Public Reading



PUBLIC READING TIME
By Jeremy Leariwala

One cloudy afternoon I found myself meandering through a crowded street in Nairobi. My intention was to reach Jevanjee Garden, chill there a little before proceeding to Alliance Francaise. On my back was a backpack with a few items among them Ifeoma Chinwuba’s Novel ‘Merchants of Flesh’. It had taken me long to read the book and I wanted to get over it and do something else.
I went past the Dedan Kimathi’s statue, crossed onto Moi Avenue and headed up towards Central Police Station. I bumped onto a few pedestrians before I finally walked into Jevanjee Garden. The Garden had quite a number of people; some seated quietly on the benches, others crowded in small groups discussing politics while others sprawled on the grass. The usual preachers were present too shouting to no one in particular from several spots. Wise men once said learn to mind your own business. So I ignored the environment and got myself an empty spot on a bench, fetched the novel and got busy reading.
I had an hour or so to spend at the garden before attending the Literary Crossroads Forum at the Goethe Institute Auditorium at Alliance Francaise. I knew, from the brief I got online, that it had something to do with a public reading session. I wanted to take part and learn something new on public reading, as I am one of those writers who belief that a person must read every time they get an opportunity to read. Public reading is something I have dreamt about over time.
Alliance Francaise is a place I had come to like. My mentor Prof. Walibora launched his book ‘Mbaya Wetu’ one afternoon and I have never regretted attending the function. I learnt a lot about the place and after the book launch activities, I left that auditorium with my rib cage aching. I have gone back there a few more times afterwards for different functions. I know one day soon I will launch a book there too.
I quickly read my book at Jevanjee garden with little distraction from the passersby and all the other activities around me. Then it was time to head to the auditorium. I closed the novel, put in the bag and crossed over towards Alliance Francaise.
Entry was free into the neatly arranged room. The lighting was adequate and I spotted a few faces I recognized. Most of those in attendance were writers both old and young but there were quite a number of the unknowns. In the front, two beautiful ladies with microphones poised in front of them, sat facing the audience. Each had a stack of printed papers of the book excerpts.
After a brief introduction, one of the two ladies, a German I presumed, started reading the first chapter of the book. I didn’t get anything for the whole time her melodious voice crooned out of the speakers. German is one of the many languages I have never tried to master. The second lady picked up as soon as the first one stopped. She read in English and that is when I started to enjoy the contents of the book. She had a clear, loud voice that complemented her perfect pronunciation of the queen’s language.
The public reading session that day reminded me of my high school days. It rekindled memories of my head teacher Bro. Martin Spellman coming to our class every Tuesday at night to take us through a public reading session. The only difference was that each one of us students had a copy of the story as one of us read aloud. Back in those days the reading session helped us build our pronunciation, vocabularies and encouraged us to nurture a reading culture.
A few of my neighbors don’t read books. In fact I know a few who confessed to me that the last time they read a book was when they were leaving school. Books are a source of knowledge and power. A book can open up your world into the unknown treasures of this same world we both live in. Take time to read when possible, especially after school or after leaving a library. Encourage a friend, a neighbor or colleague to enjoy reading a book on a bus, in a recreation park or even a pub. If you pick an interesting book to read on a bus and forget to alight at your stage then know that you are on the right path to the world of knowledge. Better still, if you can form a reading group to encourage and support one another, you would have done some justice to our reading culture.

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