Telling tales

I am currently reading this book and it’s proving to be an education in telling stories from history with colour and with heart.

I am a student of history and a lover of fiction and I find fictionalised tellings of history fascinating. To conjure a world that happens in a time that the reader may know a little of is an act of courage, and requires dedication that I find amazing.

Tomorrow brings another instalment of my Women in Kenyan History pieces and it puts me in mind of Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s Dust, a book that tells the Kenyan story powerfully. Through fiction, we are compelled to confront certain parts of our national character and maybe then to transform them.

Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye passed away about a week ago. That she left behind books that will give future generations a window into what this country once was is a wonderful legacy. It also serves as a reminder of the power of art to raise a mirror in which we can see ourselves as we are.

Here’s to the weavers of yarns, the story-tellers, the historians; keep remembering and reminding.

Note: This post is part of #CuminWrites366, my year-long attempt to write a post a day. Find the rest over at readability.com/cuminwrites/

Questions, comments, suggestions or fictionalised history tales to share? Send them to cuminwrites@gmail.com