Kwani? Open Mic – Tuesday 3rd November 2009

Kwani Trust is inviting you to Kwani? Open Mic on Tuesday 3rd November 2009 7 pm at Club Soundd, Hamilton House Kaunda Street

Entry: Ksh 100/- only.

Featured Poet: Kennet B

MC: Our lovely Cindy Ogana

Born Odongo Kennedy Leakey at the shores of Lake Victoria,Kennet B wrote and recorded his first poetry piece in 2003 at Chuqua Records in Kisumu where he was also mentored to become a sound producer.
He also gained music arrangement skills and mostly worked in underground studios helping young artists musically grow up. He moved to Nairobi after hearing of Slam Africa Spoken Word Poetry competitions; he won on his first trial.

The win motivated him to produce a seven-track poetry album “Coming Of Age” of which he wrote the lyrics and was the chief sound producer. Each poem in the album is backed up with sound effects, which are skillfully placed to create the desired suspense to the listener. The authenticity of the album is supported by the fact that “Kitambi ya Sugar daddy” a poem dispelling girl child abuse by married men is receiving good airplay by various local radio stations.

Kennet B has gone an extra mile and produced the first Luo Poetry album,”Twak Galamoro Mokwongo”which has not been officially launched to the public, though a single from the album has been released to a Kisumu based radio station.

As a performing artist, he has been able to execute his delivery at Kwani? Poetry Nights,Wapi Hip Hop and Spoken Word Festvals,Lafesta in Kisumu, PEN international just to mention a few.

Currently, he is writing the scripts for the “Coming Of Age” album which he expects to be out by April next year.

Kennet B writes on social issues relating to Church and State. He believes that with the power of the word all is possible even when the pen has run out of ink.

Open Mic slots are open from 6pm all are welcome to register.

Also get copies of Kwani? 05 part 1 at bookstores and get the best of Kenyan Writing.

KARIBUNI!

NB: Reduced prices on your favorite books.

Kenya Burning Kudos

Kenyan photographer and CNN Africa Photojournalist Of The Year award winner, Boniface Mwangi, has received a congratulatory missive from U. S Secretary Of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton for his work during the Kenyan post-elections violence. Secretary Clinton saw Mwangi’s work during her visit to Kenya when U.S Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Rannenberger, presented her with the Kenya Burning book, jointly published by The Godown and Kwani Trust. Read more

Say My Name

With the advantage of hindsight, Samuel Munene retrospectively muses on three major Kenyan literary events: the Storymoja Hay Festival; the Nairobi Book Fair and the Jukwaani Cultural Festival and what they mean to the Kenyan literary and cultural scene and calendar. The first of these three musings, Say My Name, Say My Name is from a Jukwaani session that tries to capture the elusive but essential nature of the myriad of poetry events that have sprung up all over Nairobi and the rest of the country over the last few years. Read more