Vol II: Issue I

With this in mind, we set out to celebrate women __Ugandan women who have contributed remarkably to the development of the literary canon in Uganda, for this issue. This contribution was distilled into 5 distinctions, Academicians/Scholars, Poets, Authors, Publishers, and Performers/Producers of Theatre or Film and that over a given time. In nearly crippling panic it took weeks to finally have a list of names compiled and then to finally reach out to the women we had identified for this project. I admit I was often struck by fangirl madness and the acute sense of inadequacy this brought on. Could we capture the essence of these inspiring women correctly, represent them as we should I often wondered? Our letters out, we waited with bated breath __the women we had reached out to are undoubtedly busy with their acclaim putting great demands on their time this we understood. But the timing couldn’t have been worse __this was at the start of the first Lockdown period when things were just starting to get wonky and everything felt terribly uncertain. Then the responses started to come in. We excitedly read these and were giddy at their expressed willingness to support our efforts. Thank you!

This issue was also about the writers __emerging women writers in our collective committed to growing their craft. Often a barrier to the development of writers’ skill is a lack of opportunity or limited access to platforms that provide training and exposure for emerging writers. We thought this an important opportunity for our writers to gain this as they interacted with the women in focus __in conversation with the latter gleaning insight into their own chosen paths. We thank all the writers Ruth Adong, Loretta Tukahirwa, Linda Orando, Faith A. W. Kirabo, Gloria Nanfuka, and Rachel K. Masinde for saying yes to our ask which was not made any easier by the lockdown. With its restrictions, the writers were limited to phone interviews and email questionnaires in their interactions with the women we profile in this issue.

Most Ugandans are acquainted with FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers’ Association. It was started in 1995 by a group of women led by Mary Karooro Okurut and consisting of Dr. Susan Kiguli, Lillian Tindyebwa, Ayeta Anne Wangusa, Martha Ngabirano, Goretti Kyomuhendo, Margaret Ntakalimaze, Rosemary Kyarimpa, Philomena Rwabukuku, Judith Kakonge, and Hilda Twongeirwe. The Association has had several publications in the 25 years of its existence including Words from A Granary, The Switch (Mary Karooro-Okurut), and Men Love Chocolates But They Don’t Say (Mildred Kiconco Barya). It also boasts of a membership that includes names like Regina Asinde, Violet Barungi, Doreen Baingana, Mildred Kiconco Barya, Jackee Batanda, and the list goes on including some of the women we feature in this issue. Impressively the Ugandan writers that have been shortlisted for the Caine prize name the FEMRITE writers’ groups as key to the development of their craft including Monica Arac de Nyeko whose story Jambula Tree won the 2007 Caine Prize. In Promoting Women’s writing in Uganda we speak with Hilda Twongeirwe, the current Executive Director of FEMRITE about the future plans for this outstanding organization and in A Life Committed of her experience as an avid promoter of literary work and ventures to enhance the development of the same in Uganda.

FEMRITE has championed women’s writing through its existence providing writer training and mentorship programs to support this. Even as they and other efforts work to empower women in their different spaces, this is against the backdrop of the ways in which women continue to come up to various forms of death and that not limited to the physical one. In We’re afraid of being killed we look further into this just as Dr. Susan N. Kiguli speaks to us in Still we Survive of finding ways to face up to and navigating the limitations of socio-cultural upbringing; standing as who she is despite that.

The naming of a child is an important ritual in most African cultures. The name a telling of paths yet to unfold. The playwright, scholar, and producer of children’s Theatre Dr. Mercy Mirembe Ntangaare finds that her new name couldn’t be truer for her life purpose __to illuminate which she speaks of in Illuminating theatre. But names hold an existence too one that is written away as people become numbers when the media reports on one tragedy or other __a whole life reduced to a forgettable statistic. In A Venture into Truth, Beatrice Lamwaka seeks to address this as she talks about her story Butterfly Dreams which was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize in which she repeatedly names those abducted during the war in Northern Uganda communicating they had lived inhabiting a place before their lives were irrevocably changed by the war.

Writing as a profession or career is often admired and sought but it’s not for the faint of heart. The hard work it requires often a surprise for those transitioning from hobby to professional writing as we see repeatedly in our Labs. In Holding True to the Dream and the In Pursuit of the Dream(s) we speak to Dr. Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva respectively about the cost of producing the groundbreaking works such as they have.

Also in this issue is The African Story Doesn’t Exist an introspective look at how mind-boggling it is trying to define the African story. Attempts to pin down what this should be are riddled with varying voices from scholarly to marketplace, old and contemporary views to name a few. Can we just tell our stories one wonders just as authors from other places continue to do?