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Unchartered Mind
Unchartered Mind: Poems about Life and Living is Imali J. Abala’s most impressive poetry collection to date. The poems are lyrical, imagistic, and thought-provoking. Exploring the complexity of life and living, the poems take the reader on a journey of self-discovery as they probe the very essence of our humanity and existence, a real delight to read.
What Readers Say
"Imali J. Abala shows a unique and creative brilliance in this volume of poetry collection titled Unchartered Mind: Poems about Life and Living. Quite boldly, Abala challenges her readers to acknowledge the literary sanctity of double engenders in such comparisons as life and liberty, hope and faith, joy and death. Without shame, she brazenly asserts that, perhaps, America’s freedom isn’t what it is cracked up to be.
Abala, a life-long learner, possesses a global world view that is seasoned by her academic experience as a veteran professor of English. It is her gift of words, her reflective culture and her passion for life that serve as the impetus for “verse” as discovered in Unchartered Mind: Poems about Life and Living." - Dr. Brooksie Harrington, Professor of English at Fayetteville State University.
Cast the First Stone
Driven by acquisitive greed, corrupt individuals lobby the government for favourable policies for their businesses. In cutthroat competition, the high and mighty engages in deadly selfish games of land and property acquisition regardless of cost. The poor are equally determined! They use every imaginable trick to have their piece of the pie.
Cast the first stone is an intriguing story on lives in an African country. Kalamu, an investigative journalist, embarks on a truth-seeking assignment at the Alfajiri Scheme, not aware that his expose’ will rattle the establishment. He discovers rot whose tentacles run deep, presenting unprecedented risk to his life and the lives of his sources! Will he unravel the tangled maze?
What Others Say
“Cast the First Stone is moving story about the pivotal role of the press in the fight for positive change in corruption-ridden societies. It is an indictment of the press and government in the perpetuation of corruption, particularly in developing countries. The novelist has demonstrated great command of the English language and written the story with a powerful message in a style that is easy and interesting to read. The issues addressed are very relevant to the African society today.” – Dr. Andrew Nyongesa, Scholar of Literature.
“From cutting deals, playing the deadly and selfish games of trampling on the poor to get ahead, to the never-say-die spirit of the poor to get a piece of the cake, Cast the First Stone is a riveting story that illuminates the realities of a corrupt, unjust society!” – Anonymous.
Why We Tell Stories
Storytelling was an intrinsic activity in traditional African communities. Typically told by older people, usually grandmothers and grandfathers, stories were a way of life for the young and old alike, linking the past, present and future of those societies. Set as they were around a fire, the storytelling tradition strengthened communal ties between the old and the young, and as reinforced bonds among the young.
Stories emphasized shared culture, cultural values and history that were the foundation of the society’s ties. They underscored important societies’ traditions, beliefs and other norms.
From the old, the young learnt lessons about their community that to affirmed their collective identity. They learnt and internalized moral values such as honesty, courage, respect, solidarity and caring for others. Invariably, stories discouraged greed and selfishness. Further, the tales captured the essence of the environment in which the people lived while reinforcing their core values. They contributed to character-building through appreciation of the moral of the stories.
In Why We Tell Stories, Dorcas Kiptoo and Arthur Dobrin bring their storytelling experiences and expertise to the fore through a selection of from the African folklore. Even as the two look back to societies of yore to dig up the tales, the inherent lessons remain as relevant in contemporary times as they were ages ago.
About the Authors
Dorcas Kiptoo was born in Mogotio, Kenya. She attended Kenyatta University where she earned her Bachelor of Education degree. She currently lives in New York.
Salted with Fire
Salted with Fire takes place in Kisii on the eve of Kenya’s independence. Central to the story is Dexter Conway, a colonial officer who will be one of the few to remain in Kenya. This suits Conway, who seeks a different life in the newly independent country. The tale begins with a mysterious train wreck. As the story unfolds, Conway becomes enmeshed with Kwamboka, wounded and hidden at Conway’s home by his servant, Maranga. Through Kwamboka, Conway’s relationship with Maranga takes a new turn.
In the surprising and suspenseful story, Arthur Dobrin reverses the effect of a changing world upon the lives of these people in Western Kenya
The Scavengers
Scavengers is a story of twists and turns in relationships, and personal interests, that all make a complex entangled web in a community that straddles the traditional and modern. It is a tale of widowhood occasioned by close family friends, the clash of views on a widow’s and masculinity’s place in society. … will there is justice? Or even, poetic justice? Moreover, this is a story about a mother who faces challenges in raising a son to become a professional she would be proud of, only to be disappointed that a child, even having qualified into one of the most prestigious professions, can reject it as her dream! He would pursue his own career course!
