| Kenya Literature Bureau | |
| Former Name: | East African Literature Bureau |
| Type: | State owned corporation |
| Industry: | Publishing house |
| Predecessors: | --> |
| Successors: | --> |
| Founder: | British High Commission |
| Hq Location City: | Nairobi |
| Hq Location Country: | Kenya |
| Areas Served: | --> |
| Owners: | --> |
The Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) is a publishing house and state corporation in Kenya founded in 1947. It is located in South-C off Popo Road in Nairobi.
The Kenya Literature Bureau was initially established by the "East Africa governments (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda)"[1] in 1947 as the East African Literature Bureau as an "offshoot" of the missionary-owned Ndia Kuu Press in order to publish books for the general public in Kiswahili, East African vernacular languages and English.[2] [3] The Bureau's first director was Charles Granston Richards, who held that post for fifteen years.[4] [5]
The regional status continued after independence with the establishment of the East African Community (EAC). In the early 1970s the Bureau published many pioneering anthologies of English-language poetry from East Africa: However, in 1977, the EAC collapsed and the reins of the bureau were transferred to the Kenyan Ministry of Education thereby making it a department under that ministry. In 1980, the KLB Act was passed by the Kenyan Parliament making it a state corporation—a status it holds to this day.[3]