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PINKPOET KIMANI ON HER ARTISTRY WHILE IN KISUMU She's a poet with witty words but a soft spoken personality. A soft spoken heart. Grace Kimani might strike you as calm, jovial, ordinary lass when you first meet her. Not till you get to know that she is an accomplished young poet whose works have been featured in two Kenyan poetry anthologies. She is the initiator of two prominent art gatherings this side of the country having started Spoken Heart in Maseno and Lakeside Poetry in Kisumu. Pinkpoet has shared the stage with outstanding poets and artists in the country like Tear Drops, Juliet Wangombe (who wrote President Uhuru Kenyatta’s acceptance speech) and Nasara the beat boxer. Be sure to bump into her at most of the many poetry events in Nairobi. Here’s an interview I did with her through e-mail back in April. Pinkpoet Kimani What is it like being a creative in Kisumu? It’s been four years since I came to Kisumu and the experience has been amazing. I have had ...

My Insight On How To Organize A Successful Art Exhibition After Hosting One  That I am an artist you probably know very well by now. Well art is about a lot of stuff, and a lot of stuff is about art. A month ago while at an event organized by a marketing company I intern for, I met ByronMenezes . Guy’s uncompromisingly forthright, an altruist and a good conversationalist. Has a lot of experience being here and there you know-with work and places he’s been to. Being the Creative Director at this hosting company, I happened to mention to him some project I was working on. So he offers to provide a venue for a group exhibition that I had to organize in two weeks with his and that of a couple other people. I developed the theme of the exhibition and invited the top artists in Kisumu to come exhibit too. Well here’s my insight for fellow young artists when hosting (like I did) or participating in a group exhibition (like I also did): »       If you ar...

I Don’t Know About This by Churchill Ongere It  shouldn't  be funny, I tell myself, how my interests are still scattered all over the place three years after graduating from high school. Not that I feel like I am so old to still be trying out different things but sometimes, during those moments when I sit back and retrospect, I find myself comparing myself to my high school mates who some, to use the example of just a few,  by now, are married and are on government payrolls. (Disclaimer- I do not envy neither do I despise their marital status or employer. I do reviews from time to time you should know). I do have lots of crazy, unimaginable, stretched, secular and heavenly fun while all over the place. I came out of primary school confident (like my father)  to be a lawyer one day (some friends I graduated standard eight with have this wrong perception that I am probably almost clearing law school now!). Well I started being argumentative ages ago...

How To Keep Afloat As A Creative While In University- by Churchill Ongere Being a creative in university is quite an experience! The environment is conducive for your creative processes and the only challenge then is to get a balance between studies, fun, people and your projects. It’s here that I have realized how challenging it can be to juggle your passion with your studies. Well this statement- juggling your studies and your passion -definitely goes to indicate what your passion is not in this case. Just after I cleared high school, I wanted so much to be a poet. I remember listening to specific songs and watching specific movies that I thought could help me broaden my imaginative capacity. I recall acquiring this phrase ( like skating uphill ) from a movie I was watching at 3 am one Tuesday night while chatting with a friend who was going back home after going out the previous night  in Mombasa. I forgot to mention that just before starting on poetry I had been...