#BABISHAI2020 HAIKU LONGLIST

It is with great pleasure that we announce our #Babishai2020 haiku longlist. The Chief Judge, Kariuki wa Nyamu, who also won the 2017 haiku prize, agrees that it was with careful deliberation that the list was made, with such astounding and unparalleled talent. He shall share more, in an extended interview.

To all the poets on the longlist, warm congratulations. It's always a pleasure and paradise, to read from such highly imaginative work, and again, thanks for bearing with us as we navigate how to excel and make positive impact, in online spaces. 

Let's continue to extend out creativity from within, to spaces where we can make a difference.

Below are the top ten haiku winners, of the #Babishai2020 haiku prize.

total blackout...

street lamps glow with

mating fireflies

Name: Ali Znaidi

Country: Tunisia

.......................................

the morning rain falls

endlessly hugging thy sleep

frozen ideas die

NAME: Andrew Herbert Omuna

Country: Uganda

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the wind plays

every tree sways to its song–

nature's musical

Name: Praise Osawaru

Country: Nigeria



.......................................

my child's eyes

can still see trees run past

our small moving car.

Name: DEVIS THE POET
Country: UGANDA

.......................................

bitter kola

grandpa breaks into

a new tale

Name: Ahmad Holderness

Country of origin: Nigeria

Country of residence: Nigeria and United Kingdom


.......................................

delicate mounds

parting soil in the night

to die out soon

Name: Akello Charlotte

Country: Uganda

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garden opera

in the moon's spotlight

a frog leads chorus

Name: Justice Joseph Prah

Country: Ghana

.......................................

suffocated roots

peep out of garbage dump

where is fresh air?

Name: Rose Wangari Kinyanjui

Country: Kenya

.......................................

ringed with its papers

and tracked like jailbird on bail

the immigrant lands...

Name: Adipo Sidang'

Country: Kenya

.......................................

in the wall

deep opening abandoned

geckoes' room

Name: Osho Tunde Matthew

Country: Nigeria

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Details of award-giving shall be shared in due course.

LESSONS FROM MONKEYS; AND HOW MABIRA FOREST IS A MARVEL: POETRY AT MABIRA FOREST.

 LESSONS FROM MONKEYS; AND HOW MABIRA FOREST IS A MARVEL: POETRY AT MABIRA FOREST.

Written by Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

A half-bitten mango, still wet, from the saliva of a monkey, lies on the ground. A half-eaten fig, with particles of dust and stones sticking to it, lies on the ground. Interdependence. Kindness. Lessons from monkeys. In 2017, The Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation organized its second poetry-nature trip. This particular adventure, titled, ‘Poetry at Mabira Forest,’ opened an entirely new understanding of how social economies are built. The forest walk guide, Hussein emptied himself heaps of knowledge about medicinal trees, Musamya River, and the marvel of the 306 sq km, covered by Uganda’s largest tropical rain forest.

Safari ants, Hussein duly warned, were a constant menace, and he advised extra caution. There were about twenty poets, academics, journalists and well-wishers in total, who set off on Friday 4 August, from Kampala City, for the launch of the #Babishai2017 Poetry Festival at Mabira Forest. Situated in Najjembe in Buikwe District, Eastern Uganda, between Lugazi and Jinja, the forest boasts of 312 types of trees, and 315 bird species. Covered by such a green density, the forest, for some parts, blocked out the sky and was replaced by an eerie yet welcoming canopy of leaves. There are tropical trees standing at heights of 197 feet, with buttress roots, and one remarkably powerful tree was the Prunus Africana, known to have the medicinal ability to heal prostate cancer and malaria. How empowering to know of the healing nature of trees, and to be honoured with such vastness of miracles. Why then would we intentionally destroy it? Are we oblivious to nature’s healing influence? Mabira Forest’s unmistakable clout continues towards the Musamya River.

Musamya River flows earnestly in the Western and Northern part of the forest, joining Sezibwa Falls, and eventually flowing into the River Nile. Musamya Falls, also named Griffin Falls, is a major site, which unfortunately has been partly ruined by the continued burning of sugarcane and dumping of waste, in the surrounding areas. Apart from promoting poetry, and performing witty and unconventional verse, across Uganda’s breathtaking landscapes, the Babishai poetry-nature series is intent on promoting environmental conservation. This trip identified several areas that were disconcerting, and that hopefully would alert all Ugandans and stakeholders as gatekeepers and stewards of the environment that we have been lavished with. The environment includes both the flora and the fauna. These include the often misunderstood nature of the monkeys.

