Our current issue of the Ibua Journal started to take shape pre-lockdown. Our focus then was on how Literature influences Society, speaking to why we continue to need Literature. We hoped the broad theme would encapsulate how literature affects our daily and why we should protect the integrity of its creation. As the initial 14-day lockdown became 35 days and now we are faced with an additional 14-days, most of us are returning to literary works. In the month that followed we had marked International Women’s Day by running our activities under the theme Celebrating Women in Literature during which we had conversations with and about the women; creators, promoters, and characters that have influenced us in the Literature we have gravitated to. It is to these two themes this issue attends.
In Storytelling, Power and The African Story, I make a case for how Stories communicate power and establish structures that become the frames with which we view self, other and the world while Amooti Wobusoboozi takes a trip through his memories recalling the first book he owned, the lessons he learned from this and the other female authors he encountered in his journey to becoming a literature enthusiast. All this and more in A memory of Reading his celebration of the women who influenced his love for literature.
Literature in the time of COVID-19 and Ten books to read while you self-isolate provide recommended reads for you to dig into as books and the stories they contain are giving us all a way to navigate the mental and emotional strain of the mandatory stay home orders; the sense of lost productivity, and even the scarier sense of alienation from our neighbors and the rest of the world. They are sources of connection reminding us we are seen and we belong even as we live through social distancing.
Stay Safe. Sane. Strong.