Now to my really favorite writer, North of Limpopo, South of Sahara, West of the Atlantic and East of Indian Ocean, José Eduardo Agualusa. I know it sounds like an exaggeration but there are many reasons to love this writer. His writing is fresh air in the real sense of the word. You only have […]
About MKB
Mildred Kiconco Barya is a North Carolina-based writer, educator, and poet of East African descent. She teaches and lectures globally, and is the author of four full-length poetry collections, most recently "The Animals of My Earth School" released by Terrapin Books, 2023. Her prose, hybrids, and poems have appeared in Shenandoah, Joyland, The Cincinnati Review, Tin House, New England Review, and elsewhere. She’s now working on a collection of creative nonfiction, and her essay, “Being Here in This Body”, won the 2020 Linda Flowers Literary Award and was published in the North Carolina Literary Review. She serves on the boards of African Writers Trust, Story Parlor, and coordinates the Poetrio Reading events at Malaprop’s Independent Bookstore/Café. She blogs here: www.mildredbarya.com
Mia Couto and Mozambique fiction
We’re in Mozambique, ladies and gentlemen. Portuguese speaking since 1400’s, since Vasco da Gama alighted there in 1498, and by 1505, Mozambique had fallen in the hands of Portuguese rule. So the first Coat of Arms was Portuguese, the second Portuguese, and the third revised Portuguese East Africa. There were at least four versions of […]
A little bit of pre-independent Madagascar and post-colonial writing
Before I leave Madagascar, I thought I’d feature someone born in recent times or at least in the generation following Flavien Ranaivo. Flavien Ranaivo (May 13, 1914 – December 20, 1999), Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (March 4, 1901 – June 23, 1937), and Jacques Rabemananjara (23 June 1913–1 April 2005) are probably the three foremost poets in […]
Africa without Madagascar is like soup without salt
When I was in primary school, our geography teacher made us draw on the blackboard maps of various regions. By the time I was in primary seven, I could draw the Rhineland, curves of the Tennessee valley authority, Africa, East Africa, North America, South America, Australia and so on. Europe was hard but we gave […]
Meet Beverley Nambozo the poet
It’s a pleasure to have a conversation with one of my favorite poets, Beverley Nambozo. I like what she does with eroticism in her poems. She certainly takes it to an art form. It’s rare to come across good erotic poetry.
The Future of African Writing
Not written in stone but my view anyhow. Besides ambition, desire and will, places and incidents that have been critical in shaping and improving my writing have come through writing fellowships and residences. In the absence of a mentoring component that’s sometimes part of writing residences and programs, and therefore necessary, there’s space and a […]
One long poem of Blaise Cendrars
Had a good afternoon with Blaise Cendrars, one of the finest Swiss poets in my opinion. Reading him is like finding the right rhythm to a song. I enjoy his long poems especially. I think he’s one of the few poets whose very long poems rock and you hardly feel their length on your time. […]
S Sudan State
How history changes, and geography too! Before South Sudan became an independent nation, Sudan was above Uganda but that didn’t make it East African. We knew Sudan regionally belonged to North Africa, and was/is at times categorized under Middle East. Proudly or in denial—depending on the side you’re on—most folks from North Africa will not […]
A visit to Harriet Tubman’s grave
Had the real honor of visiting Harriet Tubman’s grave in Auburn, NY. Went with Prof. Arthur Flowers who’s always great at giving narratives you can’t find anywhere on the wiki. the real lived stuff, usually. So we arrived around noon and the sun was high and never seen skies so clear. Her grave is an […]
Beatrice Lamwaka on the 2011 Caine Prize Shortlist
Beatrice Lamwaka, Ugandan writer, is on this year’s Caine Prize shortlist for African Writing. The 2011 shortlist (the 12th since the first prize began) was announced in May. The winner who will be announced at a celebratory dinner at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, on Monday, 11 July, will take home £10,000 prize, and a one-month residence […]
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MKB: Dear Nyakisa, Good news! "The Animals of My Earth...
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Nyakisa Beth: Will it be available in Uganda?...
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Wm Epes: Dr. Barya: Hope you are well. Enj...
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