is also the creator of The Climate Change Library, a growing digital archive spotlighting the often siloed climate action happening across Kenya, with dreams of one day giving it a physical home. >>
Wanjiru is a Fellow of the Yale Directors Forum, a highly selective leadership programme for global changemakers in the culture and heritage sector. The fellowship is helping her sharpen her executive edge while plotting new ways to care for and amplify African collections.
Before all this, Wanjiru earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Literature from United States International University and dove headfirst into the music industry, managing some of East Africa’s top artists and producing festivals and events. Later, she completed a Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Cape Town, where The Havoc of Choice was born, prompted by the questions South Africans would often ask about how Kenyans were healing after the 2007 violence.
Wanjiru’s work is rooted in the belief that art can be a powerful catalyst for social change. She is a proud lover of forests and plants trees to offset the environmental cost of printing her book because stories should grow something, too.
Wanjiru was born on a farm on the outskirts of Nairobi, where she currently lives and works anchored by her close-knit family and phenomenal friends.
Explore Wanjiru’s Work…
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The Havoc of Choice.
Through one family's experience, The Havoc of Choice is a gripping novel that explores the personal and political consequences of corruption, silence, and the difficult journey toward healing in a nation on the brink. Available in East Africa, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere.
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Book Bunk.
Book Bunk is a Kenyan nonprofit working to restore Nairobi’s historic public libraries and reimagine them as inclusive spaces for learning, culture, and community. By transforming neglected library infrastructure into vibrant public resources, Book Bunk connects people with knowledge, heritage, and one another.
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Climate Change Library
This is a resource for people who want to do something about climate change but don’t know where to start. The digital repository that documents and showcases climate action across Kenya seeks to foster collaboration and inspire a more connected, community-driven response to the climate crisis.
A little more information….
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Download this PDF with a little more detail about Wanjiru’s work. Updated frequently (ish).
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A good place to start if you want to book an interview. (Needs an update, check back soon)
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She has bills. Updated frequently. (Download Rate Card here)
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Because the internet is forever. Please credit the photographers
(Colour Portrait) (B&W Portrait) (Action Shot) (Official Author Photo)