×
The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and international interest.
  • Standard Group Plc HQ Office,
  • The Standard Group Center,Mombasa Road.
  • P.O Box 30080-00100,Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Telephone number: 0203222111, 0719012111
  • Email: [email protected]

Tony Mochama:Beyond law and order

My Man

When and why did you start writing?

Back while I was a student at University of Nairobi. I needed pocket money to buy stuff like cheap liquor. Campus life is an interesting cocktail of joy, pain and ...well, just life. Circumstances are not always fair. Back then it was also expensive to take a girl out. Pardon a brother for wanting to live life.

Are you a graduate of literary art?

I was a student of Law and graduated with a degree in the same field. However, I didn’t ‘feel’ the lawyer in me. I found it so vast and not interactive. Unlike Law, I was a natural at writing. In fact, Kivutha Kibwana, Gladys Shollei, Githu Muigai and Jacktone Ojwang, marked and rejected my undergraduate dissertation paper; equating it to a literary piece and not a Law-worthy document.

How did you find your way into media?

I began writing for Expression Today under the auspices of one David Makali. I reported on human rights and also did poems. Makali would send me to cover riots. It was interesting to learn the trade the hard way – running towards and away from teargas canisters.

How would you define yourself?

I am a literary gangsta.

And what has that done for you thus far?

Shortly after the 2005 success of Pulse, I got a scholarship to do Masters in Fine Arts. I turned it down for reasons I don’t remember now. Then came an invitation to Blue Metropolis Festival workshop in Montreal Canada for three weeks. During that time, I met accomplished novelists from global powerhouses. It was an awakening; a moment of rebirth. I decided it was time I really put my skills to the works. A year later, on Ken Saro Wiwa Day, What if I am a literary gangsta? Was launched. Five major books have come out since then. I regret not.

Were you really on that road to Eldoret?

In the literary planet, Road to Eldoret is real. Anyway, just before the 2007 elections, I had a compilation of short stories and I needed to put them together to make a full issue. I was still dazed on how to cap it all. And then the unfortunate PEV happened. As the state of the country unraveled, it dawned on me that I could capture the moment in a short story. Road to Eldoret is a compilation of short stories; the main of which features the unfortunate massacre that was PEV.

You won Burt Awards but actually never applied?

John Mwazemba of Phoenix Publishers gave me forms and insisted that I apply. I had just released Meet the Omtitahs and he liked it. He paid the entry fees on my behalf just to show how serious he was about his premise. The rest as they say is history. The Burt was mine (no pun intended).

You pocketed some Sh2.5 million on another award. Have you thought of a fancy car perhaps?

You must be talking about Moland Miles Award. Out of 309 applicants, three were selected and my name was among them. Before it was official that I had won, I received an email from the organisers and I thought it was a prank. Frankly, I didn’t think I would. And no: I am not a politician who revels in driving  a BMW. It is a very anachronistic and shallow mentality. Some coins will purchase a bottle or two of Vodka and the rest will go into producing masterpieces.

Is this Vodka you are drinking now? Does it affect your writing?

That is not the question you want to ask. But if you should know, Vodka is my way of appreciating miracles of life. I wake up at 4 am – at which time I pen most of my creative writing. Vodka is for any time before 4 am.

Your hair?

Leave my hair out of this. It is just a way of expressing myself; sort of like a trademark.

What’s the most romantic thing you have ever done?

I proposed to my wife, Le Sharonova, mid-air. It was 2009. I was working on an ultimatum; either I put a ring on her finger or take a wild trip back to bachelor land. On a flight to Dar-es-Salaam, I slipped a miraculous (it made my money vanish in thin air) diamond ring into her glass of wine. I waited with bated breath for the moment she would discover it and she almost drank the damn thing. I had to tame her mouth and pluck it out. Let’s just say it ended well; with a ring on her finger.

Rumour has it that you are an atheist. Is it true?

My wife is a church-goer. When she says it is time to go to church, can I refuse? Anyway, I go to church occasionally. I am, however, not a believer of the stuff they teach over there. I know for sure there is order beyond the universe: It is so well organised and strange. Human beings are, however, terrified by uncertainty, which explains different faiths and beliefs on deities.

Is there anybody you draw your inspiration from?

People like Dedan Kimathi have always had some unique vibe. They stand for something and show clear passion for the course. You look at them and see quality hatred. Che Guevara had a similar cool. I hope Jesus had that look too. Bottom line, defiance against an empire and hero stories inspire me.

When will you retire from writing?

I will only stop if I become insane.

Photo: Pius Cheruiyot

 

Related Topics


.

Similar Articles

.

Recommended Articles