tropichello world
sorry i been tardy with my postings
been running hard
got so much to say one wonders where to start
okay, kwani?
last time i was here they were just putting it together
didnt have the first issue out, it was still a dream
this time, kwani? has become a powerful and sometimes controversial force
kwani? 3 just came out, and its extraordinary what theyve done
all sorts of cutting edge fiction and nonfiction
including works by folk like billy khora that use all kinds
of fictional and film techniques in journalism and you have
to read it to really understand the delightful thing hes done
and there are dazzling literary moments all thru the work
now for the juicy parts - its has become such a powerful force
in kenyan literature that folks are taking potshots at it and
binyavanga, the editor and nurturer of the movement it represents
binyavanga is a most interesting brother, im very biased in his favor
so dont expect me to be objective
he reminds me of myself during the new ren days
but is is far more powerful a force than i ever was
i envy him his power - and the future in front of him
a big man, big presence, you can tell when hes in the room
a fierce artistic intellect whose interests and conversations
will leap from the role of ngugi in kenyan literature to parasites in the sudan
to the influence of crises on african nationalism to the integrity of artistic spaces and all about the conceptual universe and all fiercely done
his commitment of nurturing a kenyan literary infrastructure is unassailable
though obviously folk are doing it
he and tony mochama got into a big to do over dinner the other evening
over a debate thats been going on in the literary section of local newspaper, the standard
where somebody (i will have to get the name from my tapes) attacked kwani?
and binyavanga
tony is an editor of the page and binya was attacking the page
as debasing the kenyan literary conversation
his arguments as always were pristine in their quality
but the intensity of the attack showed the depths of the hurt he was feeling
and tony was squirming cause he could feel the fire of binyas hurt
but tony is an irrepressible wildman at heart, one of those mad trickster types
whose wild flights of eccentricity contain moments of mad brilliance
and they mostly ace boon coons getting a little exercise
apparently some folk had called binya the 'high priest of kwani culture'
(sometimes phrased 'high priest of the kwani cult') and the table was laughing at him
calling him pope binya the 1st and he was spouting fire
the table was full of young kenyan literary talent, binya and tony, paraselo and june
and billy and others and the conversation was fiercely and exhilaratingly literary
and they are fiercer than literary dialogues in the states
cause they feel more is at stake,
if they fail they feel that literature will die again in kenya
apparently after ngugi there was a big lull in literary energy
and ngugi is still this huge force in kenyan literature and everything seems to be
ag and bg, before ngugi and after ngugi and everything is judged by its relation to ngugi
now that theyve generated all this literary energy and getting play from the world for it
(they won the caine prize for african literature twice in a row, first binya, then yvonne)
met this brother joshua who has a dream of a theatre for the deaf
told him i would try to publicize it for him (promises promises)
it was such a sincere little dream, i did an interview of him that i will podcast
it was my conversation w/joshua that made me conscious of why
i was really here, moved me out of literary tourist mode into observer/recorder mode
and then their relationship with summer literary seminars - kenya has really played out well for them and sls
sls is the work of mikhail iossel
mikhail is a russian writer who set up the summer literary seminars in russia every summer
hes married to a kenyan, vika, and travels here often, decided he would try to
set one up in kenya
he just happened to meet binya in a bar, the first time they were just interacting
that was in 2002, he asked some african american writers to be faculty and had
some students and the very week we were supposed to come to mombasa
it got bombed and all the writers bailed but me - no way i wasnt going to africa
my first time too, me and bonnie, we had a wonderful time
our first introduction to the kwani crew, the magazine was still just a dream then
they were working on the 1st issue
wasnt but a few students, all american and after daily workshops
we spent a lot of time touristing kenya - animal parks, navisha, riftvalley, etc
which was cool, and we were in the middle of downtown nairobi which was intense
spent last 3 or 4 days on beaches of mombasa which was also cool after intensity of nairobi
but it was a radically different experience this time
this time there were only 3 american students and this time kwani had become a force and
there were something like 70 kenyan writers involved and
the days were filled with panel discussions/workshops about kenyan literature and issues
it was an incredible experience
interesting the alliance between kwani and sls
mikhail has been a vehicle of international exposure for binya and kwani
and binya/kwani have provided an incalculable literary substance
to mikhails dream of a sls kenyan component
the kwani movement is a serious literary movement whose influence
will be incalculable as only powerful literary movements can be
and mikhail likes being part of literary energy - he feeds off it
what has made this time so special is interacting with the young literary aspirants
they are very hungry for connections that can help them break into the industry
into the global literary family
and a couple of them have come at me hard
help me with my work
what can you do for me
can you help me get published
help me master the word
or performance
