Call for Poetry Submissions by Komma literary magazine

(Forwarded from Storymoja)

Kenyan poetry goes North?

The literature magazine Komma is based in Lulea, on the northern coast of Sweden and not far away from the Arctic Circle. Komma publishes newly written poems and prose. Among those who contribute the readers will find both established writers and those who are in progress. It also happens that Komma reviews foreign poetry. We have done so, at least one issue per year.

Now we would like to put Kenyan poetry in focus and present some poems for our Swedish readers. I hope therefore that you are willing to send us poems to contribute in this issue, which will be published in March 2010.

Please note that all poems must be written in English and be sent to:

Komma

c/o Rask

Stationsgatan 62 C

972 34 Lulea

Sweden

or:

komma@bredband.net

Submission Deadline: 1st of November 2009.

Contributers will receive two copies of Komma.


Yours sincerely,


Peo Rask

Chief Editor of Komma

What a wonderful world

(And it is a wonderful world, innit? Well.... it sure feels like that today. :-)))
Poem Below:


Today, I surrendered,
I let go,
And what magic that hath wrought.

The bus came in 3 minutes
There was no pushing and squeezing today
There was space for everyone
“Space mob!” The conductor proclaimed
“Ata ya wengine,”
The lady created enough space for me today
I was well inside that bus
On my own warm cosy seat
The ride was smooth and easy, we sailed into town,
There was no traffic at all.
I was smiling to myself all the way
A warm glow inside,
I don’t know if anyone noticed

I got off just right
Strolled past parliament.
The air was light and clean
A freshly laundered Monday morning,
What a beautiful way to begin the week.
The flowers smiled at me
I noticed the antique ornate lamp posts on the side of KICC today
Tall, graceful, statuesque,
They gave me a thumbs-up sign.
Phillip Kisia has installed speakers on all street corners
And the air pulsates with Louis Armstrong’s airy melody,
What a wonderful World!

I cross the road from GPO,
(the lights are green all the way!)
And spy the golden glow of the sun.
To my right, I&M building sparkles
A vivid metal blue today
Juxtaposed against the sun, jutting out
Like a solidarity fist for me
Saying, “Power to you girl!”
Further right, behind Nation center,
The sun is rising for me
Shyly peeping from behind the twin towers
Like a bashful yet wonderful maestro, before he walks onto the stage
As though a little afraid to show me its full glory just yet
Like I might not take it all in
It must bide its time
And come out to shine for me,
Little by little

I flip open my sunglasses
But close them once again,
The sun's still shy
And I want to see and fell the full depth
Of his warm golden love
On me

The Financial Post has good news for me today:
Kenya will be a superpower by 2020
It doesn’t exactly say that,
But its lead story intimates so
Our metropolis is showing promise.
The newspaper vendor smiles at me
And wishes me a good day

My pink office door,
Looks so much more sweeter today,
Welcome happy soul, it whispers
The cheery yellow walls grin at me
The sun's rays bouncing through the window
Cast a golden halo in it
I’m in a little room in heaven

I think that Magic is walking with me today
She gently holds my hand
Guides me on to her red carpeted path,
Strewn with
Soft flower petals on all sides

I have surrendered, I am grateful,
I am free.
And every time I get like this,
Magic shows up
Like I’ve rubbed her genie lamp.

I got an incredible epiphany today,
It’s not about me,
It’s not about my life,
It’s about God, the universe, my fellow beings.
It’s about being and letting everything be.

I want to be,
I am being,
I am free
And my soul sings in joy.
Bliss,
All is well,
What a wonderful world.


Kingwa Kamencu
All rights reserved©
June, 2009

Soul Cravings

Our souls
Together will find
Sweet comfort, gentle ease, quiet ecstasy

Our souls
Hover near each other
Afraid of the magic and brilliance
They will ignite
If they come together, meet as one.

I am tired of ignoring
My soul craving
For you,
Pretending it doesn’t exist
When its keeling, wailing call
Deafens me,
Troubles my every waking moment.

Listen to your soul,
Search your soul.
It will tell you that
Together with mine,
It will find
Sweet comfort, gentle ease, quiet ecstasy.

We’ll be each others soul’s keepers
And we’ll do our best
To be the best thing there ever could be,
For,
To and
With
Each others souls.


Kingwa Kamencu
All rights reserved©
June, 2009

Where does an epiphany come from?

Does it come from your guardian angel
That hurls it down to you
When it sees you slowly sinking
Into the deep dark pit of madness and hell;
Like a lifeline, just in the nick of time?

Does it chance upon you like a random shooting star
That you can wish upon
On rare occasion
Showing up in your face
The moment you’ve managed to push your drama
To the back of your mind
So that you can clearly put it all
Back on the table and see it
With a new perspective?

Does it come like the three wise men
From the east
Guided by the star at night
That lit their every path
And lays at your feet at its arrival
Gold, frankincense and myrrh?

Does it come spat upon you
As a traditional blessing
By ancestors long gone
The throng of the silent unseen living dead
That swarm around you at all times
Shrieking words of wisdom and advice from
Angst filled lives similarly lived;
And creeps out
From behind the other-world curtain they live behind
Subversively slipping into your mind
Breaking the rules of the separation between every day life
And the next world of the dead?


Kingwa Kamencu
All rights reserved©
June, 2009

Poetry for Africa

Poetry is dangerous,
Subversive.

It’s that so often talked about
Double edged sword
That cuts both ways.
It’s more lethal
Than Zuma’s Umshini Wami,
More deadly than the now ubiquitous
Post election violence panga
More than Rwanda’s genocidal machete.
It’s deadlier than Sierra Leonese, Sudanese child soldiers,
More powerful than the Shona-Ndebele, Majimaji, Mau mau wars put together.

