Plugging Ideas
It would be nice to have a pool of activities to write about, especially literary activities going on in the African community. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area there are very few if any plays, films and other literary activities that I am aware of even after perusing the announcement boards of such institutions like Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. Don’t get me wrong; there are a lot of activities going on. They are just out of the interest of KilimanjaroMedia. Do you have anything going on in the neck of your woods such as a staged play, a film premiere, a book signing, or a new television series? Let me know about it so we can put it on our site. I would like to include a message board on this site whereby we can talk about art and culture, entertainment and other issues about the Africans living outside of Africa. There is a steady stream of visitors to the site, so I know people are coming in anonymously to check KilimanjaroMedia out, which is the way I want it. I am adding a function for my readers to respond to this page. If there were adequate traffic to begin a discussion board, then maybe I would create a forum. Let’s stay away from anything that has to do with politics and governments in Africa. There are many sites already dedicated to things like that. This is about literature and things related to literature. For instance, did you just arrive, or are you going back to Africa? Please write us a travelogue! Do you live in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada or even on the African continent? Well, there is so much happening in the literary arts!
You know, I am interested in materials that are fresh and refreshing, and engaging too. Just this last week my daughter and I redesigned the front page. I am sharing with my visitors some photos that I took while visiting Nigeria many years ago. They were sitting on my hard drive (gathering dust). I hope in the future I can travel on the continent and share my photos. Do you have photos to share? Well, how about a photo blog on our site? There is no need to reinvent the wheel. If you have no passion or time, for building a blog or a website, you can still share your materials on our website. If you are sending any photos, please save them as jpeg. I am working on a few projects of my own, but I don’t want to announce anything yet until I can upload it for cyber consumption. You know, I would love to publish an anthology of new writing in Africa, which in reality, is one of the reasons I put up this site. I have received some submissions that needed extensive editing, so I am gradually getting to speed on that one.
Okay, this is something I have been musing about. We do have a RadioKilimanjaro. My wish is for the radio station to broadcast radio plays and documentaries on the internet. If you would tune in or contribute broadcast material I would like to hear from you. I have plugged a few ideas, what do you think? That is for now. See you shortly.
Onitsha photo taken by Jide Osikomaiya
Sleepless in Lathrop
Updating an existing website and building one to replace it can be a daunting project for a neophyte like me. It is doubly nerve wracking if you have a short attention span like me. A friend of mine, Tokunbo, has been incredibly tolerant of my short order request to build KilimanjaroMedia sometime in March 2007. In the meantime, while we were doing long distance conferencing on how to go about building the site, I had purchased a couple of books (with software to match) on how to build a website. I was concerned that without money exchanging hands, I would have limitations as to how much I could ask my friend to do for me. Despite my inability to pay, my friend came up with a nice looking website in the first week of July.
As I write this, my first blog ever, I have recently dragged my younger daughter – who happens to know a little about coding html - to rebuild the site. What you have seen on the site so far is the result of sleepless weekend nights by my daughter and me. Of course, there were a few phone calls to my other daughter for emotional and professional support.
I teach school; so, four days a week, I have about ninety-eight starry-eyed college students demanding some attention from me. (I teach three courses this semester) Between preparing for classes, actually teaching the classes, grading papers, and putting together an up and coming website for new writers, my week is pretty much locked up. It is sleepless in Lathrop, my sleepy little bedroom community inside California’s Central Valley. Oh, by the way, when you read my next blog, I will be writing from another city. It is moving time, yet again. Traffic to the site is catching up. Some writers have sent in materials, which are being edited for publication. Sometime down the road, I hope we can have a really useful functioning website that serves as a resource for those who need an outlet for their writing. I want to make sure we are not duplicating the efforts of those college based literary journals. I am interested in popular literature in the “Onitsha market literature” tradition. You know, the little guy on the street trying to express some literary talent. Of course, I am also interested in writing coming out of the college environment. Having come out of that mold myself, I am aware of the tremendous potential of college based literary writing.
In addition, I would like to publish a literary journal twice a year, a journal mailed out to subscribers only. If I may add, this effort is designed to be continent wide. Perhaps I should add, global. If you are African, or you are interested in African writing, then KilimanjaroMedia is designed to be another outlet. Let’s use it as such. I am putting up a subscription page shortly, so look out for it if you are interested in getting a copy of our publication. Paid subscription is $15.00 per year. In case you haven’t noticed, I am also editing Dansiki Quarterly (see link) on our home page. I am collaborating with my friends Tokunbo Adeniji and Femi Sonuga to produce an exquisite lifestyle magazine for the African community abroad. Or well, for Africans, period. Go visit the site, see for yourself some refreshing perspective.
Sep 28, 2007 8:06 PM
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