In a world where voices fade and stories are swallowed by the shadows of progress, AudioBook Masters was born from a longing to return to the flickering warmth of the communal fire, where tales once breathed life into the darkness and the echoes of our ancestors' voices found new purpose.
Two high school friends, bound by a shared reverence for the rhythm of spoken words and the ancient cadence of African storytelling, dreamed of a space where voices would become bridges across generations. This dream was not born in silence but in the quiet certainty that each word spoken could carry the weight of a thousand memories, and each story told could heal the fractures of forgotten truths.
Hangwi and Bonolo met in 2008 when they were both in grade 9, but strengthened their bond in grade 10 following an unprecedented reshuffling of students from the 8 different houses (classes) in their grade.
"As fate would have it they both found themselves in Cameron, where their day-to-day engagements blossomed into an award-winning play in their final year."
Instead of focusing on the exit exams, they decided to write, direct, and perform in a school play competition. Despite competing against the teachers who taught them speech and drama, there was something inside the two friends that resonated and deeply captivated the audience. Their play, The Wedding, won all the awards at the competition, winning best play and best script, with Hangwi winning best supporting actor, and Bonolo best actor. Their young storytelling journey had only just begun.
Drawing Inspiration from African Literary Giants
Drawing inspiration from the timeless oral traditions of our continent and the legacy of those who dared to craft new worlds from words, like Thomas Mofolo, whose Chaka remains an indelible monument to African pride or the deep captivating imagery espoused by the writing of Credo Vusamazulu Mutwa, we resolved to continue honoring the voices that shaped us.
We wanted to craft audiobooks that did more than echo on a device. We wanted to weave tapestries of sound that listeners could inhabit—tapestries stitched together with the vibrant threads of African languages, folklore, and dreams.
So we began, not as a business alone, but as keepers of an ancient promise: to let stories sing once more. Our journey is a tribute to the richness of African culture, to the storytellers who came before, and to the voices waiting to be heard.
At AudioBook Masters, every whisper and every word is an invitation to see through your ears, to find yourself in the stories that shape our world, to learn from your soul, and to listen to your imagination!