It can bless you
Or curse you
Deliver you to your grave-
Ask Pushkin.

It can build continents,
Empires, kingdoms,
And just as quickly,
Tear them down.
Ask Africa

Be careful how you use your words,
What you confess,
You will, without a single doubt
Soon possess.

So let’s sing dangerously progressive
Subversively possessive
Poetry for our motherland,
Africa.

Africa will arise
Not by Zuma’s Umshini Wami,
Or the P.E.V’s menacing panga,
Rwanda’s machete,
North African child soldiers
Or Shona-Ndebele, Majimaji, Mau Mau resistance ire.

Africa will arise
By our dreamy
Amazing words,
Our outlandish prophecies,
Our ridiculously zany confessions
Of a better beautiful, peaceful, abundant Africa
Whose reach
Is within
Our possession.

Kingwa Kamencu
All rights reserved©
June, 2009

INVITATION TO READING OF 'IT'S OUR TURN TO EAT'- BOOKS ON SALE AT KSH. 900 ONLY

PEN Kenya invites you to an afternoon of readings and discussion of Michella Wrong's 'It's our Turn to Eat'.

DATE: SUNDAY 14 JUNE 2009
TIME: 2-5 PM
VENUE: KENYA NATIONAL THEATRE (Main Hall)
NAIROBI, KENYA

Previous libel suits against local booksellers have led to fear and intimidation and the book is currently unavailable in stores. It contains crucial issues for the country, for which reason PEN Kenya endeavors to make it available to the wider public. The books will be sold at a reasonable price of ksh. 900. Subsequent readings, discussions and book sales will be held around the country.

Forward and circulate this invitation to all you know that might be interested and lets meet to discuss problem areas in our country and work out possible solutions.

We look forward to engaging with you,

PEN Kenya.


PEN- In defense of freedom of expression and promotion of literature

Two writing opportunities

Saw this on the Story Moja website and thought to share it with y'all.

Stories That Talk 2 - Invitation to submit manuscripts.

Stories that Talk, the read-aloud story book produced as part of HEARTLINES’ first phase programme, has been extremely successful. It has been welcomed in homes as a powerful tool for discussing values with children; it has been used by pre-schools, and in primary school assemblies; it has been purchased by libraries; it has been reprinted in all 11 languages and distributed to all primary schools in South Africa by the Department of Education.

In light of this success, HEARTLINES feels that a follow-up story book for use in families and schools is needed. Stories that Talk, the first book, was designed as a read-aloud book, so that it would be mediated by parents, teachers or care-givers. It was aimed at ages 3-8, although we know that it has been used also with older children.

We are now compiling a book for children to read to themselves. Stories that Talk 2 will have a range of stories aimed at children between the ages of 8 and 13.

HEARTLINES invites you to submit a story for consideration for this new compilation. We are looking for
stories about values in action, good stories first and foremost – that show children taking action, individually, with their families, or in groups. HEARTLINES has launched a movement, forgood, which encourages people to take action. See the website www.forgood.co.za. The HEARTLINES vision statement, see final page of this document, will inform our selection of stories.

Please email a covering letter and your story to Sally Howes
Sally.Howes@iafrica.com
Or post it to:
Sally Howes, Watermark Publishing
PO Box 21700, Mayor’s Walk, 3208, South Africa
If you are posting it, include a self-addressed envelope.
Please phone 0027 33 3442478 if you have any further queries.

NB. Please do not consider this a commission – it is merely an invitation to submit a story for consideration. We have sent this invitation to many people, networks of authors and related people throughout the country and beyond – so we will be processing a huge volume of submissions. This means we will unfortunately not have time to provide you with detailed critical feedback on your manuscript – unless it is accepted

This other one i saw on the PEN international site.

PEN/Studzinski Literary Award, J. M. Coetzee to judge

Following the success of the HSBC/SA PEN Literary Awards, South African PEN announces a call for entries for the new PEN/STUDZINSKI Literary Award.

Writers from African and SADC countries are invited to submit original, previously unpublished, English-language short stories. The best entries will be selected by an editorial board for inclusion in a book to be published next year, under the working title 'New writing from Africa'.

Three prize winners will be selected by Nobel Laureate J. M. Coetzee and prizes, given by John Studzinski, will be awarded at £5000, £3000 and £2000.

Rules for submission of entries:

• Entrants must be citizens of an African or SADC* country.

• Stories, on any subject, must be in English and between 2500 and 5000 words.

• Entries must be previously unpublished. More than one entry may be submitted.

• Entries must be typed, double-spaced, on one side of A4 paper. Pages must be numbered and securely fastened together. Three copies must be submitted.

• No name or address should appear on the typescript, but each page must carry the title of the story. The identity of authors will not be revealed to judges.

• A covering letter with the name, email and postal address, contact numbers, and photocopy of the ID of the entrant (as proof of citizenship) must be included. Entrants may currently reside outside of Africa.

• Submission of entries implies adherence to all rules and conditions of this award, including that of copyright.

Closing date: 30th September 2008

Post your entry to: PEN/STUDZINSKI Literary Award, P O Box 30327, Tokai, 7966, Republic of South Africa. Fax and email entries will not be accepted.

Detailed rules and conditions for submission are available at www.sapen.co.za,
or email SA PEN at rudebs@icon.co.za

*SADC countries Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia,
and Zimbabwe

All the best in your writing people. Scribble on.