By Stacy M. Brown
Acclaimed filmmaker, photojournalist, writer, poet, and humanitarian Chip Duncan takes readers on a tour of Laikipia County, Kenya, in his new release, “Ewaso Village: Poems and Stories.”
The SelectBooks, Inc., offering provides a birds-eye view of Ewaso Village in a unique publication that incorporates stunning full-color images – the product of Duncan’s experience as a veteran photojournalist – and his poignant literary sensibilities as a poet and memoirist.
“All of this is focused on a community in southern Kenya, Ewaso Village, which has become an important place of spiritual connection for the author over the years of his travels,” according to a news release.
The book’s publishers noted that the Maasai people of East Africa comprise one of the most intriguing and resourceful cultures on Earth.
“For more than a thousand years, the Maasai and their Samburu neighbors have survived and thrived as pastoralists on the savannah near Mt. Kenya and the Maasai Mara borderlands of Kenya and Tanzania,” the publishers wrote.
“Chip Duncan exuberantly combines prose, poetry, and photography to celebrate the stories, songs, rituals, and dreams of people who live in this magical place called Ewaso Village.”
Further, those who speak of Ewaso Village with admiration include Wisconsin Poet Laureate and Rubinger Fellow, Dasha Kelly Hamilton, who described it as “eloquent and frank, braiding culture and commentary, justice and joy, imagery and intimate impact. The collection of these pieces traveled me, not as a vapid tourist, but as a human.”
“Enriched with hauntingly beautiful photographs and poetic stories, Ewaso Village provides a richly detailed portrait of a nomadic society known for their centuries-old rituals and dazzling ornamentation, but a culture mostly hidden from outsiders,” National Geographic filmmaker and author Kevin McCarey stated.
“In this thoroughly engaging book, Duncan captures the heart and soul of the Maasai – an African tribal people grappling with the challenges of political strife and climate change.”
A lifelong Midwesterner and native of western Iowa, Duncan has produced more than fifty non-fiction films for international broadcast and distribution.
His work as a photographer and filmmaker has taken him to ice fields, war zones, slums, shipyards, museums, palaces, vineyards, beaches, deserts, rainforests, savannahs, and farmlands.
Duncan’s previous books include the short story collection Half A Reason to Die (SelectBooks, NYC, 2017), photographic collections Inspiring Change (Thunder House Press, Milwaukee, 2019) and Enough to Go Around (SelectBooks, NYC, 2009).
Duncan also speaks publicly on the impact of climate change as part of The Three Tenors of Climate Change.
Ewaso Village is Duncan’s first book featuring his poetry, and the first in a trilogy featuring indigenous cultures from around the world.
