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Chronicles of the Idler
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Chronicles of the Idler, Volume One is a collection of short, satirical pieces on various aspects of life. In simple, straight words, the author takes a quick, but critical, look at people, life, places, situations and events and spices up the stories with imagery and unmatched humour.
What Others Say
“Many people assume that with the demise of the likes of P. K. Okoth of Drums’ Malimoto and the great Wahome Mutahi of Whispers, humour is as good as buried. Not anymore! Chronicles of the Idler is a satirical collection in a class of its own. It is original, comical and superb!” – Solomon Abayo, Principal, Riambase High School.
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The Armageddon and Other Stories
The unpredictable weather patterns in Africa, the rise of earth's surface temperature, the melting of polar ice caps, rising of sea levels and the blazing wildfires in the Americas and Australia call for urgent action to conserve Mother Nature or risk Armageddon, the final destruction of the planet. This is the subject that runs through this compilation of stories to reiterate Wangari Maathai's assertion that the future of the planet concerns all of us and we should do what we can to protect it. It is the intention of debut and established authors of this anthology to perpetuate Maathai's legacy to avert Mother
Natures' vengeance against humanity. The Armageddon and Other Stories, therefore, breaks away from conventional social and political themes on the African literary scene to depict the demerits of deforestation, pollution, logging, the relegation of climate change, and other concerns of ecocriticism. At the crux of the anthology is the argument that the tendency to use financial profits to measure the success of commercial institutions without considering their role in environmental conservation is misleading. - Andrew Nyongesa.
Air, water, and earth are the basic amenities of life. Humans have constantly tampered with nature. Cyclical processes that nature has designed for resource conservation are fragrantly interfered with. As a result, the threat to life has been increased due to human activities in the environment. Some of these are air, water, and noise pollution; deforestation, blind industrialization, over-population; waste disposal, climate change, global warming, the greenhouse effect, and the imbalance established in the biosphere. The stories herein serve to spread environmental awareness in our society as well as in our daily routine life. It is necessary to save and protect our environment. - John Mugubi.
Korondo-Panic: A Satirized Diary of a Kenyan’s Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic
“Articles in this book overflow with humour and thought provoking jokes. The way Araka twists and plays around with names of public figures, their actions and inactions, and blends it with the joys and disappointments of ‘ordinary’ citizens is on another level. The style is readable and appealing. The articles revolve around the novel Coronavirus disease. This is a time to be told and retold to present and future generations.” - Rose Kong’ani Keya, Book Editor and Teacher
“The author has banked on wordplay to offer his contribution in chronicling a critical moment in our lives when COVID-19 threw the world into panic and confusion. The book tells of humanity’s inadequacies, hits and misses. Through his trademark satire, Araka shows that as human beings, we deserve better and can do better even when caught up in difficulties. - Edna, Gutenbergschule, Leipzig
“Many occurrences happen in everyday life and can go unnoticed despite being significant. Araka is a gifted writer that makes such occurrences memorable through satire and humour. The themes in the articles including: political manipulations, exploitation, corruption, family relations, hypocrisy, traditions, and modern technology are well intertwined in the writer’s rich narrative style with vivid descriptions that capture the reader to achieve reading this collection in the shortest time possible. I recommend this collection to readers that wish to relive occurrences in their lives and surroundings in a laughable way.” - George Onkundi, Principal, Nyamira School.
About the Author: Joshua Nyangau Araka is a journalist, creative writer and biographer. His other published works include: Peppered Path, Chronicles of the Idler-Volume One, and Beaten Odds, a Biography of Stephen Mabea.
Traditional Marriage in Gusii
Traditional Marriage in Gusii (Enyangi y’Ebitinge), published posthumously, documents the process of old-style marriage in Gusii and related steps, culminating in a wedding ceremony. The process was meticulous and made of a series of steps, each with very clear purpose and intended not just for the couple but also their families and clans.
Abagusii attached a lot of value to marriage. It was a major landmark in the ‘growing up’ of a man or woman in that society. Marriage marked the transition from the care of one’s parents to being independent and taking care of oneself and one’s family. That transition was possible only after marriage.
The importance of marriage and the honour it was accorded is underlined by the respect that was given to a married woman. For example, she found herself late in getting home by someone, that person had an obligation to ensure that she got to her home safely; after all, she was a mother and her progeny would be the link to the future.
The Girl of Red Beauty
In these thirteen chapters of verse, titled The Girl of Red Beauty, Alfred Nyagaka Nyamwange captures voices of the people of Gusii, AbaGusii, through their songs, proverbs and play games. The voices pronounce AbaGusii philosophies, fears, moods, and tempo as they work and traverse the hills and the valleys that constitute the Gusii Highlands. The element of the poetry here emanates from the beliefs, norms, proverbs, sayings, wisdom, songs, stories, and the environment, all of which combine to produce a presence of living souls. The personas fully manifest in an active environment, whereby, at every strum of the lyre and roll of the drum, the verse comes alive. Welcome, sing and dance along.
What Others Say
Nyamwange writes in the trend of African oral tradition with his poetry using local imagery and idioms, and of simple and direct language. "It affirms valuable continuity with pre-colonial African culture synthesized with other cultures to create something unique.” – Dr. Chris Okemwa, Author, Poet and Lecturer in Literary Studies.
“The uniqueness of the anthology of this poetry lies in the thorough depiction of the culture of AbaGusii from different facets such as marriage, circumcision, religion, environment through poetry. The work resembles great poetry such as Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol.” – Dr. Andrew Nyongesa, Editor and Literary Scholar
Why We Tell Stories
Storytelling was an intrinsic activity in traditional African communities. Typically told by older people, usually grandmothers and grandfathers, stories were a way of life for the young and old alike, linking the past, present and future of those societies. Set as they were around a fire, the storytelling tradition strengthened communal ties between the old and the young, and as reinforced bonds among the young.
Stories emphasized shared culture, cultural values and history that were the foundation of the society’s ties. They underscored important societies’ traditions, beliefs and other norms.
From the old, the young learnt lessons about their community that to affirmed their collective identity. They learnt and internalized moral values such as honesty, courage, respect, solidarity and caring for others. Invariably, stories discouraged greed and selfishness. Further, the tales captured the essence of the environment in which the people lived while reinforcing their core values. They contributed to character-building through appreciation of the moral of the stories.
In Why We Tell Stories, Dorcas Kiptoo and Arthur Dobrin bring their storytelling experiences and expertise to the fore through a selection of from the African folklore. Even as the two look back to societies of yore to dig up the tales, the inherent lessons remain as relevant in contemporary times as they were ages ago.
About the Authors
Dorcas Kiptoo was born in Mogotio, Kenya. She attended Kenyatta University where she earned her Bachelor of Education degree. She currently lives in New York.
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