A half-bitten mango, still wet, from the saliva of a monkey, lies on the ground. A half-eaten fig, with particles of dust and stones sticking to it, lies on the ground. Interdependence. Kindness. Lessons from monkeys. These primates leave the forest bed littered with half eaten fruit; for the sole purpose of ensuring that there is food for other animals that mostly crawl or scamper on the ground. Amongst these that benefit from the fruit, are millipedes, snails, squirrels and porcupines.

Having first taken a tour of Mabira Forest myself, in 2005, during the heavy protests over the deforestation of large parts, for sugarcane planting, I was enamoured then just as I was enamoured eleven years later. With the notes taken by the poets who travelled and the footage sponsored by the Babishai team, I was able to capture the essence again. 

As a risk-taker, with a fascination for heights, Hussein who also managed my zip lining expedition, explained about the thrill of the one-hour adrenaline-pumping ride. Cruising over, while hanging on for dear life, is as daunting as it is exhilarating. There are six zip lining ‘flight’, in total, the last covering 87 metres across River Musamya, leading to the final descent. Some more avant-garde couples, decide to ride together, leaving onlookers in awe.

The Babishai 2017 Mabira Forest nature trip, was, all in all, a once-in-a-lifetime delight, with the promise of subsequent poetry excursions across Uganda.

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www.babishainiwe.com

Email: babishainiwe@babishainiwe.com

BABISHAI AND BUTTERFLIES: ICONIC MOMENTS

BABISHAI AND BUTTERFLIES: ICONIC MOMENTS

By Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

They are diurnal; active during the day, like most humans have been trained to be. With large activity during the day time, they act as agents of pollination, laying a copious number of eggs, for their own life insurance. Their eggs are often eaten by all types of predators, from spiders, ants and a few birds, therefore reducing the risk of predation, by increasing the number of eggs that they lay. While butterflies come in about fifteen thousand types of species and vary in their lifestyle, after exploring for a while, not as an entomologist, but as someone who’s fascinated by their curious nature, I unearthed (pun intended), a few images of butterflies, taken in 2014.

The Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation, which promotes African poetry coordinated an East Africa poetry exchange programme, with a Kenyan poet, Michael Onsando, who visited Kampala for a few days. During his visit, he led discussions on the politics and aesthetics of poetry, during an evening hosted by Femrite, where the discussion varied from the potency of East African poets, to the validation sought by African literary gatekeepers, to sustainable livelihoods in poetry. It was a vibrant evening, laced with intellectual and creative discourse.

Babishai and the butterflies. Getting to that. A friend of Babishai’s and a personal friend of mine too, Tom Forrest, a retired British Diplomat, who has lived in Uganda for decades of years, with a house on Buziga Hill, overlooking one of the most breathtaking views in Uganda, invited us to a brunch. Together with Jackee Batanda, a writer and entrepreneur, and Sophie Alal, writer and winner of the 2010 BN Poetry Award, we had a remarkable time. Tom is a nature enthusiast, whose garden boasts of such a wide variety of plants and flowers, that we were immersed in it for a while. My mother, who runs a successful landscaping business, introduced me to the magnanimity of plants and flowers, and I’m always enamoured by the experience. It was here while we chatted and walked in the garden, which a few butterflies kept flitting around us.

Like any human with fairly good eyesight, we were drawn to their essence. With Jackee’s camera, thanks to her photography skills, we were able to capture some iconic moments of this butterfly. One black and yellow species was by the window sill, stately and striking. How do you capture such beauty in just a photograph? How do you sip enough of it, to quench your insatiable need for nature’s grandeur! It’s impossible. We tried, though.

It was later that I discovered butterflies never fly in straight lines, to confuse their predators. They do not want to leave obvious flight paths, as that would make them easy prey. On reading Robert Greene’s ’48 Laws of Power,’ he too recommends that we should leave a little mystery to our habits and schedules. A change in routine, puts people off-guard and you not only brighten your vibe, but also heighten your security.

I’ve seen photos and videos of heavy set adults chasing butterflies down across miles, with butterfly nets. Their indirect flight confuses the butterfly catchers, and it’s quite a sight to watch.

Lessons from butterflies: We must lay a large number of eggs; because that raises the assurance of survival. Live in such a way that even with half of your ideas, plans, or activities failed, there is assurance that your legacy will remain intact. Not because you had a million ideas, but because the predators could not reach them, or destroy them.

Lessons from butterflies: Be unpredictable. Don’t live such a monotonous and regular life, which leaves no surprises. If you’re a dancer, change the music. If you write, change the characters, and if you’re a parent, change your style.

There are hundreds of iconic moments with Babishai, which were captured in photos. I’ll be sharing more.

