In August this year, two Kenyans, Redscar McOdindo K’oyuga and Sanya Noel, were shortlisted for the Babishai Niwe Poetry Award (BNPA) in Kampala, Uganda. Despite having taken part in several writing projects together, Redscar and Sanya had never met before. Of their first encounter, which happened at the Babishai Niwe Poetry festival in Uganda, Sanya says, “I shook his hand with the irritability of a distracted man before going back to the discussion at hand. To which he (Redscar) said, “Sanya, you’re Sanya, right? My name is Redscar.””
Immediately after the BNPA festival, Redscar left Kampala for Kisumu, where the inaugural Nyanza Literary Festival (NALIF) was taking place. There, he would win the NALIF poetry prize. Back in Kampala, in absentia, he would win the Writivism Okot p’Bitek Prize for Poetry in Translation.
This conversation between the two, which takes place over email a few days after the award ceremonies, revolves mainly around poetry prizes.
