If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one to hear it, does it make a sound? Today, a tree snapped and I happened to be there, not only to hear it but also to see it fall. It made such a terrifying sound like hundreds of skulls cracking at once, and I […]
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
Remembering Zora Neale Hurston’s Power
Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me. Zora Neale Hurston. In the world of quotes, this is one of my favorites. A few friends have asked me if in my personal experiences since […]
Out of the Forge into the Blue Mountain Review
New work is out of the forge– There’s a poem and interview in this Issue 19, and more elsewhere. All in good company.
Mindfulness Practice
Last evening, at exactly 6.30 p.m., I decided to take a quick walk in the woods near my house. Every day, I walk through these private woods and they give me a calm sense of grounding. Ever since the coronavirus lockdown, I’ve not missed doing a loop that begins behind my house and goes further […]
Bless the Dead, Especially the Living-dead
The most killed people are grandmothers. I think it’s too close to kill a parent and it would also complicate having to identify a new guardian. Uncles and aunts rarely die, perhaps, because they aren’t considered immediate relatives? Cousins are way out of the emotional range, but there’s something intimate and affecting about a grandmother. […]
Self-Motivation, Ignorance, and the Pursuit of Knowledge in the Time of Coronavirus
Now that majority of us are working, studying, and doing everything from home, the importance of self-motivation as a critical inner resource cannot be ignored. We are expressions of diversity in many ways, and yet— two kinds of groups are emerging, generally speaking: Those who continue to find beauty and inspiration to do what they […]
Flowers for my father
My father was born on this date (March 10) and transitioned in 2016. It’s taken me four years to delete his number from my phone. Whenever I’d scroll through my contacts and see his number, I’d hesitate. It made sense to keep it, although, I can’t quite explain articulately what I mean by sense, that kind […]
Relentless/The Nature of Struggle
This morning I witnessed a confrontation between a young owl and four crows. The first crow was on the ground picking insects in my front yard, or so it seemed, but later I found out its job was operational—it was mapping out the area of struggle. The other three crows were in one of the […]
Introduction to Poetrio–January 2020
Every first Sunday of the month, I host the poetrio events at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe, a cool and vibrant independent bookstore founded in Asheville in 1982. How this works is that we invite three poets with new books out to come and read at 3 p.m, then sell the books and have a good time. In […]
2019 in Prayer: There’s a Dolphin, a Dog, and a Mushroom.
Normally the date of my birth is what I consider to be the end and start of a new year. That said, here I am paying attention to the Gregorian calendar, acknowledging the gift of life in a physical body. Moving forward, I’d like to say, Thank you often. I would like to say, Forgive […]
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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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