What others say
“The content is factual. The writer captures real life situations where our goodness, at some point, can cost our lives. Not all good deeds are repaid with goodness.” – Rose Kenya Kong’ani, teacher and editor.
Callused Hands
Kenyan coffee is renowned all over the world for its distinctive quality and hence reputation. It graces tables of the finest eateries from London to New York, and has been romanticized by those who visited the country and were enchanted by it. At one point it was the leading contributor to the country's foreign revenue. Unknown to many in the world the slavery-like conditions under which it is produced. Callused Hands explores some of these difficult conditions under which this precious 'black gold' is produced, and the unseen faces that grovel under the surface in ensuring that gourmet consumers in the West are fed.
"This is a great book! It makes me feel like it is a fresh and imaginative story that makes sense the entire time of reading it. It is well written and exceptionally compelling." - Sheena Brennan - Publishing Editor
"The novel celebrates the spirit and bravery of disempowered women who can, together, tip the balance in favour of workers and justice. This is a compassionate and ultimately triumphant story. - Linda Cracknell, Writer-in-Residence at Edinburgh Sick Kids Hospital
"Stanley Gazemba's Calloused Hands is an exciting work that re-imagines hopelessness. In a sluggish almost non-committal fashion, the novel creates ground for the readers to take a peek into the lives of the 'wretched of the earth.' One feels as though he has been sucked into that bottomless pit from which the characters are struggling to come up for air. The never-ending suffering becomes a bitter-sweet element that angers and then provokes one to want to change the story- to make it sweeter for all." - Dr. Fred Mbogo, Moi University
Mwangi’s Adventure
When Mwangi helped a distressed lady change a punctured car tyre one day, he thought it was just that. Little did he know that the token of appreciation that the lady gave him was a trigger that would set him off on an adventure of mixed fortunes. On one hand danger looms large and, on the other, he has to keep a job as an assistant to a young Irish researcher named Trevor. Trevor, as well, finds himself on a new path with the thugs pursuing Mwangi. How the two youths juggle between their research and safety, in and around Nyandarũa, is the thrill of this compelling narrative.
The Airlift Orphan
The seed from which this book germinated was the Tom Mboya/Kennedy airlifts which took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Dozens of young bright students from Kenya were given a chance to further their education in the United States of America. A Kenyan visionary, politician and trade unionist, Tom Joseph Mboya, had seen that an independent Kenya would need its own well educated citizens to steer the new nation as most of the colonial government workers were leaving.
Kendi, the chief persona in the story, is daughter of a man who left his pregnant lover behind and failed to come back. The travails that Kendi and her mother go through at the hands of a ruthless society is the real gist of this story.
The story is entirely fictional but is primarily based on a historical event which actually took place.
The Airlift Orphan is a moving tale of, betrayal, sorrow, love and ultimate redemption. Despite being based on historical happenings, the story is timeless and will entertain readers for generations to come.
Chasing Ethnic Shadows
This is a gripping political story featuring two tribes; the Bandalo and Waleki communities in the wake of a political turmoil in a young African country.
When Adena, a young woman who works her way through formal schooling and Munara, a police officer of high moral standing meet and fall in love, theirs is a thrilling love story. Amidst fights, lootings and violence, their worlds are fused into one.
From two opposing ethnic communities, a glaring age gap, an intimidating class difference; can love withstand the political tension? Can their story bridge the ethnic differences between their respective communities? Can it cure the country from chaos?
The Return of the Sun by Kevin Omwanza
The Return of the Sun explores the immorality of slavery with partakers offering excuses in support of the brutal practice. The author elicits questions on how to end the practice: by supplanting the captors or forging a new, more inclusive, path.
The islands, home to most African communities, are breeding grounds for pirates who defend against invaders or are out to enslave others. An African king and slave trader, Jabari, is cruel to neighbouring communities, as a result of which his son and heir to the throne, Shaka, is abducted. Shaka's mother later flees on account of her husband's callousness.Zola, while searching for her brother, gets abducted by Charlie's pirates.
Charlie falls in love with her, but she promises to marry him when Charlie frees Shaka. Enchanted, Charlie agrees. Shaka leaves, planning to return and save all his people. Meanwhile, Tendai, a slave who grew up in Jabari's palace, realizes that the king orphaned him at an early age.
He joins Black Caesar, a black pirate focused on ending slavery. Caesar desires to entrench African civilization through the revival of Egyptian civilization. He has an island where he settles freed Africans and maintains a critical attitude towards Shaka who, though perceived as saviour by his people, practices slavery.
In a party that paves way for Charlie's marriage to Zola, Caesar lays siege that portends uncertainties!