‘Moonscapes’ to draw both acclaim and controversy

There is nothing remotely subtle or barren about Moonscapes, a short story and poetry anthology launched on Thursday this week at the Goethe Institut.

From sex, death, love, family and birth, no topic is taboo in the anthology, with the writers drawn from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania pulling no punches in their bare-knuckled renditions of the themes.

Judging from the audience reactions, the book is bound to draw as much acclaim as it will controversy.

“Is this writing meant for people like me who are in their sixties?” asked an elderly member of the audience.

This was the Kenyan launch, the book having debuted in Kampala, Uganda, in September 2016.

The book, published by the African Writers Trust, was edited by prolific editor and publisher James Woodhouse, who has published Nelson Mandela, Mukoma wa Ngugi, Zukiswa Wanner, Ben Okri, and Wilbur Smith, among others.

Moonscapes emanated from a workshop James had been invited to facilitate, but metamorphosed into an anthology in what he admits in the book’s introduction was an unexpected outcome.

“The workshops held by African Writers Trust were meant to help the participants establish themselves as editorial and publishing professionals, as we had identified an acute shortage of them in the African market,” said Diana Santiago, a project associate with African Writers Trust.

DAILY REALITIES

The book has 10 short stories and one poem. Three Kenyan writers have been featured: Millicent Muthoni, Stella Riunga and multiple award-winning author Muthoni wa Gichuru.

Muthoni’s “Date Night” explores the intricacies of a cougar relationship between Kanini, 45, and Aaron, 29, whom she met at Wasanii Pub, “where all the potheads, struggling artists and wannabe professors drink and pontificate into the night”. The exquisitely woven story describes Kanini’s chronic ambition to keep up with Aaron’s virility because, if she hadn’t “the sixteen years between Aaron and I would always lie between us like a third person in our bed.”

Muthoni boldly and wittily tackle a relationship type that few Kenyan writers have. Riunga’s story, “Tunu the Invisible” is a coming-of-age narrative about Tunu, a precocious 18-year-old girl who “does not seem to have a waistline” and her romantic liaison with Baba Ella, who is in his forties. The story is tenderly and cleverly put together, with a surprise ending that shuns clichés in ways that readers will appreciate.

“I was trying to say that life does not always go the way it is supposed to be. Tunu was a perfect, invisible child until this relationship. The most difficult section for me to write was the love scene between the two as I wanted to make it tasteful yet unpretentious,” said Riunga.

Gichuru’s story “Forty-two Steps Up, Forty-two Steps Down”, illuminates the stark realities of a being a young,  female street child in Nairobi. Sex for food is a daily reality for the main character, Pang’a.

“…Underneath she found that Indi had thrown in something special: a chicken leg. Pang’a knows she will pay for the leg, if not tonight, then another night. She saw how he looked at her; the way she looks at the chickens at Wimpy rotating slowly on the grill, glistening with oil.”

“The last scene was the hardest for me and it is still hard for me to read. It is heartbreaking when the girl is giving birth just as Monde, the man who has been helping her, is getting killed,” said Gichuru.

The heart-wrenching story, which drew tears from the author as she read an excerpt, is delicately and sensitively written, drawing the reader’s consciousness to the role that literature plays in mirroring society.

One of the most intriguing facts about the launch was that unlike other books, the writers were co-creators in the entire book-production process - editorial, layout and design.

It is available on Amazon.com and the Magunga Bookstore.