Thanks for reading. The various lifestyles of butterflies was information gathered from discussions with friends who love to travel around Uganda, and an article in The Eye Magazine.

Babishai edits poetry, and if you have a collection of fifty poems or more that you would like us to look at, email babishainiwe@babishainiwe.com, or call +256 751 703226.

BABISHAI NIWE POETRY FOUNDATION POETRY EDITING SERVICES

You probably know someone who has written a poem and kept it locked up for ages; a secret like a belch, (for them and them alone). Maybe you are that person who’s written a poem, about a moment that was too terrifying or magical, not to be locked in the confines of pen and paper.

The BN Poetry Award began for that reason; to tell you that some secrets are okay to share. We began this journey of splendor, sin and secrets so that unrecognised poets, especially, would have their space to shine. Since 2009, about 5,200 poets have passed through the BN Poetry corridors, through both the annual poetry contests and annual publications.

Turning this service up a notch, we want to not only spread the word of African poetry through annual contests, but also to read, reread, proof read, edit and give advice on poetry and haikus, from Africans. With every contest, we often receive such requests. Before we announce our 2019 annual haiku award, kindly indulge:-

BABISHAI NIWE POETRY FOUNDATION POETRY EDITING SERVICES

After receiving our umpteenth request to read, edit and assess poetry and haiku from both emerging and established poets, we have decided to create an official space for this highly sought after service. We have decided to fill a much needed gap.

SUBMIT YOUR AFRICAN POETRY FOR EDITING

The Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation is officially opening up a professional editing space for African poetry. To all emerging and established poets of African descent, kindly submit your work. We have subsidized the rates for African poets.

Details:

1.      All submissions must be submitted as a Microsoft word attachment, using Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri, font size 12, single-spacing.

2.      Kindly use a header at the top right corner and include  your name, draft title of your submission (not compulsory), city and country of residence, city and country of origin (if different from above).

3.      This is a professional service, and depending on the amount of work submitted, there will be a fee.

The Subsidized Poetry Editing Rates are as Below:-

10-20 Poems  -   $200

21-50 poems- $500

4.      If you’re interested in the Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation going further to publish your work, that can be followed by a formal discussion on preferences, design, time-lines, quantity, and other essential criteria.

5.      You own the copyright.

6.      Kindly submit work to babishainiwe@babishainiwe.com. You may also call +256 751 703226

Thanks for being such a support towards African poetry.

Towards the end of the year, we shall be calling for submissions for our 2019 African haiku contest.

 

                                                          

Follow us on Twitter: @BNPoetryAward

Instagram:                  babishai

CELEBRATING MARIAL AWENDIT: #BABISHAI2018 WINNER

Marial Awendit, from South Sudan, was declared the winner of the #Babishai2018 Poetry Prize, on Sunday 5 August at Starlight Hotel, Mbale. The winning poem 38 Photographs of Depression, was selected amongst thousands of submissions. The Chief Judge, Prof Rem Raj, also a Babishai board member, acknowledged, on behalf of the Judging team (Alfred Msadala from Malawi and Rehema Nanfuka from Uganda), that his poem was potent, highly imaginative and brimming with originality. The #Babishai2018 award-giving ceremony was held at Starlight Hotel in Mbale, owned by renowned poet and author, Professor Timothy Wangusa.
The winner receives $700 and publication of a chapbook poetry collection.



Marial Awendit, on receiving the news of his win.

In second place was Grace Sharra from Malawi. Unable to attend, she delivered her acceptance speech on phone and said she was still dazed.

Grace Sharra

In third place, from Uganda, was George Gumikiriza. A young poet studying for his degree in Mechanical Engineering at Makerere University, with a passion for art and creativity.

Award-giving ceremony


Guests at Starlight Hotel, Mbale.

The #Babishai2018 Poetry Festival took place from 3-6 August in Kapchorwa, Sipi Falls and Mbale. Organised by the teams of the Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation and Rhythm City Mbale, Babishai Founder, Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva, says that the Babishai Poetry Foundation has grown in extraordinary measures; especially by reaching out to  young poets from Africa, who would possibly have never been discovered or published. This year, the festival drew guests from Botswana, Nigeria, The United States, Rwanda and Uganda.

Poets at Sipi Falls: #Babishai2018 Poetry Festival.

In 2019, Babishai will celebrate ten years of promoting poetry through the annual award, publications and annual festivals. Follow us on Twitter @BNPoetryAward and on Instagram at babishai.

