Wole Adedoyin interviews Bonface Isaboke Nyamweya: Deep Reflections, Immersing Myself in Various Literary Works Stirred My Creative Inspiration

WA: TELL US ALL ABOUT YOUR WRITING BACKGROUND- WHAT YOU’VE WRITTEN, WHAT YOU’RE CURRENTLY WRITING?
BIN: I have written a number of poems published in various national and international anthologies. For example, ten of my poems have been featured in the forthcoming high school anthology- Voices fromthe Woods: An Anthology of Poems from East Africa ∧ Beyond.I was among the poets featured in the anthology- Black Rootedness(2022). Some of my poems have been published in magazines like Kalahari Review as well. Other than poems, I also write short stories and novels. Peeling the Cobwebs (2020) and Her Question Pills (2020) are my two published novels.  My short story Whose Title Died was published in the Pan African Writers Association anthology Voices that Sing Behind the Veil. Some can be found even in the Imbizo Journal. Currently, I have written the first Ekegusii sci-fi novel ‘Otongoro n’Eching’erabanto: Orogendo Gochia ase Ching’enang’eni’ (Otongoro and the Aliens: An Interstellar Voyage). Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o has written the foreword for this book after reading an English synopsis about it.

WA: WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT A PIECE OF WRITING?
BIN: It is in my mother tongue and I love how I am able to talk about complex concepts of plasma physics and quantum mechanics in my mother tongue.

WA: WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS AND WHY?
BIN: Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o is my favorite author because of his passion for indigenous languages and his amazing writing style.  I also admire Richard Wright for his beautiful writing style especially after reading Native Son.

WA: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A NEW WRITER STARTING OUT?
BIN: Writing is not just writing, it is a societal revolution, a creation of beauty, a recreation of the beautiful, a rebirth of the muse in the shower of the totality of the ambience and historicity of humanity’s being.

WA: WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE?
BIN: Each time I am in a vehicle traveling somewhere, I try to see the story around me. When I listen to gossips of people around me, the hawkers, etc., I try to see the story. Everything carries the seeds for a potential great story. For the phenomena to inspire me, I always pay attention to the atomic relationships of things around me, the tiniest relations or manifestations of everything around me.

WA: DO YOU HAVE A WRITING ROUTINE? A PLACE THAT’S SPECIAL?
BIN: I have a writing routine. I write always. But I do not have a special place to write. I write in my notebook, in my phone’s notes, and in my mind. Anytime. Because a precious idea can be born at midnight or in the middle of a meeting, and if it is not jotted down, it can be lost in a marvelous forgetfulness.

WA:   HOW, WHEN AND WHY DID YOU FIRST START WRITING?
BIN: I started writing when in primary school. I was writing compositions and essays. In high school, when in form two, I wrote several poems. In form three, I wrote my first play. After high school, I read widely and tried my hand in other genres like short stories and novels.

WA:   WHAT WAS THE FIRST PIECE YOU EVER HAD PUBLISHED?
BIN: A poem "Burning White Masks" when Georg Floyd was knelt upon to death. The poem is about racism and was published in the anthology ‘Shackles of Pain’ 2020.

WA:  DO YOU ADDRESS PARTICULAR THEMES OR ISSUES IN YOUR WRITING?
BIN: Yes, I do. My first book of poetry ‘The Nile, Our Neither/Nor’ 2019 treats nature and environmental pollution. Peeling the Cobwebs novel talks about tribalism in an imaginary African country called Ricafa. Her Question Pills treats feminism and African womanism.

WA:  HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SENDING YOUR WRITING OUT INTO THE WORLD?
BIN: I felt ennobled, like someonesprinkling roses upon the path trekked by great people and like a guitarist whose melodies swing the moods of the listeners.

WA: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS FROM?
BIN: My muse was provoked by chats with friends, news, ruminations, and reading other works.

WA:  HOW DID YOU GET YOUR PUBLISHER?
BIN: I had sent my work to a major publisher but it could not be published because they were not accepting unsolicited manuscripts. So, I opted for self-publishing.

WA: TELL US WHAT KIND OF RESPONSES YOU GET FROM AUDIENCES\RS.
BIN: My book ‘Peeling the Cobwebs’ has been done by five universities in Kenya including Kisii University, Kabianga University, St Paul University, and Moi University. Several high school students have read it as well, notwithstanding many non-students. Nearly all of them esteem the theme of tribalism treated by this book as it has not been delved with by many authors. They also talk about the usage of dramatic dialogue and vivid descriptions.

WA: HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOU?
BIN: I am in Facebook as Bonface Nyamweya https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009193686600&mibextid=LQQJ4d

WA: TIPS, TRICKS, THINGS TO PASS ON TO DEDICATED WRITE?
BIN: Learn to hurry slowly. Read, read, read. Then, read and write and read. And read and read. And read and read and read. It is a great treasure to be informed of the vast number of writing techniques, flavors, etc. to make a book that will make people shed tears or smile.

WA: ANY TYPICAL/COMMON MISTAKES THAT NEW WRITERS TEND TO MAKE?
BIN: Self-publishing without preparedness. Whereas many think self-publishing is cheap. It is not. It needs a budget not just to have the book printed, but as well editing, rigorous editing by expert editors. Failure to do this, substandard books end up in the market and this kills the reputation especially when notable errors are found.  They also need a budget for marketing.

WA: WHICH OF YOUR BOOKS WERE THE MOST ENJOYABLE TO WRITE?
BIN: Peeling the Cobwebs, 2020.  I had not started my undergraduate law classes hence I wrote it very relaxed.

WA: TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK? WHAT WAS THE JOURNEY LIKE?
BIN: My first published novel ‘Peeling the Cobwebs’ 2020 was first submitted to a major publisher. When the review report was out, I worked on it but sending it back, it was not received since the editors were working on new curriculum materials. I sent it to another publisher in Tanzania. Covid-19 came and I met a friend who knew a self-publishing firm here in Kenya. I talked with the guy and I had to revoke my work from Tanzania and send it to this publisher domicile in Kenya.

WA:  WHAT IS THE KEY THEME AND/OR MESSAGE IN THE BOOK?
BIN: Tribalism

WA: WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE?
BIN: I am in Facebook as Bonface Nyamweya https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009193686600&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Born in 1997, Bonface Isaboke Nyamweya is a Kenyan poet, short story writer, playwright and novelist. Nyamweya was a featured poet in the 2022 and 2023 Kistrech International Poetry Festival. He was selected as a co-editor of the Konch Magazine of America this year for the winter edition. Moreover, Nyamweya has a degree in Philosophy from the Pontifical University of Urbaniana, Rome. He also has a Masters in Philosophy from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. Nyamweya is a law student at the University of Nairobi and an intern at the National Council for Law Reporting. In this interview with Wole Adedoyin, he talks about his writing career.