79

Or, You Don’t Sound Like That At Home

Reader,

I’m listening to Tracy Chapman's Collection as I write this - a balm for many years - and it feels apt. This last week was the sort of tough I might be able to speak or write about in 5-10 years (yes, I am documenting it in my journal and via FutureMe in case I’m not present to get to it) so we’ll take any comforts.

I’ve moved to The Weeknd's Beauty Behind the Madness for this middle section, as this album is connected to getting the job done in my noggin.

There are two articles I’ve found myself thinking about since maybe before the last time I wrote to you that I figured it would be good to have a conversation with you about so here goes—

The first, Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu’s piece in LitHub which retread the classic “I became black when I went to America” line; but now with a Kenyan at its heart. It was something to see it discussed by folks from the African diaspora outside North America who share a history of colonialism like Kenya’s. I won’t lie, I know there’s almost a rule against criticising one’s own (more on that later) but this article - maybe oddly - made me wary of the ideas animating her debut novel, Lucky Girl. If you know of anyone from the (African) continent who has written on this literary phenomenon - connected to the Taiye Selasi-generated Afropolitanism phenomenon in my head - please point me to them.

[The next paragraph discusses death. Please skip it if you’d rather avoid the topic]

Eighteen years after that piece and some of the Diasporic writing that came of that moment, I wonder what work the divisions of Blackness is supposed to do. It’s particularly strange in a time when Black children who were born in Africa and then emigrated to the US of so many of these tales are caught in the maws of the State in that country that has been destroying people that look like them for centuries. And still we rise etc but at what cost? And who profits from Black people thinking themselves separate from the anti-Blackness that underpins capitalism, neocolonialism and everything in between Africa and other places with Black majority populations?

And now, criticism. Earlier this week, someone said Brandon Taylor needs to write like he tweets which….please be serious, Laura. While it was quite the take (stares), it got the girls talking. As you know, I love a good Disk Horse - especially those that one can ride across vast distances. As in this case, where getting anything remotely critical is so hard that a personal take like this parasocial complaint is the closest thing. Over on Instagram, Lupita Aquino of Lupita Reads and Traci from The Stacks Pod (great follows both!) had some great points to make about the power of criticism in helping us sort through possible reads (increasing with each passing day) and even have the potential to bring new readers to a writer’s work (one man’s meat etc). 

Every time I say “this wasn’t a banger” - and especially when the book in question is by a Kenyan author! - I find myself crouching, waiting for a tiger to maul me. The result of that is a fear of Kenyan literature that had me almost miss one of my 2022 favourites - The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber - because what if, Allah forgive me, I was a hater? Yet, if we’re being honest, what the kids call an “honest review” (read, anything short of gushing) is generative and insightful and we do ourselves a disservice every time we avoid a title or any discussion that won’t amount to praise. And this time I won’t engage in any hedging.

Quick news/ things that may be of interest (to Umm Kukthum’s Alf Leila We Leila):

• Poetry reading on Madaraka Day’s Eve featuring multi-hyphenate creator Ngwatilo Mawiyoo and American poet and activist Tongo Eisen-Martin

  

• Dracula Daily, which I mentioned in a past entry, continues apace. Jump on if you’re keen

• May’s Mengi Mengi Film Club screening was moved to the last Saturday of June so there’s more time to plan to watch the films that were lined up 

• If writing postcards is something you enjoy, check out this website I found out about via Rachel Syme. I sent my first postcard this week and I’ve already signed up for another. Related: you can send me books, postcards, letters, and assorted gifts via PO Box 102439, Jamia Posta 00101, Nairobi, Kenya 

I have finished two books since I last wrote - the audiobook version of Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith (narrated by the author) and the ebook version of Mamo by Sas Milledge - review forthcoming. I haven’t put out a video since the Labour Day one (you can watch it here) and this week saw me make no progress on that front. To catch the ones I’m working on when they’re done, subscribe to the channel if you haven’t yet!

As ever, please write back to me and tell me what books you’re reading or looking forward to reading — it’s always a great time talking about books.

Enjoy the rest of the week and have a lovely time reading. Talk to you soon!