Barely two months after Maisha Yetu came into being we seem to have caused quite a stir in the literary scene. We first received a favourable mention on Kenyanpoet, a blog that deal in literary issues with specific focus on poetry. in the piece, Kenyanpoet, who appears to be well versed in matters IT (I am still learning the ropes) gives an overview of blogs in the country and how they have evolved over time. The illuminating story also tells of the edge blogs have over other journalistic medium. Kenyanpoet had some really flattering words about Maisha Yetu:
Amidst all these, one journalist has realized the future of media- the internet. He runs a literary blog, www.kenyanbooks.wordpress.com which focuses on Kenyan books, Kenyan writers as well as what is happening in the local literary scene. The Blog, which was not setup too long ago, has become a platform where thespians as well as readers of African literature can engage in discussion forums.
The blog allows visitors to post their comments without any admin moderation which gives a feeling of one being in room where thoughts and feedback given are in real time.
You can read the full story here.That is not all. The immensly popular youth/entertainment magazine Pulse, which appears every Friday in the Standard, on their December 7 edition (Their fourth anniversary edition), reproduced a story that appeared in Maisha Yetu; Literary Gangster: Smitta’s Poetry book. In the story, I had reviewed the book What If I am a Literary Gangster by Tony Mochama. Mochama also answers to the name Smitta Smitten, a star columnist in Pulse. Smitta thought that the review was quite good and that it deserved to be reproduced in his culumn Scene at under Special Edition tag. That way Maisha Yetu made history as the only guest columnist (we appeared under the pen name Joe Mondie) to have ever graced the paged in the four years that Pulse has been in existence! It is not for nothing that the story was carried in the Standard, Kenyan’s second largest circulating newspaper.The story has has generated a lot of debate in the comments section as you will see. These are some of the things that tell us that we are doing the right things and that we are headed in the right direction.
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