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James Kenny
Location: Grimaud, Var, France
Member Since: 3 January 2009
Professional Associations
Travelwriters.com
Introduction
I am a "Kenya Celt", born and raised in Ireland but on completion of my education fled to Africa and, in time Kenya became 'home'! I have lived and worked in Kenya for twenty five years and from there I have explored every part of that country and have made extensive sojourns in almost every country in the eastern half of Africa, from Egypt to Botswana. I have been a freelance writer, specialising in travel (among other subjects) since my first student trip to the wild west coast of Connemara, Ireland. I have a BSc majoring in Geography, with Geology, Philosphy and English literature as my supportive subjects. As a keen environmentalist, I became interested in appropriate technologies and renewable enregy, and after studying and taking a diploma in Solar Energy, I joined development projets in Africa working with relief and development organisations. This provided me with an ideal platform for writing about travels to some of the remotest places in Africa and a chance to write about student travel projects and voluntourism. By this time I had also phased into writing about 'green' travel, and technical writing with a 'green' angle. Six years ago, I took time out for an extended visit to my 'other Africa' , the West Indies' that led into an area of writing that covered the culture and way of life of exiled Africans! For the past four years I haved lived in the foothills above the bay of St. Tropez in France, and have travelled through most of France and Western Europe, - not to mention regular returns 'home' to Kenya (and Tanzania) to service the charity I co-founded two years ago to address the needs of the forgotten poverty-stricken villages that lie inland from the coast. I am a seasoned photographer and have produced and archived a host of fine pictorial material to illustrate my travels and support my writing. I am currently in the course of finishing my 'flag-ship' book (a 'travel biography') - and putting together material two follow-ups, about Africa! I enjoy it most when I write with a 'sense of story', some diologue, a leaning towards humour (if appropriate), lusty lines, lively lines, compelling anecdotes, colour and colourful characters! BUT I am also a perfectionist when it comes to factual travel writing, backed by meticulous research!
Experience & Expertise
My most noteworthy travel 'enterprises'were: 1. A seven month overland drive from Dublin, Ireland to Dar Es salaam, Tanzania in a delapidated 'Renault 4'; an experience that saw life in its most vivid and vibrant forms. Ireland's leading national daily gave me a 'one-a-week' feature assignment covering the entire journey, on reading my introductory article. These features won widespread acclaim for content, perception and style. A book built around this adventure, but not restricted to it, is nearing completion. 2. A five month overland (no flying) trek from London to Mombasa, Kenya by bus, cattle boat, delta camels and nile railway to Safaga, Egypt where signed on as a supernumery, I joined a slow trading coaster working its way down the Red Sea to Aden, and onwards along the East African coast to Mombasa, calling at almost every 'port' along the way. A series of articles on this trip was written and sold to a variety of newspapers and magazines, again widely praised. 3. A two year sailing, cruising and island treking sojourn through the Caribbean Island chain, from Grenada to the Virgin Islands on board my 36 foot sailing cruiser "Umoja". This resulted in a 14 part travel feature series commissioned by Spain's leading English language newspaper; and syndicated to 12 major regional newspapers around the world.
Publishing Credentials
Outback, Irish Times,yachting monthly, France to-day, Liverpool Echo, Boston Globe, Coasta Blanca news, The Guardian, Daily Nation, East African Standard, Irish Independent, Outlook Magazine, Compass, Coastweek, Daily News, The Islands, cruising life, Grenadan and many others
Awards Received
Awards: none Acclaim: much
