IN DEPTH INTERVIEW SERIES, Week of 16 May 2016

Mother’s Week and Women Issues edition

A woman of few words, Achieng’ Emily deeply reflects on what it means to be a woman, her writing, what inspires her

1.      Tell us about yourself

I love emotions because they simply remind me how to live. I draw a lot from any place of simplicity. And this dispels the silence in me, through writing.

2.      What inspires you to create?

The scary thought that if I do not create, I might lose the idea and someone else picks it.

3.      As a woman writer what areas in writing/publishing you think needs a lot more to be done toward changing them, and  what do you propose?

I feel we need to give way to more female voices that leap off the page a little bit more. Voices that make life complete. Unapologetic voices that surprise.

4.      This week is Mother’s week, what did you for your mother or the mother in you?

Being away from home made me take lots of quiet thoughtful moments throughout the day to appreciate her. And I suddenly felt real compassion surge through me. The effect was great. A world without women would have brought us all to a strange existence.

5.      Give us your take on feminism, womanism…

I feel invisibility is something that has been quite hard to escape. Even powerful women with names experience it.  I just want a world where we can step out of this locked set of mind.

6.      What else do you do or like doing?

I love walking to scatter my thoughts and feel a sense of renewal. If I am stationed in one area for a long time, I feel the need to walk or my head will just explode.

7.      What kind of music are now listening to?

I don’t have a specific. I get new discoveries every single day.

8.      Tell us about your poem(s) in BNAP

My poems were born from that needy feeling of trying to justify my absurdity. The enthusiasm and energy of finding a balance even in imperfection.

9.      What areas do you want future BNAP anthologies to address?

African Languages.

http://www.africanbookscollective.com/books/best-new-african-poets-2015-anthology