CHRISTOPHER OKEMWA
Kisii | Kenya
à propos
Christopher Okemwa est maître de conférences en littérature à l’Université Kisii, au Kenya. Il détient un doctorat en poésie de performance de l’Université Moi, au Kenya. Il est le fondateur et le directeur actuel du Kistrech International Poetry Festival au Kenya (www.kistrechpoetry.org). Sa nouvelle, Sabina and the Mystery of the Ogre, a remporté le Prix Burt canadien pour la littérature africaine en 2015. Sa suite, Sabina la fille de la pluie, a été sélectionnée pour la liste de lecture de l’ODD 2 Faim Zéro.
Okemwa a publié douze recueils de poésie, dont Toxic Love (2004), The Gong (2009), Ominous Clouds (2018), Purgatorius Ignis (2016), Love from Afro Catalonia (2020), The Pieta (2019), Tisztítűz (Purgatory) (2020), Izabrane Pesme : Poèmes sélectionnés (2021), Entre les murs et les espaces vides (2021), Poèmes sélectionnés de Christopher Okemwa (2023), Sur le podium des mensonges (2023), Orchidées à Taïwan (2024), La peur du vide (2024), et Chřadnoucí růže (Rose flétrissante) (2024).
Okemwa est l’éditeur des anthologies internationales de poésie suivantes : Dans le Silence de la Vie : Une Anthologie de Poésie (2019); Rêveries pendant un temps de pandémie : Une Anthologie Mondiale de Poèmes sur COVID-19 (2020); I’m Can’t Breathe : Une Anthologie Poétique de la Justice Sociale (2021); Les griots d’Ubuntu : une anthologie de la poésie contemporaine d’Afrique (2021); Sortir de l’isolement : une anthologie de poèmes sur le triomphe, la résilience et l’espoir (2022); Kenya à travers un œil étranger : une collection de poèmes (2022); Ukraine : une anthologie mondiale de poèmes sur la guerre (2023); Anthologie de poésie Kistrech : célébrant dix ans d’expérience poétique (2023); Voix des bois : une anthologie de poèmes d’Afrique de l’Est & Au-delà (2024); Chanson des plaines et autres poèmes (Approuvé pour les écoles secondaires de Juniour au Kenya) (2025); Jeunes poètes kenyans, une anthologie de poèmes (2024); et Silence : une anthologie internationale (2025).
Ses cinq livres pour enfants incluent La reine du village (2009), Gardons le tigre (2010), Le visiteur à la porte (2010), Moraa et Miya le chat (2023), et Chubot les histoires maudites (2011). Il a écrit quatre livres de littérature orale, intitulés Riddles of the Abagusii of Kenya : Gems of Wisdom from the African Continent (2011), Proverbes of the Abagusii of Kenya (2012), Otenyo le grand guerrier des Abagusii, une pièce (2016), et Poésie orale des Abagusii du Kenya (2020).
Okemwa a écrit cinq contes populaires du peuple Abagusii du Kenya : Ogasusu na Okanyang’au (The Hare and the Hyena) (2014); Ogasusu na Oganchogu (The Hare and the Elephant) (2014); Kerangeti na Kerantina (Kerangeti and Kerantina) (2014); Okang’ombe, Okanyang’au na Ogakondo (The Cow, the Hyena and the Monkey) (2015); et Ogasusu na Okanyambu (Le Lièvre et le Caméléon) (2015).
Okemwa a co-traduit de l’anglais vers le swahili les œuvres des écrivains internationaux suivants : The Wind Passes Over Me du poète finlandais Inger Mari Aikio / Upepo Hupepea Juu Yangu, poems (Nsemia Inc. Publishers, 2018, Ontario/Nairobi); The Hungarian poet Balázs F. Attila’s Blue / Zamawati, poetry collection (Kistrech Theatre International, 2019); Serbian writer Milutin Djurickovic’s How the Twins Grew Up, a collection of short stories /Jinsi Mapacha Walivyokua, Mkusanyiko wa hadithi fupi za watoto, (Kistrech Theatre International, 2020); et l’écrivain hongrois István Turczi ‘Somewhere Budapest/Mahali Fulani Mjini Budapest’ (Kistrech Theatre international, 2020).
Okemwa has read and performed his poems in Northern Ireland, England, Colombia, Belgium, Turkey, Vietnam, Spain, Dubai, Taiwan and Tanzania. Okemwa’s poems have been translated to Catalan, Armenian, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Mandarin, Hungarian, and French.
about
Christopher Okemwa is a lecturer of literature at Kisii University, Kenya. He holds a PhD in performance poetry from Moi University, Kenya. He is the founder and current director of the Kistrech International Poetry Festival in Kenya (www.kistrechpoetry.org). His novella, Sabina and the Mystery of the Ogre, won the Canadian Burt Award for African Literature in 2015. Its sequel, Sabina the Rain Girl, was selected for the UN SDG 2 Zero Hunger reading list.
