Creative of the Week: Eric Onyango Otieno (Rixpoet)

Eric Onyango Otieno (@Rixpoet) is a poet, author, co-founder of Fatuma’s Voice, mentor, social media executive, musician and many other things that give him joy.

1. Did you always know you wanted to be a poet/writer?

Nothing near it. I struggled with English in primary school. The teacher would ridicule my poor writing skills and girls would laugh at me whenever I mixed tenses. I grew up on Sheng’, so becoming a writer was the last thing on my mind. But I loved languages and my Swahili was top notch. Then I fell in love with Literature when I joined Form 1. I began writing music, beat boxing at the back bench of our class and rapping with my friend from Mombasa. Those days E-Sir and Ndarling P were my gods.

A year later, in 2004, after being expelled from school and reading Mwende Mwinzi’s articles in the Sunday Nation, I got inspired to be a journalist. We had no electricity nor water in Mlolongo then. There was plenty of time to read. Father thought I was catching up with what my counterparts learnt in school, but I was hooked on Metro FM and old newspapers. Listening to Ukoo Flani Mau Mau evoked so much fire in me. Their hiphop was poetic and prophetic.

One day I got depressed and I remembered my late sister who died at 5 months of age, a decade after her demise. In that loneliness and despair, I imagined she’d have been there for me had she been alive. So I penned my first poem. Dedicated it to her. Titled it “A Letter to The Grave”. She’s the reason it all began.

Then I wrote a second, and a third. When I went back to school my mind was set. I focused on becoming a journalist. I had to be good at languages. I knew my writing had to improve. So I read a lot. When I joined Pumwani Boys High School as a day scholar, I’d save money for break to buy my classmates the Friday Standard. Some were boarders. They didn’t know much about what happened in the country. But most of the boys just wanted to hog the Pulse Magazine to see which women had been blasted on the pages.

I read my poems at the parade. People would pay me to write more of them and letters to girls they thought were their girlfriends. I was Editor-In-Chief of the Journalism Club, a  a post I retained once we opened The News Agency Club in the Ugandan schoolattende for my A Levels. There I had a 6 Quire book full of poems I’d write in the middle of classes. People would borrow it over the weekends. Majority were girls. I’d write quotes at the top of the blackboard every morning to inspire my fellow students. By the time I was joining campus, I knew something great was brewing in my hands for the future. I did not finish campus due to family instabilities. After a while I decided to use what I had to make something of my life. We’re here now, somehow.

2. What is your creative process like?

It keeps changing. When I began, writing was for catharsis. Then it grew to helping others express themselves. Then to speaking out on heavy issues of mind, body, and soul both internally and externally. I ventured into social justice and spirituality.

I never quite put a method into my process. When I was younger, I’d take a topic and force myself to write on it. It was good training because these days I can do that when it is for payment and still manage to create quality work.

Today my process is a bit more complex. I have to be attentive to everything I can hear. I have to take things in as deeply as possible. I have to interrogate myself, question my beliefs, develop a language and a tone, ask the right and wrong questions, try something new, watch, digest,  interact with material that opposes my worldviews, evaluate, then pen. Even when I am writing on impulse, it goes back to the process before finalization. When I write from an informed place, I do it better because information and knowledge give you freedom to play.

3. How much do your life experiences influence your work?

Heavily. Most of my writing is directly influenced by my life experiences. I think it makes me unique since everyone sees things differently. So when I read or write to the world how I see things, they remember it was my contribution. It immortalizes my work. People are connected. By virtue of me writing out of personal experiences, I speak for another who went through similar things thinking they were alone. Then we’re able to connect. That’s how I have grown my readership over the years. Writing material that people meet in their daily lives but have never thought of expressing or lacked ways to do it.

4. Who are your favourite poets and why?

This is always a hard question. Khalil Gibran, Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Neo Musangi, Raya Wambui, Rumi, Saadi Shirazi, Shaaban bin Robert, Okot p’Bitek, and many others. The music in their language. Simple people whose poetry sings. Music is everything.

5. What are your thoughts on poetry in Kenya, what challenges have you faced as a poet and how do you think we can improve on the craft?

We’ve come a long way to be recognized as part of the arts industry. The players before us did their best to nurture our breed and there is still more sprouting. We certainly have a long way to go because poetry is yet to commercially possess high bargaining power. Maybe it’s best if it doesn’t, but more page and performance poets are starting to support themselves financially by selling their work – which is a great thing. We need poetry books and albums in every Kenyan household.

