FOR THE IMPATIENT READERS:
I have a passion for authentic storytelling that spills into the written word, TVCs, films and life; communicating value while empowering and inspiring my audience to leave the world a better place now and in the future.
FOR THOSE WHO LOVE WORDS:
Someone once told me my longest relationship is the one I have with words. And I had to agree. The instant my mother cooed at me, I fell in love with words – spoken and written – and was lost in the phrasing, tone, inflection and how the slightest nuance can twist meaning and open the mind to the impossible.
That’s where I live. In the alphabet rabbit hole, my nose buried in lexis as my mind travels far far away into fairytales and raw passionate accounts of fiction, into the charmed world of CS Lewis, the mind bending universe of Sean Williams, and the deep heart of the Africa alongside Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, Ben Okri and my fellow Kenyan – Ngugi wa Thiongo.
The African people believe that Ngai, the Almighty Creator who controls the wind, the sun, the stars and the motions of the sea is also the greatest storyteller who formed man and nature by his words alone. Ngai then made man the Protector of Nature and gave him the same power of shaping story into art.
Growing up in Kenya, I spent many late nights by the fire listening to my grandfather’s tales of Ngai’s war against the ndjinnis and evil spirits that roamed the mountains and forests, of brave warriors and beautiful maidens, and of the great battles he’d fought in his youth. He’d indulge me by lingering on my favourite story of all, how, in the midst of a daring cattle raid he stole my grandmother as a young girl, from her people the Maasai.
I stand in awe at my grandfather and his fellow and past African storytellers — griots or bards — who spent their entire lives perfecting special secret story telling skills that were passed down from generation to generation; who mastered many complex verbal, musical, and memory skills after years of specialised training; and who understood the responsibilities of, and the strong spiritual and ethical dimension required to control the special forces believed to be released by the spoken and sung word in oral performances.
In the tradition of Oral African culture, folktales and proverbs were seen as an essential part of traditional African communal life, imparting wisdom, morals and shared values as well as being a fundamental part of children’s customary education on their way to initiation into maturity as members of the community.
Like my forefathers, I believe storytelling is an avenue to nurture learning and culture, to explore the power of good over evil, to reaffirm the priority and wisdom of the community, to build and encourage our shared experience and fellowship, to reassure the community that balance and harmony can and should be restored, and that we, as humanity, will survive, prevail and triumph.
On the flip side, I’m a 30 something girl, an outed Michael Jackson fan, I love cookies & cream ice cream, I hunt for bargain Sass & Bide sales and I dream about hanging out with Rafael Nadal, Johnny Depp and the weird wonderful mind of film director Guillermo del Toro.
When I’m not building castles in the air, I write stories that get converted into TVCs and digital media campaigns – and I’ve had alot of fun pulling together fantastic stories and concept ideas for clients like Fairfax Media, Gloria Jeans Coffees, Toyota, Lexus, Optus, NineMSN, E*Trade and most recently HP, Virgin, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Advil.
And when I get itchy feet, I direct films – three so far … each a hard hitting, let’s-save-the-world documentary – shot in Colombia, Kenya and India. I loved making them and someone must have thought they were great because two of them played in cinemas across Australia!
It’s a beautiful world!
Neva Mwiti – storyteller and founder, Influence Media.