The annual Kistrech Poetry Festival is back and will take place in Kisii, Kenya, on 30th July to 4th August 2014.
The event will be held at Dados Hotel, in Kisii County, Kenya.There will be poetry reading, presentations of papers on the theme “Poetry & Song?” The guest poets will visit schools to read poems and interact with students and teachers of literature. They will also visit Universities and colleges. Of foremost importance is the visit to the village. Like in the 2013 festival, they will share in indigenous meals and traditional brew, learn of the culture and customs of the local people and share in their wisdom and beliefs. They will take photos and exchange ideas and watch the African oral poetry in its right context.
The poets will also visit and read poetry at Lake Victoria in Western Kenya and on the last day make a visit to either Nakuru or Nairobi Game Reserve where they will read poetry near the animals.
Now in its 2nd year, the 1st Kistrech Poetry Festival in Kenya 2013 was a great success. Many poets participated including Professor Malashri Lal and Professor Sukrita Paul Kumar, both of University of Delhi, India. Others included Professor Pornpen Hantrakool of University of Thailand, Professor Lauri Garcia Duenas of University of Mexico, Professor Arif Khudairi of University of Cairo and professor Jason Stavrakis of Cypress. There were also two poets from Lithuania—Sarah Poisson and Vytautas Suslavius.
The Kenyan poets who participated included Peter Onyancha, Dr. Evans Nyamwaka, Dr. Fred Mbogo, Osebe Soko, Simon Oyatsi, Obino Nyambane and Amos Tabalia. The Kenyan world famous spoken-word artists—Jicho pevu, Jamik and Mufasa—added local flavor to the event.
The following are confirmed to be our guest poets:
Althea Mark-Romeo (Switzerland)
Tony Mochama (Kenya)
Erling Kittelson (Norway)
Jenny Maria Tunedal (Sweden)
Professor Andrei Khadanovich((Belarus)
Khainga O’Okwemba (Kenya)
Professor Stephanos Stephanides (Cyprus)
Udo Kawasser (Austria)
Laus Jorgen Strandby Nielsen (Denmark)
Tendai Maduwa (Zimbabwe)
Homero Carvalho Oliva (Bolivia)
Octavia McBride-Ahebee (USA)
Professor Patricia Jabbeh Wesley (Liberia)
Lidija Dimkovska (Macedonia/Slovenia)
The festival is unique and different from those done in other countries. Unlike other international festivals that confine poets in concrete inanimate buildings, the first one exclusively intended to take poetry to the people with the belief that “The Word is Not Alone. It is Part of The Whole.” One way of making the people part of it was the inclusion of school students. Every evening from 4.00pm to 7.00pm the poets read poetry at Kisii University, Kisii Boys High School, Nyabururu Girls National School, Cardinal Otunga Boys High School and Gianchere Mixed High School. In turn the students showcased their talents in poetry, spoken-word, rap and dance.
A call to Poets
If you are interested in participating in this festival please fill in the form that is here for consideration. Send the form and all the documents to [email protected]. Ensure that you have enclosed your Bio, a coloured photo of yourself, five poems and an abstract of your presentation. Lastly view our tentative programme for the 2014 festival hereTags:Kisii, Poetry Festival, Tony Mochama