I was an undergraduate at Makerere University, Kampala, when I first heard these words of Patrick Henry, “Give me liberty or give me death,” in a song by Carman, one of the funky gospel singers I loved to listen and dance to. That same tape had Larry Norman’s, “Why should the devil have all the […]
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
Sylt Postcard: On light, summer solstice and strawberry moon
The longest day elsewhere never really felt like the longest day until my stay in Northern Germany, the island of Sylt where I am a writer-in-residence of the Sylt Foundation. And it’s not just the summer solstice but summer in general. When nights come, usually after 10pm, the presence of white light hours later […]
Is Creation Ever Done? Coleridge and our own handiwork
Is creation ever finished? says Dorothy in regard to Kubla Khan, Coleridge’s Vision in a Dream poem. This question emerges at a most critical hour in the movie, Pandaemonium, when Coleridge is doubting his creative ability and needs validation/assurance to uplift his confidence. Dorothy, sister to William Wordsworth, fondly admires the imaginative life and works of Samuel […]
Glad Tidings–a good start and other events lineup
On a Sunday afternoon, I was honored to share some of my work on 103.3 Asheville FM. Here’s the recording for you to listen to at your convenience. I’ve now accepted that lizards and insects are prominent in my poetic hybrids. Imagine my delight when a few days after reading a hybrid that features lizards regenerating […]
Form, Space and Mindfulness
I did not realize how spacious my head had become until my one-month stay in Uganda ended and I returned to Asheville for work. I was feeling full and had symptoms of a cold that made my head fuller. One leg of the journey, from Qatar to Philadelphia airport was 13 hours and 46 minutes […]
In Praise of Shitholes
Consider the shithole: It does not envy the hand for being the hand, it does not envy the feet for their gift of movement, it does not strike against other body parts, but in humility and pride carries on its duty without complaint, aiding bodily functions, enabling the health of the body as a whole. […]
Sacred Delight or Eating Husbands
I’m at home past lunch hour. The adults are fed, the children are watching TV in the sitting room. I have a moment to myself, so I decide to sit outside and enjoy the warmth of the sun. I see a praying mantis resting on the fender of the car, then another joins. This is […]
End of the semester, near end of year and the many endings of things, which also imply beginnings and the substance of gathering.
Let me start from the middle. It was in San Francisco in July this year that I experienced life profoundly during a visit to the Minnesota Street Project, housed in three warehouses in Dogpatch district. The warehouses themselves, while they looked newly refurbished, still “betrayed” an air of abandonment from their previous lives. There was […]
George Saunders’ Endearing Fox 8, Postmodernism Fiction, Italo Calvino’s Lightness, Propositions, and so on.
I have been teaching a lot of foxes this semester and murder. I should say that by now I shouldn’t really be surprised how my workshop classes end up experimenting with murder, mystery and light-heartedness, yet still, I’m often amazed by how much beauty and brokenness emerges from the stories we read and write. After concluding […]
California Summer 2017
30 days on a houseboat in Sausalito, California The word that sums up my time is Immersion, not just my work but everything around me. A few days after I arrive, I’m all in, a sweet spot to be. Wide windows bring in light, beauty and joy. I’m wrapped in light as I revise my […]
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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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