Facebook poet seeks to form a world of love with his words

Home

Artist and poet Dayan Masinde and right, his painting titled Serene. Photo/FILE 

By Mwikali Lati

In Summary

• When Angels Make Love, an e-book available on Amazon.com, which uses one of his painting as a book cover, is a collection of 121 poems that tell a story he believes his readers will relate to.

 

Back in 2009, Dayan Masinde’s first poetic gesture was a romantic Facebook post to win over a woman he liked. Being also a fine artist, he attached one of his paintings, and won the admiration of the woman and soon more people liked the post.

“That was how the romantic sucker in me was unleashed on Facebook. I started asking myself how what I post adds value to the people who come across it. I’d rather write something creative and of value to someone, than to post personal updates like ‘Drinking coffee at the Java with my pals’,” he says.

Since then, he has written more than 2,500 poems — some never posted on his Facebook page — mostly on love, spiritual matters, Africa, dreams and governance. This has led to him to be named “The Artist inspired by Love”.

He has also posted more than 3,000 quotes on love, life and God as Facebook updates.

“I get into trouble with my fans when I stay for too long without posting something. I have silent fans that will inbox to share their thoughts or consume my work from a distance and can’t like or comment on everything I post; then there are my active fans that publicly show their appreciation for my work, some equating me to a relationship counsellor, philosopher or the love doctor,” he says.

For years Mr Masinde was comfortable writing on Facebook, but his more than 6,000 fans had a better idea. As a typical artist, he had found his ‘canvas’. But his fans wanted him to publish his poems in a book.

After years of pressure, he finally started working on his first book. His editor, and one of his biggest Facebook fans, Carlene Lombo convinced him to start with digital book since he had global content and his writing skills came alive on a digital platform.

WhenAngels Make Love which uses one of his painting as a book cover, is a collection of 121 poems that tell a story he believes his readers will relate to.
Available on Amazon.com, Mr Masinde is now able to reach a larger number of his fans scattered all over the globe.

“E-books are the next frontier in the reading experience as smart technology becomes part of our everyday life. Digital publishing is how more and more people are reading newspapers, magazines and books.

“I want to put Kenya on the map when it comes to contemporary writing, telling the world Africa is more than huts, wars, famine, backward politics and stagnant imagination. I don’t like how the outside world has defined how and what African writing should be,” he says.

Sticking to the theme he knows best, love, the book covers subjects like single-life, heartbreaks, healing, dating, misconceptions, abuse of sex, beauty of sex, drama, single parenthood, God, finding self, courtship, unfaithfulness, communication, marriage, problems in love, in-laws, parenthood and divorce.

“The list is endless. Many ask, ‘don’t I run out of ideas?’, but out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. In my case, the written word speaks. I don’t write about love because love sells; I do this because I believe in love and corny as it may sound, I am a loving man. Kenyan men can be romantic,” says Mr Masinde.

Describing his writing moods as seasons, he says sometimes he feels utterly romantic, other times very sensual, real, spiritual or dreamy.

To him, poetry is the power of forming a world using words, a chance to make a timeless statement. It’s a short immortalised conversation with his readers.

“People are hungry to be transported to a stimulating world from the comfort of their location.