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Changing Kenya's Literary Landscape

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CHANGING KENYA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE CHANGING KENYA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE Part 2: Past, Present & Future A research paper by Alex Nderitu (www.AlexanderNderitu.com) 09/07/2014 Nairobi, Kenya 1 CHANGING KENYA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE Contents: 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 4 2. Writers in Politics ........................................................................................................ 6 3. A Brief Look at Swahili Literature ....................................................................... 70 - A Taste of Culture - Origins of Kiswahili Lit - Modern Times - The Case for Kiswahili as Africa’s Lingua Franca - Africa the Beautiful 4. JEREMIAH’S WATERS: Why Are So Many Writers Drunkards? ................ 89 5. On Writing ................................................................................................................... 97 - The Greats - The Plot Thickens - Crime & Punishment - Kenyan Scribes 6. Scribbling Rivalry: Writing Families ............................................................... 122 7. Crazy Like a Fox: Humour Writing ................................................................... 128 8. HIGHER LEARNING: Do Universities Kill by Degrees? .............................. 154 - The River Between - Killing Creativity/Entreprenuership - The Importance of Education - Knife to a Gunfight - The Storytelling Gift - The Colour Purple - The Importance of Editors - The Kids are Alright - Kidneys for the King - Libraries - Coming Together 9. Found in Translation ............................................................................................ 179 10. NOOKS, VOOKS & E-BOOKS: Demystifying Book Technologies ............ 184 11. PEN International .................................................................................................. 195 - The PEN Charter - PEN Committees and Activities Worldwide - PEN Kenya Centre 12. How to Start a Book Club .................................................................................... 200 13. Harvest of Blood: An Example of ‘Faction’ Writing ................................... 202 14. Militant Poet - A Life in the Day of Wally Serote: Notes ........................... 208 15. The Fire Next Time: Kenya/Uganda Literary Wars ................................... 211 2 CHANGING KENYA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE Copyright 2014 (c) Alex Nderitu Apart from all the images and all the words in quotes (‘ ’), you are free to use the material contained herein under the GNU Free Documentation License (You must quote the origin of the information ie. Alex Nderitu, www.AlexanderNderitu.com) Book excerpts, blog posts, poems and song lyrics reviewed here are the property and copyright of their owners and are displayed for educational purposes only, under international Copyright and Kenyan ‘Fair Dealing’ laws (Categories: Research and Criticism or Review). Disclaimer: The recommendations made in this document cannot be considered ‘legal’ or ‘expert’ advice. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Name: Alex Nderitu Profession: Author/Script Writer/IT expert Country of Origin: Kenya Books: When the Whirlwind Passes, Kiss Commander Promise, The Moon is Made of Green Cheese, Africa on My Mind Papers: Changing Kenya’s Literary Landscape (2012 Onwards), Journalism Under Fire!, Changing Kenya’s Literary Landscape 2: Past, Present & Future Movements: The E-book revolution, PEN International Career: Social Media Consultant at Office of Public Communications, Editor at Matatu Today magazine, Founder/CEO of Websoft Interactive, Website Designer, Author of Africa’s first digital novel 3 CHANGING KENYA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE Introduction ‘Tick-tock, I want you to remember me Tick-tock, but the day don’t have no memory.’ - ‘I’m Coming’ (song), entrance music of WWE wrestler, ‘MVP’ A cocktail party at the British Council, then. This one is to celebrate the successful conclusion of the 2012 StoryMoja Hay Festival. I have arrived unfashionably late. I had gone to the wrong venue. When my sister, Caroline Nderitu (Play Your Own Drum), and I used to stage productions at the British Council, at the dawn of the millennium, it was inside town, along Kenyatta Avenue. I had left Nairobi for some years – in which I wrote a couple of books and co-founded A.C.T Theatre/Film Group – and I didn’t know that the Council had since moved. I called up Moraa Gitaa (Shifting Sands) who gave me instructions to the new location in Upperhill, near the British High Commission; and even then, I had difficulty finding it in the darkness. Still, I was not the only one making a late arrival – Sitawa Namwalie (Cut off My Tongue) and others were streaming