WEDNESDAY
hello world
on lamu and kickng back
working hard on rest for the weary
moving frustratingly slow but moving
had resolved to disavow last post
was going to stock that idea w/all
the other good ones
cause i just cant afford the loss of noveltime
its rest for the weary, do or die
strictly the longgame
maintain new ren; everything else can wait
jeff got the bug about doing a pan african literary forum thing
this congregation of african writers has fired him up
and hes got all these ideas blubbling up
i can either sign up or pass and i hate to pass on an
idea whose time has come
i fear it wont set well w/sls
hate to lose that connection
have really enjoyed myself on lamu
its like ive gone back 200 years
and again theyve set me off by myself
they know i like my privacy, i like my room enuf
that i enjoy holing up writing / when we got power that is
ive passed on all the social activity and just holed up w/rest for the weary
other than conferences w/folk its just been me and this novel
which is the way it should be
im outta here, computer time is tight
will check back in when i get back to nairobi
hangtough
rdoc
hello world
heading for lamu today
sitting here in nairobi
and reading this helluva story the last trip by sefi atta
(debut novel: everything good will come – have to hunt it down)
in chirumenga 8 - a literary magazine published out of south africa
by ntone, south african brother i been hanging with
i have met so many strong african writers this trip, its been an experience
this kwani movement never ceases to amaze me
reading chirumenga and the boldness of the work in it
make me humble, i mean bold, make me think of all that huffty puffty
i was talking a couple of days ago about speaking truth to the people
behind little minor personal like a gig
make me wonder all over again if im ready for primetime
make me wonder if my 2nd string status isnt warranted after all
man i dont want to get all into that literary organizing it would entail
i just want to concentrate on doing my novel - my poor neglected novel
but i interviewed ntone, fierce young brother who is also a helluva dj that
know how to rock the house, and when i asked him why chirumenga
he spoke on providing a platform for others and
i could just hear john o killens talking about providing an
infrastructure that nurtured progressive young black writers
and i thought about pendas comment awhile back about young writers having
the patience and discipline it took to move work from mediocre to
good to great – and how much john o killens struggled to provide a space for that
sacred space, holyground
and i realized im gon have to do that
ima have to do that
i look at what binya has done with kwani
how the harlem writers guild publishing books now
and i know newren gon have to make that move
i know so many works deserve to be published
and with print on demand its kinda doable
and new ren members got the skilz and resources to make it happen
and i know john o killens would want me to do this – 21st century stylee
i been thinking about a online magazine for years now
and i absolutely love the graphics quality to chirumenga
got the organizing skilz to pull it off w/relative ease
but all i can think of is the loss of noveltime it would entail
my poor neglected novel
been trying to avoid these types of major organizing commitments
spent all last year shedding them, but seeing what binya doing with kwani
seeing what ntone has done with chirumenga
and this impressive brother, hope, from nigeria w/black orpheus
and this impressive sister, khadija from britain w/sable
and so many others from all over the african world
that ive met this week
and me and jeff allen pondering a move
in west africa
when ntone said he wanted to provide a platform for others
that really resonated with me (and the power aspect speak to me too you know)
i asked him what pieces satisfied him most and he spoke on
binyas piece coming home and how he is proud that he is the first
one to print it and look what has come from it - the caine prize,
the kwani movement - and now this publishers collective (he waved his
hand to encompass all the african writers on the patio) and who knows what . . .
and im thinking how i got to keep john o killens legacy
alive and all the things i need to do with new ren and . . .
all it will require is me allotting the time and i guess
i got to go ahead and do it
but god im so afraid its going to kill noveltime
no, scratch that, know it will kill noveltime
maybe what i will do is schedule this move
for the fall of next year
that will give me this semester and my summer
woodshed to put this puppy to bed,
i will have to be all the more systematically ruthless about getting my noveltime in
and my holybook time and my shorts/nonfiction time etc etc et fucking cetra
in the meantime lay out business plan type stuff, strategic plan stuff,
nonprofit status, funding sources, cajoling folk, refining the vision
and so forth and so on - tires me out just thinking about it
i think i would call it: in the line of o killens
or something like that, something that honors john o killens legacy
i guess the next step is to get in touch with my folk
see who will sign up - for one more campaign
(they havent digested my last initiative yet and here i come asking for more -
best i have the plan fully laid out and even in play before i approach folk – help
convince them im serious about it - serious about the follow thru)
got a chance to hangout with my boy muki garang last night –
hiphop impresario and warriorpoet - we went to my favorite ethiopian
here, habesah restaurant over near the yaya center
muki young talent w/a vision and the precisely
kind of folk i would like to get works from
life is such a struggle
so many projects, so little time
im outta here, plane to lamu in a few
maybe i can get a couple of novelhours in . . .
my love
to you all
rickydoc rootdoctor
mganga maua
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