Athan Mwaniki Did Not Know That His Facebook Posts Would Usher In His Writing Journey

My writing journey began in 2018 during my theological studies. I used to write inspirational and motivational articles spiced with literature and figures of speech and would later post them in my Facebook account wall. As a matter of fact, as I was writing all these articles, though educative, they were generally meant for fun and brainstorming with my friends who are my ardent followers. I would think of a critical issue affecting the society socially, economically, religiously, spiritually, and would make the pen to wet papers to bring awareness to my readers. I later joined the world of poetry by writing poems that were praised very much by readers.

As days went by, the articles awakened the spirit of online avid readers especially those who know me personally and they could bring more insights to the topics which I tackled. The turning point was a story I wrote about one of a staunch Christian in my home Parish who was very dedicated in Church matters.

The old woman happens to be my grandmother, and i penned the story with a catchy title of, “THE ICON WOMAN OF ALL TIMES IN ISHIARA.” Ishiara is our village market which is very famous for its tasty goat meat . I described how she had kept her faith and knowledge of the missionaries from Italy and Ireland that came to evangelize in my village. I concluded by stating that, an old stone under the water is never overrun by the flowing water and an heroine is not only honored in her lifetime but also in death by being accorded a decent burial. She died two weeks after I penned down her lifetime Christian life.

One of my friends, named Jackline Murumbi asked me, “Brother, you have a very nice touch and taste of literature in your writing, why don’t you write so that we can read your good ideas?” This how I began thinking of writing a motivational book. I pulled down most of my short posts in Facebook and polished them and wrote other short stories that are motivational and composed a manuscript.

This was in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. I composed a 200 pages manuscript and gave some English teachers to edit for me. The response was positive about my writings and they were looking forward to see my published book.

I later looked for an average editor who happened to have edited the final manuscript and once it was ready for publication, i did not have the finances to publish it. I spent most of 2020 setting the layout and checking for any possible mistakes before looking for a publisher. I was torn between doing private and public publication but later decided to go for private publication once I got the money.

I did my first book, ‘The Cumbrous Society’ in October 2021 with African Ink Publishers. I called it The Cumbrous Society because of the ponderous state that our society, and most of these issues affect the society either positively or negatively. It is a call to society to wake up from its slumber and think beyond the comfort zone .

I also have another written book known as ‘The Empty Calabash’ which highlights the down-trodden values of the society. I am also a Poet and inspirational writer who passionately speaks to the society with poetic language too to highlight the issues that affect it. I am writing a Poetry book and their translation, for easy analysis by the readers especially our high school students.

My social media handles,
Use this to access my Facebook https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0iFB5dGgHuGMTeBtwavE7zdnbuCpXSTCW77mn1sirZEKdUdeARBKVCy4gVdXwvtbCl&id=100002218805144&sfnsn=mo&mibextid=RUbZ1f

IG name: atanasi_mkasi

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Priscilla kubai
Priscilla kubai
1 year ago

Av read Athans book,and they are good.

Loise
Loise
1 year ago

Warmest congratulations on your achievement! Wishing you even more success in the future 🙏

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