WHY WRITERS MUST READ
 What is the place for Literature in the 21st century Kenya? What is its position in the country? Several people have lamented, bewailing on this platform that Literature is dying because it has been relegated to scholarship. Simply put, people rarely do read for pleasure : and if they read, they do read for exams. No wonder critics have bemoaned the fact that most current writings lack creativity whatsoever. I opine that it is only through reading that we can solve this problem. Sir Francis Bacon, the father of English essays, writes in his essay Of Studies that, “Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament is in discourse (conversation); and for ability, is in judgment and disposition of business.” He also adds, “read not contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider…” Thus, truth be told, reading is a way of emancipating yourself from the falsehoods acquired.
 Wole Soyinka believes that every work of art has elements of craftsmanship in them, and it is only in reading that you can acquire these strands. I am not suggesting that one should write like V. S. Naipaul for instance, what I mean is that Naipaul has a way of presenting the Caribbean problems through the use of humour, and it is only when you read him that you will know how to use humour to present the challenges facing Kenyans. In a nutshell, I do not believe that one can be a good writer without reading.
 T. S. Eliot in Tradition and Individual Talent writes, “… (Tradition) cannot be inherited and if you want it, you must obtain it with great labour… (That is, through reading)” Orocho Jakojwaya