By KARI MUTU

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Author and journalist Peter Kimani has gained international fame for his bold retelling of colonial history in Dance of the Jakaranda.

The story starts in the late 1800s, during the construction of the Kenya-Uganda railway by Indian labourers, all the way to the early years of Independence.

At a recent gathering in Nairobi, Kimani talked about his journey writing the book.

The book was 10 years in the writing. It started in 2007, but was interrupted for a number of years following the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya that, Kimani says, deprived him of the emotional peace he needed to write.

The story reviews history from the perspective of Indians and Europeans, a deliberate choice by Kimani.

He said he drew inspiration from Kenya’s Asian freedom fighters such as Makhan Singh and others who were, “selfless and treated pretty shabbily after Independence.”

He used multiple main characters instead of a single viewpoint common in famous books of the period such as Karen Blixen’s Out of Africa or Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

“My intention was to address the well-established narrative of this country, and our history as imagined by foreigners,” he said.

Describing colonialism as farcical, Kimani said this was why he adopted a humorous tone and witty personalities in his book. However, he was persuaded by his editors to change the original title, A Kiss in the Dark, because of concerns that the book “would have been misconstrued as a very light read.”

Authenticity to the period was important to Kimani. He researched extensively, spoke to descendants of the Indians who were part of the colonial era, and even studied the dhows used to ferry Indians to East Africa.

Dance of the Jakaranda contains songs from local languages to appropriate the African storytelling tradition as well as to give it a cultural context.

Although some have criticised his female characters as not being well positioned, I found them bold, decisive and sexually progressive considering the era. Said Kimani, “I wanted the women to exert authority and influence in very complex ways.”

He is working on another book that has a Somali Muslim woman as the lead character, a task he says is a huge mental shift as a man and “catering to a different tradition.”

Dance of the Jakaranda has been released in the US and the UK, but has yet to be taken up by a Kenyan publisher, a situation that aggrieves Kimani.

Kenyan author Peter Kimani signs copies of his book "Dance of the Jakaranda" at the London School of Economics and Political Science on Monday, March 12, 2018. FILE PHOTO | NMG

He said there is a deficiency in the number of books being published locally, as Kenyan publishers cater primarily to the textbooks market, and only accept a limited range of time-worn themes.

“The publishers in New York or London are targeting mass audiences and general readers. They are not looking at school audiences,” he said.

His advice to Kenyan writers is to focus on authentic writing, to tap into online resources, and write for global readers.

“We have to use our imagination. It could be through telling Kenyan stories, but speaking to universal truths,” he said.

He plans to offer a creative writing course later this year.

As a student in high school, Kimani enjoyed reading African classics from the 1960s and 70s because they spoke to conditions and circumstances he could relate to.

“My main motivation to become a journalist was because I read that Chinua Achebe and Ngugi was Thiong’o had worked as journalists,” he said.

Kimani, 47, has a doctorate in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston in the US and lectures at Nairobi’s Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications.

He was one of just three international writers selected by National Public Radio to compose and recite a poem for Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009.

Dance of the Jakaranda is Kimani’s third book and was listed on the New York Times editor’s choice.

In 2011 his children’s book Upside Down was awarded Kenya’s top literary award, the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature.