The Diary of a PenPen Resident

  By Dismas Okombo Foremost, forgive the lateness of this entry. Due to Corona pandemic, of which I hope you are keeping safe indoors, the residency had to end abruptly on the night of 19th. But before then, from the last diary entry to yesternight, I have been consumed in writing two essays, as was […]

By Wr. Dismas Okombo #Day6:  6th March 2020. Until Twinomugisha pointed it out in one of her provocative writing, I had never noticed ‘the shy sun’; how she makes her naïve appearance around one pm, only to disappear again after thirty minutes. But now that today I have observed her, the sun has decided to

By Wr. Dismas Okombo The first assignment Edith gave us was to translate a passage in English to our mother tongue. We hunched over our notepads; some with mild hesitations, some with bold enthusiasm. After about fifteen minutes of searching for approximate words, each read their translations. Banyankole, Kinyarwanda, Tumbuka, Luo, Swahili, and Kamba. “How

By Wr. Dismas Okombo I have just locked the door, headed past the crib and drawn back the green curtains. Outside, the evening is calm and chilly; the trees are still. The drizzles after lunch had held the false promise of a storm. But now, as I look through the windowpane, whatever tempest was to

By Wr. Dismas Okombo   “When will I know I am ready?” “You won’t. It is a leap of faith. That’s all it is; a leap of faith.” ~From the Movie, Spiderman; Into the Spiderverse. Throughout the night I prepared myself to face one major discomfort in the morning. Itchy scalp.  Often, such is my

By Wr. Dismas Okombo Yesternight when I saw Twinomugisha shuffle the cards as if the deck was an extension of her arms, I outrightly realized I was to suffer thorough thrashing at poker. ‘You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away.’ Definitely this was the

By Wr. Dismas Okombo, on 1st March 2020 In the early evening, there were patches of light showers. And now, in the still warmth of my room, I endeavor to search for the right words to capture the magnificent smiles, the heartily laughs and beautiful, yet sometimes surprising, cross-cultural stories that have warmed my heart