Khaya Ronkainen

My Best Reads of 2020

Posted on 12/11/2020 by Khaya Ronkainen

If I didn’t write or read during this crazy year, I doubt I’d have coped. So, below are some of the best books that kept me company, this year:

Autobiography

Original Skin by Phillipa Yaa De Villiers

De Villiers is a South African poet and playwright whose work touches deeply. This book is a written version of the author’s autobiographical one-woman show, her story of adoption during the apartheid era, which she has performed widely.

Biography

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

A both harrowing and an extraordinary story! I couldn’t think of anything else for days after reading this book. This quote from the book captures what it’s at its core: “Since at least the 1800s, black oral history has been filled with tales of ‘night doctors’ who kidnapped black people for research. And there were disturbing truths behind those stories”

Fiction

The Spy by Paulo Coelho

Coelho needs no introduction. But this book is a keeper; an intensely fascinating story set in Paris that can be read over and over again. If you’re a fan of historical fiction. I highly recommend it.

Memoir

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Noah is one of my comp authors. I delayed reading his book because I had already guessed that his story might be similar to mine. It is, indeed, similar in many respects to many non-white South African children’s stories. I cried and laughed as I reminisce about my own childhood.

Poetry

Each year, I always feel as if I haven’t read enough books of poetry. But I realise that I also consume a lot of chapbooks, which are not listed in any of the big book retailers.

But this anthology about poetry and poets featured in it, Our Words, Our Worlds edited by Makhosazana Xaba, was the best gift to myself.

It’s a collection of personal essays, interviews, literary critique, feminism, etc., that adds to the decolonising literary culture discourse. Even if you are not a poet or poetry reader, topics covered in this book might be of interest and more so, if you feel left on the margins.

Self-Development

You’re Not listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy

I pride myself on being a good listener. This book helped me put my “great” skill under a microscope. I seriously needed a reminder that listening is a muscle that needs constant strengthening, after I failed a loved one. All they wanted was for me to listen. All I wanted was to fix the problem. I cannot recommend this book enough, if you care about the quality of your relationships with others.

That’s my short list for this year. I bet we’re all tired, I know I’m fried! So, you won’t see me pop up in your inbox, though I’ll continue to catch up on your blogs.

But before I go, I’d like to share this well crafted list of Notable African Books of 2020, an inspiration, as you plan your TBR for 2021, to go beyond the familiar. I too, plan to stretch myself by finally reading Proust as seen below.

So, a big THANK YOU to you all my wonderful blogging community for your support, inspiration, fun and gift of words throughout this challenging year.

If you sometimes hang around Instagram or Facebook, we might bump into each other. Otherwise, I wish you and yours a peaceful holiday season. See you in 2021!

Poetry

In-between Intro & Outro Tracks of 2020

Posted on 12/06/2020 by Khaya Ronkainen

Someone once asked, “For whom does the poet write?” and the response “Somewhere somebody is reading one of my poems.” But it’s highly possible that “no one is reading any of [my] poems, right now.” So, I’ll indulge myself.

1. Expand. What’s there to say! The universe gives in abundance.
2. Each year starts as a promise, I remember toasting with a glass full of hope.
3. Things unknown occupy space. No one can tell if it’s the beginning or end of a bad dystopian era.
4. This is NO writer’s retreat, a luxury of space and time. Yet the sun rises despite of everything and birds flutter their wings at my window.
5. Oh, the city! Madness is gallant. Every morn, I take a stroll and bypass the lunatic asylum.
6. A blackboard in my kitchen over spills with disappointments. A virus buildup I’ve been quietly tallying since the start.
7. This is a liminal space filled with anxiety, uncertainty and waiting, waiting, waiting…
8. How many clouds gather for a downpour?
9. Hopping back and forth in different rooms of Zoom is one of the Seven Steps to Accept Change.
10. This— I acknowledge privilege.
11. A friend asks how my family is doing. Family—I choke. For, where do I start? “F.I.N.E.” I respond.
12. We can do nothing. But sit comfortably with grief, for we are left to survive like lilies at the edge of a flooding river.
13. The country is lyric. Every night, I dance to the rhythm in between intro and outro tracks of the year.

note: As we wrap the year, and inspired by Rajani, I share excerpts of poems from a work in progress. I’m also linking to the Writer’s Pantry at Poets and Storytellers United.

Writing & Living

On Questioning My Writing Poetry

Posted on 11/13/2020 by Khaya Ronkainen

Poetry…Why do I write it? Why I am struggling to write it, of late? Will I ever able to write it again or was it just a fling? Is there any difference between a diarist and a poet? If yes, which one am I? These are some of the questions that plagued me during my poetry writing funk, at the beginning of the year and with Covid outbreak.

Poetry is my first love and my first choice of self-expression. Loving it and being my first doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always easy to write, far from it. Perhaps, like first loves the magic is in my naivety of thinking I’ll always be the centre of its attention.

Anyway, during the writing funk, I caught up on some reading, other poets as well as art and creativity, at large. I also came to a new realization about my own writing, and as follows:

1. Sometimes I’m a diarist

It hit me, when Billy Collins popped up on my computer screen advertising his masterclass and saying, “Poetry is a diary you want to share with others.” There it was, the source of my writing paralysis. To be honest, I was writing but I just didn’t feel liking blogging my poems or drafts. Perhaps, it was a result of not getting instant gratification (blog comments and community support) that made me feel as if I wasn’t writing.

2. How to be a poet!

I have Wendell Berry’s How to be a Poet bookmarked for listening on days I need a good reminder on how to simply Be. Not the names I call myself or titles given by others, because they can distract.

3. Embracing the season

I’ve mentioned before Wild Words as my go-to writing blog. So, naturally during my writing funk, I went back to the very first episode, and listened again. Because it was important to embrace the liminal space I was in.

4. On being suited to my calling

There is a chapter in Rachel Friedman’s book (pictured below) where she states that it takes time to find out whether one’s personality aligns with their passion. I certainly didn’t have to think hard about whether I’m suited to my “calling” as a writer.

But it did give me a fair amount of thought on whether I was “holding [myself] up to a particular type of artistic identity” instead of being flexible and allow myself to explore other forms of self-expression and storytelling. This book, by the way, is a good investment.

5. I simply won’t stop writing poetry

When self-doubt creeps in, I remind myself why I write poetry. I also revisit some of the kind and generous words from readers, who get my writing. Because feedback like this carries me through, when I ask myself “What’s the point of it all?”

But enough about my insecurities as a writer. Instead here’s a question if you are a creative, what kind of artistic identity do you stay true to? Mind you, this is not to put you in some box. But perhaps a reminder to re-examine the “thread” that ties your work together, and stay true to yourself.