Nancy Mburu’s project for the 2023 Jack Straw Writers Program is a novel titled Sauti, which translates to The Voice. The novel follows a performing poet named Nuru, who loses her voice when she immigrates to the United States from Kenya. In her conversation with curator Priscilla Long, she talks about how she first started writing fiction, how being trilingual enhances her writing, and where she sees her work in 5 years. “Sometimes I bring it up in my own writing . . . I saw this really nice way this writer did, but it was in a Swahili book, and I haven’t seen it in an English book. So I do think it does bring a lot.”

Music by Bryan Smith, produced through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.