some of the ones ive met whove come at me so hard ima take them under my wing
like christopher, wouldbe novelist whose idea of african american lit stops at richard wright
i got to bring him up to date
muki garang, performance poet, from the southern sudan, calling for revolution in the southern sudan, fan of sekou and def poetry jam, jamming the stage
binta, softspoken would be novelist, wondering how to get into a masters in writing, im supposed to send her info on mfa programs, while i work with her on her stories so shes ready for primetime when we send her on the application process
another softspoken young sister (found out later her name is lucy) that i didnt realize was coming at me
for help because she was so self effacing about it, once i realized that the men and the women came at me differently, the young brothers would come forthright, im such a such, i do such and such, can you help me, whereas the young sisters are much shyer and self effacing and ask for help in a more indirect manner that i didnt recognize at first and found myself not giving them as much attention but im clear now
when she did performance poetry at paa ya paa is when i got my understanding
and of course the mighty and incomperable grandmaster
okay this is going on and on
ima go through and edit it down
i know other folk who have tried to give chronicles of literary activities and
they are almost inevitably windy
everything thats important to me aint in important to you
got a lot more i want to say
want to speak on my fellow faculty, tom and mike and fionna and john, really interesting folk
and doreen baingana, earlier i put doreen w/the kenyan writers, noticed it and decided to leave her there cause i figure uganda is kinda enuf and her affinity w/the kenyan literary experience is stronger even than the africanamerican affinity i so prize but actually she is from uganda (based in dc) and tropical fish, her first book of shorts, won the awp award, im really looking forward to reading them
and there is red sarah the poet, cool vicki and pat - there is a certain bonding that happens at these things, folk become family of sorts
and i need to speak on being the only african american writer involved
in something that should intrigue african american writers
folk missing out on an interesting experience and i feel honored to be
the observer on this one
got to tell you about my boy oneko, a kindred spirit
dreadlocked drummerman, and michel onigaro, blind guitar player
we both supposed to perform at this big nightclub tuesday
i asked them if they would hit with me on one of my pieces
(note: i expected a little acoustic drum thing happening, turned
out they were a real band,sent-a-lain, they took me to higher ground)
my griotic performances have been going on real big here
they like that traditional storyteller thing in my work
i been inquiring about the local highgods so i know whose territory this is
who to call on tuesday, ngai of the kikuyu, nayasi of the luo, nkai of the massi
nyasaye of the luo, nyasa of the kissi, mungu of the coastal tribes
and ima try something new on them, my piece that i been working on, de geas of rickydoc
i got this point where ima stop, layout my divination circle and divine right there and then
we will see if i lose my nerve or otherwise blow it, but right now thats what im feeling
specially where i expect oneko and michael to be taking me
okay, one more point and im out of here
went to this artists colony paa ya paa yesterday
met the founders, two most wonderful folk
first the colony itself is an extraordinary nature compound
the owner is this dignified elder brother, who came in macking
your excellency he addressed me, surely you would rather be outside (in the parklike areas)
the bus driver had parked in it and he came out going
this bus is not part of nature, it must be moved
he was fascinating everybody, i said hes a mack,
and had to explain what a mack was
a master of the word i told them
im the last bushman in kenya he said mischievously
turns out his wife is american, sister, philla, from chicago
one of those classic elder artistic black women
and just as gracious as she could be
when i did oscars signifying monkey
we bonded immediately
turns out she and her performance group, ensemble bush back
had done the same version some years before
she was shocked to hear that oscar brown had died
they have artist residencies, said i could come anytime i want
got the 411 on them later from other folk
turns out their story was even more fascinating that i assumed it would be
okay im out of here
will edit this later
you know my philosophy
get it out on my head and onpaper/online
i will clean it up later
as you know im always trying to be attuned to the significant
tryhing to determine what is most significant about this moment, this experience
i think for me at the moment the important thing is to follow thru
on my offers to help these kids
cause you know i dont have time for it but i told them i would
what im going to do i think is try to establish an online workshop with them
maybe some sort of connection to the new ren workshop
so that folk in brooklyn critique the nairobi works and vice versa
get them up to speed - then start trying to funnel them into mfa programs
in the states - just more frustrations is what this is going to be
but i will probably be able to nurture some of them through
ima make time - i believe john o would approve
this kwani/sls kenyan experience has been just as magical
as the first one, but for radically different reasons
im as excited about being part of kwani culture as mikhail is
i recognize a crossroads when i see one
im standing on holyground
im outta here
found an ethiopian place last night
i love ethiopian food and last night somebody mentioned ethiopian
and i was like, damn thats right, ethiopia is next door, they probably
got plenty ethiopian restaurants here, best i get on that
later
rdoc
Comments