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 […]
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
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 […]
My life as a pomegranate
The Art of Eating a Pomegranate is really the title but to think of life, well— When I was asked to give a keynote address at the donning of the stoles, I said yes, and shelved the task of preparing a speech, hoping that in good time, something profound would emerge. You see, I am […]
Reading coming up October 6 @ my fav bookstore, Malaprop’s
I recently started coordinating Poetrio Events with Malaprop’s, which means every first Sunday of the month you can find me hanging out with three poets who have published new books. We invite three different poets to read at the bookstore and I’m excited to be reading as well and also getting introduced to the public […]
Amusing Things
I played an interesting game yesterday. When I got out of bed, I did not immediately get a sense of how my first hour of writing would go. Still, I approached my creation room. I sat down and felt a dull neutrality. I thought about words. I looked outside the window. I went to […]
May we enjoy the lives we have chosen
At what point does a heart give up? As if there’s a singular moment in time instead of a steady build-up weakening up to the day, the hour, the second…a slowing down of one’s life to that final time when the last breath is drawn. As if we’re not passing on each day, getting close and […]
Abandonment or Freedom—the Shoes of Life
Since my arrival in Portland a few days ago, I’ve been struck by the number of shoes—pairs or singles— left abandoned on sidewalks, parks or roadside. Mostly men’s, they vary in size, color, shape, and state of disrepair. Some are coated with dirt and mud, others spring clean, almost new. Only […]
A Case for More
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the character Oliver Twist, so much so that I’ve revisited the text for fresh insights. When I first read Dicken’s novel many years ago, what stayed in my mind was the suffering part, the misfortunes of all the numerous children and criminals of the industrial period but most […]
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MKB: Thank you so much! I would love to read yours too ...
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Brenda C Wilson: Congratulations! I hope to get a chance to read yo...
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Kwasi opoku: Why did Nana usually say that Adjoa did not know t...
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