in, no-hurry-in-Africa-style, when I arrived. So here I am, finally. There are some short speeches as the attendees are served drinks and hors-d’oveuvres. The StoryMoja founder, Muthoni Garland (Attack of the Shidas), stands humbly off to one side and doesn’t say much. After the speeches, I do a little mingling. There are a lot of foreign visitors in attendance, like Giles Foden (The Last King of Scotland) who was the main draw during the festival. I have a chat with a really tall Welshman who tells me he is working on a novel. I take this opportunity to present him with UK comedian Rhod Gilbert’s theory that the Welsh language is killingly difficult to learn, even for natives of Wales. No, it’s not that hard, Tall Guy asserts. But, yes, it does have ‘mutations’ (The spelling of a word can change depending on context, tense etc). The Welshman is rejoined by some effervescent British friends and they all move off. Looking across the room, I spot my friend, motivational speaker Bonnie Kim (Born Without A Choice), talking to a middle-aged mzungu woman in a flowery green sun dress. He’s smiling like a politician on the campaign trail. I join them. Bonnie introduces me as an e-book writer. The lady, who appears to have sunburn on her upper body, informs me that she also has an e- book on Lulu.com. No, she’s not a professional writer – she works for an NGO based in Malindi at the Coast (That explains the sunburn!) As we discuss literature, and e-books in particular, she suddenly asks, to wit: ‘What is your overall objective with your books?’ I pause, an hors-d’oveuvre half-way to my mouth, and gaze at her Kazuri Beads necklace as if it is a charm that can link me to my wisdom-spouting African ancestors for answers. I have never actually thought about this before. Writing books for me is like giving birth – I just feel there’s something big in me and eventually I have to let it out one way or another. I wrote my first novel when I was only 19. I have since engaged in every kind of writing – from scripts to poetry to web content – but I have never actually had an ‘overall objective.’ ‘I guess I just want to be remembered as one who made a major contribution to literature,’ I tell the Malindi lady, and she seems satisfied. 4 CHANGING KENYA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE Even now, having had time to think about it, I believe I would still give the same answer if asked a similar question. It is part of the reason why I wrote Changing Kenya’s Literary Landscape (2012 Onwards) – a blueprint for aspiring Kenyan writers - and released it for free. And it is also my motivation for compiling this second part of a non-fiction series of ‘papers’. This collection of essays, research material, quotes and pictures covers some of the subjects that I either skimped on or didn’t address at all in the first volume of the series – things like political literature, humour writing, Swahili literature, deaths of authors etc. I trust that university students/lecturers, journalists, researchers, publishers and writers from all walks of life will find something of value here. It is my pleasure to present you with this information. I enjoyed researching it, I enjoyed writing it and I hope you will enjoy reading it. Given the enthusiastic reception of Changing Kenya’s Literary Landscape (2012 Onwards), there’s no doubt in my mind that these non- fiction documents are bringing me ever closer to achieving my dream of making a major contribution to world literature, something that will outlive me. Some people want money. Some people want power. Some people want to be loved. Me, I want to be remembered. 5 CHANGING KENYA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE Writers in Politics ‘I have always been part of the proletariat. I lived side by side with the sons of fishermen and smugglers. I was born politicised.’ – Dario Fo1, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 'You are not a politician. You are not a doctor. You are not a space scientist. You're a writer. How do these perceived threats influence your thinking?' - John Sibi-Okumu, talking to Binyavanga Wainaina on TV's The JSO Interview ‘Politics, in a sense, has always been a con game.’ – Joe McGiniss, The Selling of the President If there’s one thing that Kenya’s duelling literary commentators agree on, it is that in 2012, Miguna Miguna’s Peeling Back the Mask was ‘the book of the year.’ In the run-up to the 2013 General Elections, Kenyan Prime Minster Raila Odinga – who was then gunning for the presidency on an Orange Democratic Party (ODM) ticket - dramatically fell out with one of his closest associates: a then-obscure Miguna Miguna, a Canadian-trained lawyer and advisor on legal and coalition affairs. Raila fired Miguna and as hopes for reconciliation dwindled, the latter announced that he was working on a book that would shake the political establishment. True to his word, Miguna later
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