It was a pleasure meeting Shailja again, having attended one of her poetry sessions in Uppsala during her stay as the “2009 Guest Writer” at the Nordic Africa Institute. Her poems are powerful and capture Kenya’s realities, especially during the pre and post election violence (PEV) last year. Shailja is fearless and has an in-depth grasp of Kenya’s historical and political landscape. During the 2008 skirmishes, she wrote an open letter to Samuel Kivuitu, then head of the disbanded Electoral Commission of Kenya, challenging his decision to declare President Kibaki winner of the disputed elections.
It was the first time to meet Ngwatilo, who is a young, talented and creative poet, whose message resonates with the realities facing Kenya’s “Hip hop generation”. She recited a poem flavoured with ‘Sheng’ (Nairobi’s slang-based language), which is important in reaching audiences that would otherwise be left out using academic English. Both women play a major role in bridging the generational gap left by female writers who reigned from the 1960s to the 1980s, and are currently retired.
It was a pity that the third guest, Professor Wambui Mwangi of Toronto University, could not travel to Stockholm due to health reasons. However, she is another gifted writer who runs a blog called the “Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman”. During the PEV, she posted a damning essay on the election fraud, violence and those wishing to maintain the “feudal principality of Kikuyustan” as cited by Sokari Ekine, a Nigerian-born writer and an award-winning blogger. Ms. Mwangi also writes for Kwani? (Swahili for ‘So What?’), which is a literary magazine for contemporary Kenyan writers available online and in print.
The shift in Kenya’s political landscape since 2002, has revived the lost literary culture and it is now wonderful to read once again, about prolific women writers like Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye and Muthoni Likimani among others, in the local papers and on the Internet.
Mrs. Asenath Bole Odaga is another writer who is famous for short stories in English and Dholuo (her mother-tongue). Her presence on the Internet is special, because she discusses how her writing is a reminder of the fading Luo values affected by the fast-changing lifestyles, particularly in urban areas. I recall her humble bookshop cum printing store, established in the 1980s in Kisumu town. She’s now gone global and runs a website with an online bookstore. Mrs. Odaga would always stop and chat with people; something she still does as a believer in oral literature and an accomplished educator, who is also concerned with empowering young women.
Professor Micere Mugo, the firebrand writer and a Marxist-oriented intellectual, was driven into exile in the early 1980s when the former President Moi’s regime became uncomfortable with her work at the Nairobi University. Her contribution in political science and literature, awakened many of her students and colleagues who fought for Kenya’s “second liberation” in the 1990s. Her ingenious poems and creative writing are shaped by her roots among the Ndia people of Kirinyaga District, whose storytelling culture is used to interpret politics. They believe in frank debates which should not be censored; thus the perceived threats of her writing during Moi’s leadership.
Ms. Joy Mboya is another artist worth crediting for being among the founders of the space for Kenyan artists in the visual and performing arts in Nairobi, better known as The Godown Arts Centre. In a book edited by Njogu and Olunya-Oluoch (2007), Joy argued that the formation of the Centre had been necessitated by the need for Kenyans to “take charge of their cultural agenda by establishing and managing their own cultural spaces”. She also noted that media censorship and the banning of other freedoms of expression during Moi’s regime, sent creativity “into hibernation” in the 1980s and 1990s. Local musicians also suffered because they could not sing about the terrible political situation, without risking detention.
I met Joy for the first time in Stockholm during Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s meeting with the Kenyans on October 23rd 2009, after the EU Development Days conference. I am very grateful for the copy of a book she gave me, titled: “Kenya Burning”, which contains a compilation of photos taken during the post-election violence in 2008. It was her idea to bring together all those who had taken such photos, and to immortalize their work, as a stark reminder of the rot that engulfed Kenya for that period.
Anyway, back to Shailja and Ngwatilo. The open floor segment for questions and answers was quite interesting, because both artists shared personal experiences as performers based in Kenya but also travel abroad frequently. They informed the listeners that there is still no legal framework to protect artists from exploitation especially the musicians, whose work is pirated and hardly earn royalties. It is probably an area which does not threaten the Kenyan ruling class, so they might not be bothered to streamline it. However, musicians currently earn better and have more recording opportunities compared to a few decades ago.
Kenyan writers still face censorship in disseminating their books, especially if they mention powerful politicians. Although they don’t get banned openly as it used to be in the 1980s, bookshop owners cannot stock them for fear of legal suits, from those who cite libel. Nevertheless, there is a thriving underground market for the sale of such books.
Shailja deconstructed the concept of literacy by explaining that in the literary world, there are many “literacies” because reading or oral literature is not only available in the Western languages. These literacies link artists with their communities. Ngwatilo also said that Sheng helps in reaching the youth through rap music and performance arts, giving them a sense of belonging.
I add these two performers on my list of Kenyan women who are empowered with the gift of gab, and are making a difference in the country’s political and cultural landscape. They are among many others who form the growing community of politically conscious poets, writers and storytellers in Kenya.
Jared Odero
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