The book we have been waiting for, Low Notes, by Lisa Dominguez Abraham, is now out. Published by Red Wing Press of West Sacramento, this concise volume of poetry looks promising. We will post a review here soon, and Munyori Poetry Journal will feature Lisa's works, and, possibly, an interview.

The California Lectures series brought Wangari Maathai to my neighborhood; all I had to do was cross my street and pay $30.00. Two hours wisely spent as I listened to the inspiring story of how planting trees in Kenya led to a Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai has a persuasive presence, and she does a good … Continue reading WANGARI MAATHAI POWERFUL →

Picture © Tawanda Gumbo"Tawanda Gumbo, M.D., University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas assistant professor of internal medicine, who will develop a treatment regimen based on blocking the mechanisms that tuberculosis bacteria use to evade killing by antibiotics" has won the 2007 NIH Director's Pioneer/New Innovator Award. The NIH News reports, "NIH selected the … Continue reading ZIMBABWEAN POET RECEIVES US SCIENTIFIC INNOVATOR AWARD →

Roof eggI laugh. This piece is dedicated to my English 301 class who validated it as a poem. I wrote it to illustrate how just putting words together does not necessarily make one a poet, but the students saw beyond these words. They saw shelter, food and happiness and they said the poem addressed a … Continue reading HAPPINESS →

Ngugi is an important writer, prolific. He has played a big role in shaping African literature. Because of the sheer size of his work - his novels, his essays -, he deserves one of these European prizes that everyone gets. Recently, Achebe received the Mann Booker prize for his literary achievement; we all (I know … Continue reading Ngugi WaThiongo & these Literary Awards →

The nest is a poem that no words (even these) can build yet. But what bird, under what influence, would build a nest this close to the ground?

At McKinnely Park, remembering a soccer childhood.

Reading a powerful writer, even a not-so-powerful one, may inspire a writer to start typing away; typing something that may morphe into a work of substance. Slow reading - that's what I specialize in, because I get a chance to reflect on the narrative in relation to my experience, or the various experiences in the … Continue reading I write best when I read →

There has been blogger's block here. Well, I have been busy reading submissions for Munyori Poetry Journal, and getting into the new semester. The submissions to Munyori so far are reflective of an increasingly globalized village; I have entries from Bolivia to Ghana to Serbia to Zimbabwe. Lot's of US submissions, of course. The new … Continue reading Blogger’s Block Allows Me to Give Poetry Journal Update →