Poet who writes about personal experiences

Poet Abigail Arunga during interview on August 20, 2013. Abigail's poem anthology titled "Akello" was launched on August 18, 2014. FILE PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • During the troubled days of adolescence is when poetry really took shape for me; mostly to express angst or crushes. It’s a theme that remains.
  • I have delivered books to Mombasa, Kisumu, and as far as US, UK and the Netherlands. Yaya Centre’s Bookstop is stocking it.

At any given time, Abigail Arunga has at least six copies of her self-published poetry book "Akello" in her bag. She never misses an opportunity to speak about her book with the clear intention of selling copies. Abigail talks about her journey as a poet and self-publishing.

When and why did you begin writing poetry?

I’ve been writing since I could write, though not poetry. During the troubled days of adolescence is when poetry really took shape for me; mostly to express angst or crushes. It’s a theme that remains.

What is your inspiration?

Life. There’s so much to write about.

Does your poetry speak your own truth or observations of life?

Mostly my own. It’s hard for me to write about something I haven’t experienced.

When do you know that a poem is complete?

When it feels right. Same way I know a poem or a script or an article is bad. It feels bad.

It must have been tough trying to get a publisher for your book. What were some of the reasons they gave for not wanting to publish it?

It was. People don’t really read poetry in Kenya, apparently, so they don’t want to publish it. It’s a cyclic, defeatist attitude. If you don’t publish it, people won’t read it because it isn’t there to be read, no? To be fair, publishing is a business. If it doesn’t make financial sense to publish, they are under no obligation to please your artistic sensibilities. They’re not in it for the art, a profit has to be made as well.

In the end you had to publish your own poetry book. What was the experience?

My cousin, Ian Arunga, also a published author and graphic designer/artiste extraordinaire, did most of the grunt work. I did the words, had to edit myself – the blurb... but he found me the printer, did the cover and page design and picked the paper.

He’s kind of a publishing genius. We’re thinking of starting a company, actually. I had a few problems with the printer, but you burn your fingers a little bit and you learn. That was the difficult part. Everything else — getting a barcode and ISBN number from the wonderful people at Kenya National Library was fine.

What was the problem with the printer? And how did you solve it?

The printer picked the wrong version of book instead of the revised one. He reprinted. But I understand that many people have experienced this with the local printers. So it is not a unique problem. And he is probably somewhere talking about how I really messed up his production too.

How did you feel when you held the hard copy of "Akello" for the first time?

I was on Twitter and Facebook, tweeting and posting about it. I also changed all my profile images to my book cover and my friends did the same. I was supremely excited.

How are you marketing your book?

Basically, forcing everyone I know to buy it. I have a page on Facebook — "Akello" My First Book of Poetry — and an e-mail address for the book.

People order. I have delivered books to Mombasa, Kisumu, and as far as US, UK and the Netherlands. Yaya Centre’s Bookstop is stocking it. They were very kind as well, unlike most of the other bookshops I tried.

How many copies have you sold so far?

About 300, give or take. Ask me again at the end of the year.

What are you working on next?

I am thinking of publishing a chapbook of short form erotica poetry — a collection of a few poems, like Michael Onsando’s "Something Quite Unlike Myself". I’m also working on compiling some poetry geared towards high school students with the hope that it will become a set book.