Beverley arrived at being a poet and an author after experiencing the joy that poetry could create. Her interest in poetry begun in her childhood and was nurtured while at school where she had the opportunity to perform the pieces she had written, during assemblies and in class. To accompany said pieces she often wrote raps and formed dance routines which brought a lot of delight to those around her spurring her creativity on. No longer left to a “feel-good moment” her creative process has since evolved. It is more intentional now with her writing influenced by the different topics she is pondering. Unjumping, her first poetry anthology, was published in 2010. Several of her poems and short stories have appeared in various anthologies like Words from a Granary (2001) and her latest work, Dressed Me in Disobedience, will be in circulation soon.
The Foundation has also spurred the start of other ventures such as the Babishai Niwe Leadership Academy for girls. This programme, which was launched on the day of the African Child (16th June) in 2015, came up as a result of a lack of significant African poetry among children and younger people. Some of the children who were a part of the inaugural programme went on to participate in the Kampala International School of Uganda Poetry Slam in 2016. Their performances amazing the judges. In consideration of the population data for Uganda whose median age is 15.9 years, a trend repeated across the continent, the BN Leadership Academy aims to reach out to young women in their communities, providing educational or other support. The program encourages them, as much as possible, to appreciate the production and reception of reading.
She recently founded Rich Diction, to enhance public speaking for both teenagers and adults. This particular accomplishment she arrived at after she joined Toastmasters and was better exposed to the world of public speaking realizing “while people had all the knowledge and content necessary, they lacked the confidence to articulate it,” something which we know is necessary as a public speaker. After all, what good is it to be filled with the knowledge that you cannot share effectively? The company also provides online training.
As a publisher and promoter of Poetry, she celebrates the increase in spaces for spoken word and poetry performances over the years. Though inactive during the Lockdown, the presence of these spaces is a worthwhile achievement for the Arts and Culture space. More so, that there are measures being put in place to combat some of the issues faced by artists in the literary field such as the creation of a law governing copyright and the ongoing discussions on how to promote the protection of artists’ work is a step in the right direction. While there are people and finances set aside specifically for this work, it is not easy to spread them out where they are required.
From her experience in publishing, she notes there is a need for more professional editing and publishing of literature both in Uganda and Africa. While there is an opportunity to market our literary works beyond Uganda, there is a lack of professionalism in the processes involved due to the limited spaces available for professional publishers. It’s imperative for authors and poets to see the value in the editorial process. “Everyone needs an editor. Even Ben Okri uses an editor,” she says. Most writers believe that editing is solely about recognizing and fixing grammatical errors in their work feeding a common belief that editors are an extraneous group of people in the publishing process.
From our conversation I know one thing for sure, there’s no such thing as ‘getting there’. The ‘there’ we chase after our entire lives evolves constantly as we get older. Why go for one thing when you can go for them all? In conversation with her, it seems absurd to have only one dream in a world which allows you to have multiple, chase multiple and achieve most of your dreams.
Typically, her day begins at 4 am. Like clockwork, she’s up starting with prayer as she dedicates the day’s events to God. She finds this bit of her routine, reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s, gives her a chance to get plenty done before the rest of the house is up. In her spare time and when she can, Beverley enjoys taking long walks, jogging, swimming, travel, and, naturally, reading. She is currently making her way through the list of the best 100 books, available online, and is at the moment caught up in the classics. Alongside that list, she is reading George Orwell’s 1984 which she labels as ‘fantastic and brilliant’ and highly recommends. Speaking of inspiring books she recalls Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine and the reaction it provoked, “I’ve never read a book that makes me sit and hold my cheek and makes me feel a hundred emotions at the same time (like The Concubine did).” She adds Enid Blyton was the first author whose work she read and labeled her “brilliant”.
Her future plans include investment in real estate, something she mentions twice during our conversation. She says that it is a worthwhile investment for both your children and your children’s children since there is room for growth in this field both now and in the future. Of this she says, “I think a lot about the future and I look forward to it. Many people are scared of turning older but I look forward to turning older and seeing the seed of the fruit that I have grown.”
Beverley has been a part of the literary world for over a decade and within this time, she has achieved more than enough to certify her place in Uganda’s Literary Hall of Fame. As we wrap up the conversation, her final word of advice to creatives is to work with professional editors. You cannot expect to come up with good pieces without it. Practice if you are in spoken word, make sure that you have investments that are earning you an income, and make sure you create structures that ensure that you’re earning money from your art. Structure your product and be consistent. She adds that we should keep going and that we should all use this lockdown period as a time of reflection. It would be a waste, she stated if we came out of this the same.