Oliver Oduor is a young architect, communication enthusiast, poet, musician, author, investor and Christian from Kenya. He has a passion for creative work with a natural talent for expressive writing. He has written and performed poetry and spoken word from the age of 13 at Kenya music festivals, high school drama festivals and other forums. He’s also trained others on the same. He has a rich collection of over 100 English and Swahili poems and has submitted some to international poetry prizes such as Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets among others. He has published two poetry books, Binti, a collection of love poems in English and Swahili and his latest collection Days of Ajwala.
1. How did you get into poetry?
I was introduced to poetry while in primary school in 2008 during the school’s recruitment for the Kenya Music Festival.
2. Who are your favourite poets?
One of my favourite poets is King David of old in the holy scriptures. Every turn of events in his life brought a special anointing and inspiration to write a psalm; from his achievements through help from the mighty hand of God to repentance and lamentation of his failures and consequent predicaments.
Modern poets would be Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye. I draw inspiration from their spoken word performances.
3. Talk to me about your creative process.
My inspiration for the poems originates from daily natural life lessons and experiences, which basically spark thoughts and emotions in my mind and I begin to pen them down to capture the moments of inspiration. This is then followed by editing and proofreading to ensure grammatical correctness etc.
4. Is there a recurrent theme in your work? If so, why are you drawn to it?
Yes and no. Yes because I’ve written work geared towards a targeted theme such as love and God. No, because inspirations strike continually on different themes at different times and I capture them raw and on the spot as they come. Am drawn to the above-mentioned themes because of the phase of life I’ve been in and my belief in God’s place in the lives of all humanity.
5. What do you hope readers take away from your poetry?
Inspiration, connection, enlightenment, experience and communication.
6. Can you share any challenges you faced in getting published?
Accurately marching book cover design with the physical printed book at the first trial. There are also delays in
getting copyright from KECOBO which is the Kenya Copyright Board.
7. Any advice for poets just starting out?
Capture the thoughts raw as they are. Don’t dismiss anything too fast as not good enough and just don’t stop writing. Consistency and persistence is the trick, the key.
8. What personal projects have you worked on that you’re particularly proud of?
Day Of Ajwala and Barua Kwa Binti. Barua kwa Binti is an anthology that takes your heart on a roller-coaster around the theme of love captured in a collection of twenty-four English and Swahili poems. Days of Ajwala is my latest collection of poetry about daily life experiences.
9. What does the future look like for you?
My goal is to publish 7 poetry books in 2024.
– Days Of Ajwala (Done)
– Barua Kwa Binti (Done)
– Collaborate with 2 other poets for a combined anthology (On-going)
– Collaborate with 2 other different poets for a combined anthology (In the pipeline)
– Collaborate with 1 other poets for a combined anthology (In the pipeline)
– A pure Swahili anthology (In the pipeline)
– A collection centred on God and Christian themes (Ongoing)
Eventually, I intend to write a book on my life lessons as well.
Is that ambitious or what?
Check out his books here Barua kwa Binti and Days of Ajwala if poetry is your jam.
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