Okemwa has published twelve poetry collections, including Toxic Love (2004), The Gong (2009), Ominous Clouds (2018), Purgatorius Ignis (2016), Love from Afro Catalonia (2020), The Pieta (2019), Tisztítótűz (Purgatory) (2020), Izabrane Pesme: Selected Poems (2021), Between the Walls and Empty Spaces (2021), Christopher Okemwa’s Selected Poems (2023), On the Podium of Lies (2023), Orchids in Taiwan (2024), The Fear of the Void (2024), and Chřadnoucí růže (Withering Rose) (2024).
Okemwa is the editor of the following international poetry anthologies: In the Murk of Life: An Anthology of Poetry (2019); Musings during a Time of Pandemic: A World Anthology of Poems on COVID-19 (2020); I Can’t Breathe: A Poetic Anthology of Social Justice (2021); The Griots of Ubuntu: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from Africa (2021); Coming Out of Isolation: An Anthology of Poems on Triumph, Resilience, and Hope (2022); Kenya through a Foreign Eye: A Collection of Poems (2022); Ukraine: A World Anthology of Poems on War (2023); Kistrech Poetry Anthology: Celebrating Ten Years of Poetic Experience (2023); Voices from the Woods: An Anthology of Poems from East Africa & Beyond (2024); Song of the Plains and Other Poems (Approved for Juniour Secondary Schools in Kenya) (2025); Young Kenyan Poets, an Anthology of Poems (2024); and Silence: An International Anthology (2025).
His five children’s books include The Village Queen (2009), Let’s Keep Tiger (2010), The Visitor at the Gate (2010), Moraa and Miya the Cat (2023), and Chubot the Cursed One and Other Stories (2011). He has written four oral literature text books, titled Riddles of the Abagusii of Kenya: Gems of Wisdom from the African Continent (2011), Proverbs of the Abagusii of Kenya (2012), Otenyo the Great Warrior of the Abagusii, a play (2016), and Oral Poetry of the Abagusii of Kenya (2020).
Okemwa has written five folktales of the Abagusii people of Kenya, namely Ogasusu na Okanyang’au (The Hare and the Hyena) (2014); Ogasusu na Oganchogu (The Hare and the Elephant) (2014); Kerangeti na Kerantina (Kerangeti and Kerantina) (2014); Okang’ombe, Okanyang’au na Ogakondo (The Cow, the Hyena and the Monkey) (2015); and Ogasusu na Okanyambu (The Hare and the Chameleon) (2015).
Okemwa has co-translated from English to Swahili the works of the following international writers: The Finnish Poet Inger Mari Aikio’s The Wind Passes Over Me / Upepo Hupepea Juu Yangu, poems (Nsemia Inc. Publishers, 2018, Ontario/Nairobi); The Hungarian poet Balázs F. Attila’s Blue / Zamawati, poetry collection (Kistrech Theatre International, 2019); Serbian writer Milutin Djurickovic’s How the Twins Grew Up, a collection of short stories /Jinsi Mapacha Walivyokua, Mkusanyiko wa hadithi fupi za watoto, (Kistrech Theatre International, 2020); and Hungarian writer István Turczi’s Somewhere Budapest/Mahali Fulani Mjini Budapest (Kistrech Theatre international, 2020).
Okemwa has read and performed his poems in Northern Ireland, England, Colombia, Belgium, Turkey, Vietnam, Spain, Dubai, Taiwan and Tanzania. Okemwa’s poems have been translated to Catalan, Armenian, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Mandarin, Hungarian, and French.
Esegi n’erigena rikubu
riguateka
obotioku bwaye bwasiaroka
ase bosio n’amasio aito
Tuatama, togotokerwa
gitotubete chimioro chiaito
tuatiga magega chindera chi’amariga aito
Amabarato aito
arimera inse
N’ebitamaso bi’amanyinga aito
Tuatindeka
emeika n’amauga y’abaibori baito
tuatuba chimbuche chiobong’aini bwabo
ne’ritutu n’amaraba
Tuabogoria riibu
rie’chindoto chi’abana baito
twachiirura buna omoubero okogusa
Ase ekebure tuasamba
omoika bu’egesaku
ki’abachokoro n’ebichembene.
War is a rotten egg
that bursts broken
splashing its ordour
before our facades and faces
We run, choking
pinching our nostrils tightly
leaving behind
traces of our tears
Our mortal footsteps
sink below the earth
stained with trails of blood
We inter our parents’
souls and bones
and cover their grey wisdom
with rubble and soil
We carry the ash
of our children’s dreams
blowing them off like wind
On the pier we smoke up
the soul of the generation
of our grand-children.
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