Sponsored by NCWN, the Jacobs/Jones African-American Literary Prize honors the nineteenth-century writers Harriet Jacobs and Thomas H. Jones and is open to any Black and African-American writer whose primary residence is in North Carolina. The final judge of this year’s contest was DéLana R.A. Dameron. It’s a pleasure to see my new essay, Rituals of […]
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“…a relentless attempt to express the inexpressible.”
May Highlights: 1. Finishing strong in spite of… (whichever way you interpret that). 2. Mating turkeys. The thrill of joy to watch strutting turkeys in my yard, full of pride (shame has no place here). 3. Mildred Barya in Conversation with Michael Hettich. I have the greatest pleasure to share with you this comprehensive interview titled: […]
End of a Year–Gratitude Card
From my journal of positive aspects–focusing on what has sustained me throughout the year 2020–perfect vision, and what a vision descended upon us! The last day of December is warm–64F. I’m ready for the trail which I run everyday, and I’m thinking about food. The gardens produced abundantly this year and kept us nourished: squash, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A Timeless Lesson from the Poppies
We’re near the end of a year, which makes me cast my eyes back as if to make sense of how to sum it up, but I admit, this is not a year in review blog, but rather, a focus on a singular moment that spills multiple points in me. It begins with poppies. Not […]
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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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