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#BABISHAI2018 SHORTLIST: GRACE SHARRA (MALAWI)

 Grace Athauye Sharra, 31, hails from Ntcheu District in Malawi. She holds a Diploma in Education and teaches languages at Mitundu Secondary School in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Courtesy photo

She is a poet and short story writer. Her works have appeared in many local and international publications. Her poem, We Wear The Mask, features in a book titled Malawi a Place Apart by former Norwegian ambassador to Malawi Asbjorn Eidhammer published in 2017.

In The Familiar Stranger and Other Stories: An Anthology For Junior Secondary School, Grace has a poem titled Sacred Vows and a short story, The Anointed One published by CLAIM Mabuku Malawi in 2013 and is now the textbook for English Literature. Her short story Guilty appears in The Grafted Tree And Other Short stories edited by Sambalikagwa Mvona. It is also in Call It Fate and Other Stories edited by N. Mwangupili and T. Mgunda published by Bookland Malawi.

Tomorrow Will Come, features in War Drums Are Beating, by Alfred Msadala published by Acin. Other poems and a short story are in Poetry For Senior Secondary School and Mphamvu Ya Kondaine Ndi Nkhani Zina (nthano) by Chancellor College Publication in 2013.She has also published in local newspapers and magazines.

Q:     What was the process of writing your particular poem, My Letter To 

You?

A:  It is a product of a lot of events that inspired me to write that verse. I put all my bewilderment, confusion, experiences and protests. Nothing is sacred anymore in our societies. We are no longer our brother's keeper and are ready to betray and sell our souls for almost nothing. 

Q:     What does poetry mean to you?

A: Poetry is sacred. It means everything. It is my first and truest love. It allows me to express myself in the most satisfying and therapeutical manner. You may say it sanctifies me.

Q:     What are your five year goals with your poetry?

A: To publish my book, perform at international events and reach out to as many people as I can with my work while inspiring the budding writers.

Q:     Which African poets are you keen on reading?

A: Denis Brutus, Frank Chipasula, Lindiwe Mabuza, Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva, Gcina Mhlophe and Jack Mapanje

Q:     What are some of the challenges you face with poetry?

        I.            The perception that people have based on what one writes. They always associate the persona in the poem with the author which can be frustrating to say the least.

      II.            It is hard to publish poems in Malawi.

    III     Many people do not appreciate poems, let alone poets

Q:    Any parting remark?

A: Poets are winged souls, they should never sell their voice. A poet who sells his or her voice is a sacrilegious being.

Poetry is a powerful tool that we can use to fight all evils in our society.

I am so excited for being shortlisted for the Babishai poetry competition. It has given me wings and I don't intend to fly an ordinary pitch.

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The #Babishai2018 shortlisted poems may be read here:

#BABISHAI2018 SHORTLIST

#BABISHAI2018 SHORTLIST:SALAWU OLAJIDE

Salawu Olajide currently lives in Ife. This is the second time he has been shortlisted for the Babishai Poetry Award. His poems have appeared in Transition,  Saraba, New Orleans Review, Soul-Lit,  Poetry City, Paragrammer and so on. 

Courtesy photo

Q:     What was the process of writing your particular poem, The Music
Man Thinks about Dapchi?

A: The poem stayed in my head for a day after the Dapchi saga. History was repeating itself. You remember Chibok? Anyways, after a day I tried to capture the agony of mother losing their daughters in a country with a loose soul. 

Q:     What does poetry mean to you?

A: Poetry is a life wrapped up in the economy of words.  In its units of metaphors, imagery and linguistic aesthetics, human experiences are locked there in.  

Q:   What are your five year goals with your poetry?

A: All my goals are embedded in one. And that is humanity. And it is a religion we should all embrace which gives me the ability to impact my immediate society and other spaces where my feet have not reached through my writing. This, I seek every day.  And this I will continue to seek. 

Q:.    Which African poets are you keen on reading?

A: Dami Ajayi, Gbenga Adesina, Warsan Shire, Clifton, Ladan Osman,  Shittu Fowora, D. M. Aderibigbe, Adedayo Agarau, Rasaq Malik,  Sadiq Dzukogi... My God, the list is endless. Africa is blessed.

Q: What are some of the challenges you face with poetry?

A: When poems stay too long in my head, I hate it. 

Q:   Is there anything of importance you would like to share with
literature teachers, who are reading this?

A: There is a need to look outside the window and teach new poets who are doing great stuff.
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The #Babishai2018 shortlisted poems can be found here:

#BABISHAI2018 SHORTLIST

We’ll be announcing the winner at the #Babishai2018 poetry festival on 5 August in Mbale.

