Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Kenya in 1985. I thought I didn’t have any talent until 2002, when I realized I could write poetry. I was a seventeen year-old high school student. Excited with a new discovery of myself, I began writing poems based on all kinds of topics. My colleagues used my love poems to add zest to their love letters.
Since 2004 after clearing high school, my poetry zeal went underground until 2011, when I started submitting them to online poetry sites. I won placements in some poetry contests, motivating me to write better and more poems.
My first publishing break came in 2014, when my poem “Poem without Words”, appeared in Shot Glass Journal Issue #11. Since then, my works have appeared in almost a dozen online journals and magazines, e.g. Three Line Poetry, Every Day Fiction, Paper Wasp, Brilliant Flash Fiction Magazine, and many others.
I am eagerly looking forward to publish another poetrybook collection in the near future.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called “The Milky Way In Words”, published by Booktango.
The title of my book was inspired by the Milky Way Galaxy, where our planet Earth is part of it. Well, my poems blend in different writing styles, topics, and genres, becoming a kind of a beautiful collection of my most amazing works coexisting together.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t think of any, unless waking up in the middle of the night, if an inspiration visits.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Maya Angelou, Alan Poe, Joyce Peseroff, Yehudia Amichai…..they are several.
What are you working on now?
I’m writing fiction stories, hoping to compile them by the end of this year.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve used Facebook Ads and Facebook Pages which concern literature.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you haven’t written a poem, story or novel, and you want to do it, just write it down. Share your pieces with your close friends, and you’ll realize how good you are.
Also, never shy away from submitting your works to online publishing journals or magazines. That’s where I began. If I didn’t submit my poem to Shot Glass Journal, I don’t think I would have had the courage to accept myself as a good writer, and to create a poetry book.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Logic will take you from Point A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere” – Albert Einstein.
What are you reading now?
The Manuscript Found in Accra, by Paulo Coelho.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a dream of winning a Nobel Peace Prize in Literature.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Manuscript Found in Accra, The Alchemist, and Veronika Decides to Die, all by Paulo Coelho
Author Websites and Profiles
Teddy Kimathi Website