Greetings my readers. I’d like to introduce you to another author, Ndali Kashume. She is the author of three books, and is also in a documentary. On Ndali’s blog, you can see that she has accomplished a lot, and is always on the go. Recently, Ndali has released her third book, and I had the opportunity to reach ask a few questions about it and more.
Polite On Society: Tell us a little bit about your background. Where are you from?
Ndali Kashume: I’m originally from Angola. I lived in England with my family since I was a month old baby, till I was about five, then we moved to Namibia and now I’m a New Yorker, for about eight years. I guess I did the three continents tenting, don’t ask which one is my favorite.
POS: What motivates you as a writer?
NK: My imagination, most certainly. It really started as a habit. I remember imagining stories for my elder brother, Ignatius’ comic characters. He would draw these characters on pad paper and staple them together like a book, then flip through it and the characters would be moving. Huh, I was so fascinated , although he often drew me, to tease, I decided to add story. I was four at the time, living in rainy England so my best companion while watching the rain, were imaginary stories.
Now it’s as though I think in paragraphs, things come, I get excited, I write.
POS: Your latest book is called: I Have A Dream, will our generation make it come true. Tell us why this particular project, and what is the impact that you hope for it to have.
NK: Well, I remember having a conversation with a friend about something they were going through and I made reference to an African proverb. My way of untangling life’s challenges is by living out the village stories, proverbs, the metaphors. This is how we were educated. My friend commented on how lucky I am to have so much to draw from. That stuck with me. So in this project I decided to share a few short stories, some old village and some modern metro. I figured that there is some one out there that could use the insight. The main story is a Village Ed, about the era when African women were giving birth to babies without melanin, which was a huge taboo and somewhat a phenomena. I figured it would help sprinkle warmth into the air, especially during these interesting times of social and racial questioning.
When people understand history then more questions are illuminated. I confess I regard my self quite fortunate to have been taught first hand by grandparents of the village who have witness things that not many of us can fathom.
POS: From your blog, it appears that you being an author has taken you on an interesting journey. What is one thing you would like to share with a person who is on the fence about writing a book?
NK: Writing, I now realize, is like breathing air. When inspired, just write. Don’t over think, don’t try to structure and plan. Just write like you breathe. Every aspect of your work will fall into place. If you think it, your meant to write it, it’s meant to come from you. It’s meant to have your mental foot print.
POS: What is next for Ndali? Are there any upcoming signings that we should know about?
NK: Good question, in the mix of mothering I remain creating. I have stacks of scripts that excite me to the moon and back. Perhaps, strap my critter on my back and continue creating. We will see.
I will keep you in the loop.
Thank you for this interview.