Welcome to the July edition of Creative Spotlight, an interview column featured monthly in the Writers Space Africa (WSA) Magazine.
In this Edition, I had a chat with a delightful lady all the way from Kenya, Clara Wanjira Karuiki. She’s the winner of the 2021 African Writers Award in Poetry. Happy reading. – PPBlessing
Wanjira and her sister at the 2021 African Writers Conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
PPBlessing: Can you give us a brief introduction on who Clara Wanjira Karuiki is?
CWK: Wanjira is a dreamer who lives in her imagination most of the time and sometimes puts her thoughts into words. She’s also an avid reader who hopes to one day have written the stories she wants to read. I don’t know why I answered that in the third person but that’s her, that’s me.
PPBlessing: That’s fine. I am curious, how did you get into writing?
CWK: Thanks. I’m not very good at articulating my thoughts in spoken word & I’d get so frustrated that I’m not able to get my points across or communicate my thoughts. I’d write out my frustrations and I found it easier to transcribe my thoughts rather than speak them and so it became a medium of self-expression. Also, I’d grown up in an environment where reading is emphasized because my mum is a teacher of English and Literature and my dad is great at Scrabble. I just came to love words and wanted to write some of my own. I grew up with apps like Wattpad where anyone could start a story and share it chapter by chapter, creating a community of readers who keep guessing where the plot is going. I also wanted to create such a community one day because I made friends in those reading communities.
PPBlessing: That’s wonderful. How long have you been writing?
CWK: I think around 7 years.
PPBlessing: Is it only poetry you write?
CWK: No. I do write mainly poetry but also prose; more of poetic prose really. I’m slowly trying out fiction stories as well.
PPBlessing: What themes do you write about?
CWK: I write on life and death. Time- like the past, present and future. I write on the physical and the metaphysical, mental health and politics, especially to do with women. So generally, the things I think about, I write about.
PPBlessing: What do you hope to accomplish with your writing?
CWK: I hope to make people feel something and think about life because I feel like we move through life not really practicing presence. But, when we’re made to feel something or ponder something, we’re pulled into life and made to live it- to be present. And so, I would like my writing to provoke feelings. The type of feeling that you can’t fall asleep at 3 am just thinking about a phrase, a sentence, character or a plot point, and it keeps replaying in your mind over and over. A feeling where you either want to read the work again to feel that feeling again. Tell everyone you know about the work, just to see if they feel the same way you did, or, you want nothing to do with it anymore because such strong emotion or attachment to fictitious things is unnerving. I also want people to find the pleasure of reading through my writing. To discover how great of an escape or journey reading or writing can be. I also want to leave a legacy, or as Beyoncé said “leave my footprint on the sands of time.”
PPBlessing: This is a lot. At the moment, have you been able to accomplish this?
CWK: Not at that magnitude, no. I’ve been bogged down by a lot of self-doubt and writer’s block, that I’ve only recently started sharing my writing. The feedback I’ve gotten affirms to me that my work does evoke emotion. Maybe not as strong as to keep one up at night, but I believe it’ll get there. As I said, I’m a dreamer.
PPBlessing: Godspeed on that. You won the African Writers Award for poetry last year, how did that make you feel?
CWK: Thank you so much. It was a mix of emotions. Initially, I was in a state of shock, then disbelief, then when it set in, I felt and still feel very affirmed in my dreams to write. The prize helped me work through a lot of self-doubts and actually start actively finding avenues to start sharing my writing. It kick-started the process of me compiling my work and looking for publication options. It opened up a door I had shut in my mind; where I could read and write for a living. I’d credit this prize with changing the trajectory of my life for the better.
Young Wanjira dressed up for character day
PPBlessing: This makes me feel proud being associated with the African Writers Award organizers. I hope you keep shining as you write. Does this mean you don’t have any published work?
CWK: Thank you! And you should be proud. I and many others really do hold Writers Space Africa and the Awards in high regard. Yes, I haven’t published any books yet, but I do have two main ones in the works- one anthology and one fantasy novel.
PPBlessing: Could you give us a sneak peek?
CWK: Sure, on my newsletter. Here’s the link – https://tinyletter.com/WanjiraCK. I send updates on the writing and just random thoughts on there so it’s the best place for a potential sneak peek.
PPBlessing: How soon should we expect your anthology and the fantasy novel?
CWK: The anthology will probably come first; by the end of this year. I’m still saving up to self-publish. The fantasy novel is hard to put into a timeline because I keep changing things.
PPBlessing: Godspeed on both. Why did you decide on self-publishing?
CWK: Thank you. I’ve done a lot of research on publishing and made a list of pros and cons of both traditional publishing and self-publishing and as much as traditional publishing has multiple pros, it just felt a bit too restrictive for me and I’m very protective of my creative license.
PPBlessing: Does this mean you’ll only recommend self-publishing to writers?
CWK: No. I think context matters. I recommend writers to do their research and see which route works for them (their preferences and their circumstances).
PPBlessing: Alright. What’s your greatest fear when it comes to writing?
CWK: I think my greatest fear is that fear itself will stop me from writing or putting out work I actually want to read. I’m scared of fear paralyzing me. Keeping me from writing about hard-hitting themes or topics that need to be talked about, especially in our relatively conservative Kenyan/African society.
PPBlessing: Thank you so much. Have you won any awards aside from the African Writers Award?
CWK: Yes. Two in high school, where we’d have interschool writing awards. The African Writers Award one is the first time I submitted my work outside of a school/educational institution setting.
PPBlessing: Are you still a student?
CWK: No. I recently completed my undergraduate course and I’m awaiting graduation.
PPBlessing: Wow! Congratulations. What course did you study?
CWK: Thank you! I studied international studies.
PPBlessing: Why international studies and not something related to writing?
CWK: I’m also wondering the same but I do know that in my O level, I really loved literature and in my finals, I got a C, which I considered a failure. I was really devastated. I thought then, it wasn’t for me. So in my A levels, I took other subjects that weren’t in line with literature or writing. When I got to the point where I needed to pick a course in university. I picked a general course that incorporates all the subjects I did ‘pass’ in, because I used to put so much primacy on grades and didn’t factor in passion or anything else, I let the grades decide for me. In hindsight, I would highly not recommend it.
Wanjira enjoying fresh air in the forest
PPBlessing: So will you have a career based on your course or writing?
CWK: I think one based on writing. Thankfully my course is quite broad and encompasses many of the topics I like to think and write about so there are many avenues to fuse my course and my writing.
PPBlessing: Do you have Mentors?
CWK: Unfortunately no, but I do have some great people in my life whom I talk to sporadically for advice. Do you have any recommendations on getting mentors?
PPBlessing: Eish! Am I been interviewed now?
CWK: I think with the wealth of knowledge you’ve gained from conducting all these interviews, it’s only fair you share these nuggets of wisdom.
PPBlessing: Writers Space Africa – Kenya will be a good source of Mentors. You could join them
CWK: Oh yes thank you!
PPBlessing: Who are your top 3 authors and why?
CWK: That’s a very tough question. I think my preferences are very transient as they are highly dependent on my mood. Right now I feel calm and so my top author at the moment is Tomi Adeyemi because her works stir fictional chaos and paint such a beautiful picture that I can’t help but keep reading. This is what I want when I’m feeling calm.
When I’m feeling sad, I’d probably fall back to a childhood favourite, Roald Dahl. He helped to light up the spark in me to want to write. When I’m happy I usually want to read books that will have me sobbing like Hanya Yanagihara’s ‘A Little Life.’ When I’m feeling contemplative I’d probably say Munira Hussein’s or Nana Darkoa’s works.
So ultimately, my top three authors depend on my top three moods at the moment. I know I’ve really skirted around that question but it’s very hard to choose three.
PPBlessing: By the way, that was four! One last question for the guys. Are you married, single or in a relationship?
CWK: I’m happily single yet not looking to mingle.
PPBlessing: You’ve just broken the hearts of a lot of guys with that last part. Thank you for honouring our invitation.
Thank you for staying with us through this month’s interview, until next month, keep reading Writers Space Africa Magazine.
Read – Stephanie Chizoba Odili – Second-place winner of the Wakini Prize
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Kindred spirits do exist. 😁