I was delighted to read that my fellow writer and friend Mutahi Miricho had visited the home of the late Wahome Mutahi and met his mother, Octavia Muthoni.
This is the woman who was affectionately known as Appep. She featured prominently in the popular column her son used to write. The visit appealed to me for two reasons.
First, it was an act of remembering one of Kenya's finest satirists. Secondly, it brought to mind the possibilities of cultural tourism and the preservation of literary memory.
I have been thinking of the place of artists in our society. As you are aware, I am currently in Bayreuth, Germany, serving as the fourth Cluster Chronicler of the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth.
My responsibility is to observe and reflect on the intellectual and cultural life of the Cluster. Being here has also allowed me to reflect on how societies treat those who create their cultural worlds.
One thing has struck me about Bayreuth. There is visible investment in preserving cultural memory. Just recently, I spent a day at the Richard Wagner Museum with my namesake, Kabaji Egara, who had travelled from London to visit me and experience the artistic heritage of this German university city.