The challenges have been immense. It’s not easy to gather capital to start writing projects or hold poetry events. It’s even harder to manage a great long term poetry event. Investors are still sceptical over how much art is worth here so getting huge funding needs a lot of collaboration from many other industries at the moment.

We need poetry workshops across the country. Kenya is rich creatively. So many people could host our flag high if they were equipped with the best writing skills often limited by lack of resources. Internet is expensive and unaffordable for many young people out here even though statistics show mobile internet has gained traction in Kenya. More poets need to be willing to reach out to starters who are deprived of technical support to be better writers and performers. Our structures are poor on that front.

6. You are part of the team that founded Fatuma’s Voice and Kenya Poets Lounge. What prompted you to do this and what milestones have you been able to achieve?

All this has been one big miracle for me. It was as a result of having to drop out of campus due to lack of fees that I met Chris Mukasa of Kenyan Poets Lounge. I’d spend my whole day in the Daystar University Computer Lab whenever I had access since I could not go to class, searching for Kenyan poets to connect with and teaching myself how to blog.

We published The Power of Words in June 2013 whose success was a huge contributing factor to Boniface Mwangi giving us space to commence Fatuma’s Voice at PAWA 254 a month later. We were just starting out something different. We didn’t know it would blow up into the mammoth it is today.

The journey has been exhilarating. I’ve had to learn a lot on the job as what we’re doing has no model. We’ve had to make huge mistakes in order to understand how best to package our voice. Three counties and going, meeting people from different places has added me life. People even come to the event on the days we are off. The young people and parents whose lives have been transformed out of our sessions fire us up to keep going. It is very difficult. We’ve trodden 3 years without salaries but with immense commitment. We’re still learning the ropes. We’re slowly getting there. The goal is to open Fatuma’s Voice in all African countries, giving voice to as many people as we can reach for empowerment, networking, collaborations, partnerships and deep relationships. We’re soon hitting Kisumu and Eldoret with prospects looking up in Kigali, Rwanda.

7. You have an ebook, ‘Touring My Mind’ out. What was the process of putting the book together? What has been the reception of the book?

It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. But thanks to the internet I was able to accomplish my goal. I took note of my love for short quotes with deep meaning that I’d normally write as Facebook updates, tweets and Instagram posts. I thought to myself perhaps I should gather all those thoughts in one place and sell them in ebook format for my readers. So I dug posts upto 3 years back; year by year, month by month, day by day. It was a lot of work. Anything I thought was good I’d copy paste into the Word document. Then I edited and chose the ones I felt worked.

I looked up good photos under creative commons online. Downloaded the ones that aligned with the general feel of the kind of book I wanted. I spent long hours downloading and picking. Then designing. Not many people have done ebooks in Kenya. Even so, I created what I felt people had not experienced in an ebook before. After gathering up the quotes and fitting them into the Powerpoint template, I converted it into a PDF document as the finished product. I only slept for about 6 hours during the entire 48 hour process. The ebook was released on 21^st December 2015.

The response has been overwhelming. Some people have suggested I under-priced the book. But it was an experiment to see how I’d fair if I released a production and so far so great. It opened up many doors for me and other incredible ideas I am currently working on. I’ve sold over 1000 copies, which is quite something considering the only cost of production was money for data bundles and very little electricity. The experience has revealed to me that with more discipline I can be as good as an international best seller from Kenya with my small words that cut deep.

8. What work/project are you most proud of?

Being part of Fatuma’s Voice. Seeing so many people discovering their potential, confronting their fears and taking charge of their lives in the places the forum happens has been so fulfilling. Nothing gives me as much  joy as contributing to someone’s peace of mind and better life experiences.

9. What advice would you give an aspiring poet that you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?

Don’t listen to what everybody says. Find your power. You will find your people. You don’t have to fit into everyone. You are not air. Do not worry, not even when you feel it is getting harder to develop the language of your real voice. Keep writing. Feel this earth. Feel it deeply. Never abandon your journey to please others. Stick to your lane. And read, for God sake! Share your knowledge with those willing to befriend you. You could save someone’s life. Tell your stories. Let the world know you are here and you’re passing with some style. Make sure you own that style. Stay humble but aggressive. And let go of things you don’t deserve.

Also, vote!

10. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I just want to be alive in 5 years, Mwende. The rest I leave to Nyasaye.

Bonus Question

11. If you could have written any existing poem by another poet, which piece would you have written and why?

Max Ehrmann’s 1927 writ “Desiderata”. It is all the poems I will read tomorrow still found in the past in one piece.

Check out Eric’s profile and work here.

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/rixpoet 

Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/riconyango

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rixpoet/

Website: http://ricotieno.fatumasvoice.org/

You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rixpoet