Award Winning author Lily Mabura in Nairobi

By Caleb Mutua

What we though was going to be a poetry lecture turned out to something else; a one on one discussion on creative writing (fiction) with 2010 Caine prize shortlisted author, Dr. Lily Mabura (pictured).

She talked to us on the structure of writing a short story, what it takes for one to write a good short story and the challenges every new short story writer is likely to encounter. She was so friendly and she maintained an eye contact with all of us all through.

She pointed out that many people think that a short story is a novel that is shortened. She went ahead to explain how a short story is different from a novel.

For example, a short story has one main character and events unfold to a climax unlike in novels where there are a number of climaxes.

What I liked about her work is that she derives fiction from her experiences. She molds and copy-pastes her characters to achieve the personality that fits her stories.

Her latest short story is a short story for children called Oma:

http://www.amazon.com/Oma-Interactive-Childrens-Book-ebook/dp/B005AM5WLA/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310732378&sr=1-2

Dr. Lily Mabura is an alumni of The University of Nairobi. She completed her Ph.D. in English (African and African Diaspora Studies & Creative Writing, Fiction) at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She also won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature and Kenya’s National Book Week Literary Award among other awards.

First Published in July 2011.