So delighted to know that this time next year I’ll take up residence in Sylt, the beautiful island in Northern Germany. So honored to be chosen. The Sylt Foundation African Writer´s Residency Award (AWRA) provides a two months stay in a subsidized apartment on the German island of Sylt to writers of contemporary African literature, […]
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
There But For The, Ali Smith
Suppose a stranger comes to your home for dinner, comes with an acquaintance that you’ve invited alongside other few guests, and they sit at your dinner table, drink wine, eat, engage in big and small talk, and at some point this stranger responds to a bathroom call, and after something like 30 minutes, the friend […]
Ali Smith: “How to be both” and “Girl Meets Boy.”
I’ve decided to add a new category to my blog called “Reading Lists” that will be dedicated to all the books I’ll read in preparation for the PhD comprehensive exams. I’ve thought it a great idea to have a blog page as a way of keeping track and checking in on myself via public posts. […]
Experiments in Reading: the thief in Teju Cole and Amos Tutuola’s books
I’m inclined to experiments in reading. I will sometimes read five books concurrently, and to avoid mixing the stories, I will select two books in poetry, two in fiction, and one nonfiction. The mind can handle an evolutionary biology text alongside Ezra Pound, Teju Cole, Charles Simic and Ali Smith. Surprisingly–and this is partly why […]
Birmingham Postcard and The Promised Land
Here’s a tribute to Black History Month first published by Zocalo. It’s a mini account of my observations and experiences in Birmingham, my first time to visit the Civil Rights Museum, the 16th Street Baptist Church, and meeting the god of forge. On a Sunday, in that baptist church with its red cushioned chairs, I […]
Sorcery, kingdom business and the Epic of Sundiata
This month I’ve burrowed into old epics: Gilgamesh, Sundiata, Genji, Beowulf, the Iliad, the Odyssey and so on, to reacquaint myself and figure out how these ancient literatures are sustained in contemporary writing. I had forgotten how funny and serious at the same time they are. For me, they’re the quintessence of “serious play.” I […]
Bewilderment
Fanny Howe’s essay, “Bewilderment” is popular among writers. The word itself has a magical and mysterious charm.Visiting home after a long stay away, it has occurred to me that what I am seeing and experiencing is nothing short of bewilderment. It’s natural, I guess, to make comparisons, to remember how home, places and cities are […]
Amos Tutuola and “The Palm-Wine Drinkard” revisited
Recently I reread Amos Tutuola’s classic: The Palm-Wine Drinkard at the same time I was revisiting Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and was surprised to see how close, how similar the two books are. I mean, they’re both outrageous in their summations, conquests, tales of chivalry and trickery. In my opinion, they belong to the same genre […]
“Perhaps it just means that I still have a heart”
Book Review of The Secret History of Las Vegas Sometime in the summer I wanted to read books that delight, entertain and also instruct in a subtle way. Pede Hollist suggested Chris Abani, and I realized he had been on my list for many years but I never quite got to reading him. I started […]
Summer goal accomplished, novel ms revised
Such a delightful summer! It’s been both fun and productive. Had a goal to complete revising my novel manuscript under the working title: What Was Left Behind, and also to enjoy Colorado, get out a lot, commune with the mountains and woods. I’m happy to report that last night at exactly eleven minutes to 1am, […]
-
MKB: Thank you so much! I would love to read yours too ...
-
Brenda C Wilson: Congratulations! I hope to get a chance to read yo...
-
Kwasi opoku: Why did Nana usually say that Adjoa did not know t...
-
-
Follow @midibarya on Twitter