ADEDAYO AGARAU: #BABISHAI2018 SHORTLIST

 “When he was 4, a lady kissed him & that was the very beginning.”

Adedayo Agarau is a Nigerian documentary photographer and poet. He explores the concept of godhood, boyhood, distance, and absence. His poems have been featured or forthcoming on Kalahari, Brittle Paper, Gaze Mag, Allegro, Obra Artifact, Praxis Magazine, African Writer, Click 042, One Jarcar Press, Expound Magazine, Geometry, 8poems and elsewhere.


Q:    What was the process of writing your particular poem, Stones?


A:  I have always cherished memories because they have directed my course through the years. Isn’t it beautiful that our body records events, even in our unconsciousness? Memory is like yellow tulips growing everywhere. No! not weeds, yellow tulips. Memories may come raging and turbulent, but when properly cared for, they are bliss. I was 9 when the Ikeja Cantonment bomb blast happened in 2002, with no hope of writing about it years to come. I wouldn’t even believe I would be a poet. I remember watching NTA NewsLine with my family, and there were pictures of a city full of dead people, covered with the white cloths, and some with the colours of the Nigerian flag, being mass buried.

Writing “Stones” was as heavy as the title. It just won’t let go. The poem was an old rag that needed to be rewashed. When the event happened in 2002, I was only 9 and clueless, never been anywhere near a fire. I am however glad I was able to revisit old memory and tuck it away.

Q:  What does poetry mean to you?

A: Poetry. WOW. Sincerely, some questions will never entirely get the answers they deserve. I started writing in 2013 because I had developed an interest in the beauty of rhymes. At that time, there
were revolutionary Facebook rap battles, and I wanted to take the shine on one of those days. But I found something higher than the vain brawl of words, which was being a commuter of memory. Gbenga Adesina, also a shortlisted poet of Babishai, in 2015, told me that this is the generation of writers that turns inward. Always trapped in memory, body, dream, self. I am trapped somewhere,
still. And each time I emerge, I come with testimonies of that victory or ruin. And these testimonies carefully display how dear and personal poetry is to me; the goings and comings, the asylum chapel, thoroughly documented by poetry.

Q:    What are your five year goals with your poetry?

A:   A lot would have gone under the shades by then, and at the same time, a lot would have emerged. By then, I believe I would be done with my first full-length collection of poems. While that is still in the works, I have it tucked in my breast pocket to study poetry. Most importantly, the urge to get better would carry me through these 5 years and beyond. So yes! In 5 years, I want to be strong, formidable and remain relentless.

Q: Which African poets are you keen on reading?

A: I was particularly waiting for this question. Yay! Hi Gbenga Adesina & DM Aderibigbe! Hello Safia Elhillo! I saturate my self with these people. Their writing has dramatically influenced my works. The glorious works of Romeo Oriogun, Rasaq Malik Gbolahan and Gbenga
Adeoba remain colourful in mind. Logan February's deep in line narratives keep me sleepless. I am very grateful for the gift of writing and the ability to read. Well, I have a blockchain of poets  that check and balance me in return, Mesioye John, Hauwa Nuhu, Nome Patrick, Wale Ayinla, Jide Badmus and Salawu Olajide (who is also on the shortlist), whose works have been my light for a long time now. I think reading poetry from other people helps us to understand their
core, and in return helps us to further understand our own cores too.

Q:  What are some of the challenges you face with poetry?

A: As much as I like to say that poetry is a profoundly personal engagement for me, I love to see how it influences my public space. I have experimented with my facebook page, and I realized that it seems we are living our readers behind as regards the revolution of African
Poetry. But I am grateful to the beautiful works paddling itself out throughout the continent. Soon! Soon! The light will find us all.

Q:  Is there anything of importance you would like to share with literature teachers, who are reading this?


A: Ah! Yes! Going by what Gbenga told me –“this is the generation
that turns inward.”

I think the body / self / the soul/ is a beautiful place. Full of chaos, fireflies crackling in fire; the body is a field with blessed of butterflies too. Writing curriculums should be drawn to address or
affect immediate environments. We, students, want to talk about our father, about our home, about how grandpa’s love has reshaped the family and a lot more. And we deserve to start writing about these things from now. In addition, the earth wants to hear our respective distinctive stories, and our skills should be crafted in that regard.

Q:    Any parting remark?

A: Poetry will someday rule the world, Babishai. We are the process.
Thank you Babishai!

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Read the other shortlisted poets here:
BABISHAI 2018 SHORTLIST

Our poetry festival is scheduled for 3-6 August at Sipi Falls in Kapchorwa, followed by Mbale. Join us, won't you? Call +256 751 703226