Magunga Williams Oduor is a writer, Nairobi bachelor and a half toothed goon who likes to tell stories. If you want, you can find his stories curated on his creative writing platform magunga.com.
When he is not writing, Magunga is either drinking Tusker or selling books at his online bookstore.
We had a few questions for him and this is what he had to say.
1. What was your first phone?
Nokia. I forget the model. But I remember my mother bought it for me using her bonga points after I cleared high school. I got a nasty heartbreaking SMS on it. Then it got lost in a matatu.
2. Which platform do you prefer between Facebook and Twitter? Why?
Facebook. Though I go to these two places for different things. Twitter for instant news and for laughs because trending jokes make it to Facebook late. But Tweeps ni wachoyo na follows bwana.
But I am a Facebook person. I love the people there because I feel like we connect better.
3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In five years I should be wearing metal on my finger. I should be managing a book distribution network all around East Africa, I should be eating healthier, running daily and God willing, I should get a mustache.
4. Any question for us? We’ll publish our answer as well.
Why do feet smell and noses run?
5. What would you do if you were president for a day?
For real? Just one day in State House as president? Damn. I would throw the mother of all bashes. YOPO – You only president once.
6. What’s your favourite book & movie?
Favorite book: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (even though he managed to dupe all of us including Oprah with his fiction)
Favorite Movie: Snake in The Eagle’s Shadow: Every time I watched that Kung Fu movie I was untouchable. I could beat anyone.
7. Who/What inspired you to do what you do now?
That is a tough one. Every writer I have enjoyed reading has made me fall deeper in love with words.
8. If you were to change jobs, what profession would you get into? Why?
A socialite. Ati why? Psssh. Why not?
9. If you had a superpower, what would it be?
Shitting dollars.
10. If you were deserted on an abandoned island what 5 things would you want to have?
- Internet
- My jaber
- Fish from Three Dee Restaurant
- My phone (this comes with powerbank)
- The bachelors of Langata
11. If you were a car, what car would you like to be? Why?
In Dholuo we call it Opuk. The people who made it called it VolksWagen Beetle. I am an Opuk – a KJC 728; my mother’s first and only car. I would be this particular Opuk because my mother loved it to bits.
12. If you could be in any other band in the world, which one would you like to be in? Why?
Simba wa Nyika ; my dad was in this band as a bass guitarist. It was a short stint. He quit his job at KRA to join the band. That was before his mother pinched his ear and dragged him back to the office. He never tried music again.
13. What is the most challenging thing you have encountered as a writer? How did you overcome it?
The challenge has always been the same. Being Broke. I have not overcome it. People still want free stuff. I wish they would pay for my words.
14. Share something interesting about yourself with our readers.
This question assumes that I have something interesting about myself. I do not. All I have is a pair of hands whose fingers won’t stop dancing on a keyboard, and a very sexy chipped tooth that won me a fair lady.