The Excursion Potpourri
Pen Avenue will be trekking through Zomba Plateau on Saturday, 15 April 2017. The team comprising of poets, essayists, fictionists, non-fictionists, scriptwriters and everything writing will challenge themselves to produce a digital anthology of writing inspired by the landscape of Zomba plateau and the beauty beneath it. The following will be a part of the Excursion:
Tamanda is a writer and poet currently pursuing a Journalism degree at The Polytechnic (University of Malawi). In her early teens she began being interested in the concepts of death, human misery, broken souls, self -destruction and the idea of possible salvation and redemption. She then decided to romanticize such ideas into her poetry before branching them out into prose.
Kennedy Kaula
Pearson describes himself as 'a student of dark fantasy, a lover of Robin Jarvis and a reader of Wild Malawi'.
He is an activist and a blogger who inactively blogs here.
Amos is the Team Leader for the Excursion. He was one of Judges for the Pen Avenue Writing Competition for University Students.
He is a playwright and literary critic interested in emerging and experimental genres of fiction.
From the Excursion, he expects to get an opportunity to experiment with other writing genres he has mostly avoided, mostly, non-fiction.
Angasa writes stories about complicated women and people who are
profoundly uncomfortable with the state of their being.
Beaton was one of the two Malawians who were selected for the 2017 Writivism mentorship Programme.
In 2014, he was also one of the two Malawians selected to attend the Commonwealth Creative Non-Fiction Writing for East Africans in Kampala, Uganda.
An avid blogger here, Beaton writes fiction, non-fiction and poetry. He is an activist who also Tweets and Facebooks his political activism and opinions.
Beaton was the Chief Judge in the Pen Avenue Writing Competition for University students.
Hagai is a medical student lost in the wonder and wisdom of philosophy books. He is a Poet and a fiction writer whose story appears in Imagine Africa 500.
His Poetry and Fiction has also been published in Malawian Papers.
Hagai joins the Excursion with the hope of experimenting with writing from the top of the mountain with a city beneath.
Mankhokwe (also known as Dave) used to be an aspiring writer before the love for music and poetry (as a listener) sidetracked him from pursuing serious writing.
He now enjoys reading other people's works, offering criticism (if they wish to get it) and attending music and poetry concerts both for the fun and the critical part of it.
A Judge for the Pen Avenue Writing Competition, he will be the leading Editor for the digital Anthology that will be borne out of the Excursion. He hopes that the Excursion might rekindle some interest in him to write some prose (mostly fiction) on a deeper level.
In his very free time, he blogs here.
Sumeya's writing begun during the early stages of her life; as a
kid, she owned journals and little notebooks in which she recorded her experiences. The journey continued through Secondary School where she would write what she envisioned to be song lyrics or playful stories. Currently, a third year student studying for a Bachelor of Journalism degree at The Polytechnic, it was at The Polytechnic where her passion for writing grew.
She has since written and recorded her poetry which you can listen to here.
On few occasions, she has ever been given the honour to perform before people. This journey has inspired her to believe in the power of poetry and words: to make or break.
Tamanda Kanjaye
Tamanda is a writer and poet currently pursuing a Journalism degree at The Polytechnic (University of Malawi). In her early teens she began being interested in the concepts of death, human misery, broken souls, self -destruction and the idea of possible salvation and redemption. She then decided to romanticize such ideas into her poetry before branching them out into prose.
She is now
comfortable writing general young adult fiction in which she implores a soft
but sharp writing style that best appeals to human emotions. She hopes to one
day imitate and exceed the writing style Markus Zusak used in her favorite
book, The Book Thief.
Her inspirations come from a wide
range of things: from the music she listens to, the books she reads and
the random words everyday people say around her.
She hopes the Excursion will help her write a trilogy she wants to work on that delves into
life and the fine art of living it.
Bridget Mang'umbi
Bridget Mang'umbi
Bridget is a third year student at Domasi College of Education in Zomba. She is interested in everything artistic although she feels freer expressing herself through Short Stories.
Lately, however, she has branched off into Poetry.
She finds her inspiration in life and people's experiences.
After the Excursion, she hopes to experiment writing about nature and other issues outside personal lives.
Kennedy Kaula
Kennedy is a general writer whose major
interest is in spoken word poetry. He has been writing poetry since
2010, grounding his argument in a belief that spoken word poetry can be traced to the art of folktales
which African grandparents imparted in their grandchildren.
His prime
inspiration is silence. Every time he is alone in a quiet place, ideas
start to flow. The other inspiration is Nature.
He considers himself a writer of doom, dwelling much on the problems Malawi is facing. Sometimes, however, he writes about love and happiness.
After
the Excursion, he hopes to be able to come up with a piece about his
experience with fellow writers.
Pearson Nkhoma
He is an activist and a blogger who inactively blogs here.
Amos Nsabwe
He is a playwright and literary critic interested in emerging and experimental genres of fiction.
From the Excursion, he expects to get an opportunity to experiment with other writing genres he has mostly avoided, mostly, non-fiction.
Angasa Maliro
Her style veers
towards the direct, witty, and absurd. A terribly cynical part of her
believes that the nature of life veers toward the offensively
devastating. She's incredibly fascinated by the strangeness of life and that inspires her.
Her work in progress
is a speculative Young Adult novel centred on time travel. She's also very
attracted to short stories at the moment and her story Quiet Revolutions won the Pen Avenue Writing Competition for University Students. She's working on a collection
tentatively titled “It’s Different for Girls” (the title is a direct
reference to an episode of the critically acclaimed television series, Friday Night Lights). She's also a blogger here.
Beaton Galafa
In 2014, he was also one of the two Malawians selected to attend the Commonwealth Creative Non-Fiction Writing for East Africans in Kampala, Uganda.
An avid blogger here, Beaton writes fiction, non-fiction and poetry. He is an activist who also Tweets and Facebooks his political activism and opinions.
Beaton was the Chief Judge in the Pen Avenue Writing Competition for University students.
Hagai Magai
His Poetry and Fiction has also been published in Malawian Papers.
Hagai joins the Excursion with the hope of experimenting with writing from the top of the mountain with a city beneath.
Mankhokwe Namusanya
He now enjoys reading other people's works, offering criticism (if they wish to get it) and attending music and poetry concerts both for the fun and the critical part of it.
A Judge for the Pen Avenue Writing Competition, he will be the leading Editor for the digital Anthology that will be borne out of the Excursion. He hopes that the Excursion might rekindle some interest in him to write some prose (mostly fiction) on a deeper level.
In his very free time, he blogs here.
Sumeya Issa
She has since written and recorded her poetry which you can listen to here.
On few occasions, she has ever been given the honour to perform before people. This journey has inspired her to believe in the power of poetry and words: to make or break.
After
the excursion, she hopes to explore the
depths of her work and art through the inspirations attained during the experience, especially from nature.
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