Kwani Trust

  • Calling out: ‘Reading Stages’ workshop

    Posted: April 2, 2008, 11:47 pm by Kwani

    Goethe-Institute in association with Kwani Trust will run a two-day workshop
    intended to provide young creative writers and writing enthusiasts
    interested in establishing and running reading stages in Nairobi and around
    the country with the tools to do so. The workshop will be held on June 5th
    – 6th and will culminate in a free public performance on June 7th.

    To participate in this workshop, please submit 1) a letter of interest and
    2) up to 3 poems or 1000 words of prose to workshop@kwani.org. You may
    alternatively post your application to P.O. Box 2895, 00100 Nairobi for
    review. Selection for participation in the workshop will be based on the
    quality of the work submitted and the applicant’s communicated interest in
    or efforts made to propagate new literary forums and communities in Nairobi
    and around the country. We ask that applicants discuss what their vision is
    for a new forum and articulate the reasoning for bringing one to
    their chosen community. While we expect that many applicants will
    themselves be writers, we equally invite literary enthusiasts to apply.

    The deadline for submissions is May 7, 2008. Entries sent after this date
    will not be accepted. Selected participants will be contacted by May 14,
    2008. Questions and concerns may also be directed to the above addresses.

    We look forward to hearing from you.

  • Politicised Funerals - Stephen Partington

    Posted: April 2, 2008, 4:24 pm by Kwani

    Pity our waheshimiwa,
    haggling over corpses
    like a parody, a farcical enactment
    of great Brutus and Mark Antony.

    Pity them, the pinstripe dogs
    who chew upon the bodies of the dead.
    It’s such a growling way
    to offer your condolences
    to family and friends.

    Is it their pay that makes them rabid?

    Come, let’s pity them.
    For, see, they cannot grieve,
    not for their allies nor their enemies.

    In death, we all are meat:
    come see our leaders
    rip and spit and tear and eat.

    The mourners see it, take a peek:
    the bored-stiff chap inside the coffin’s
    gone and voted with his feet.

    Stephen Derwent Partington is a teacher and writer based near Machakos. He has previously published a poetry collection, SMS & Face to Face, in Kenya. His poetry and academic prose has appeared in various respectable publications, and he is at present a contributing member of the group, Concerned Kenyan Writers for Justice.

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Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes

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