Summoning the Rains

Description

One of the greatest challenges faced by African women writers is finding the time and the space to write. In November 2011 the third FEMRITE African Women Writers Residency alleviated this challenge for 15 women writers from 11 different countries across the continent. The writers from Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Tunisia, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, and Botswana gathered in Kampala, Uganda for two weeks. This anthology is the product of the writing developed before and during the residency. The short stories included are told from different perspectives, with varied voices, some experienced, others less so, but all told with freshness and honesty.

Sujets

• Littérature Africaine
• Littérature Africaine
• Collections
• Collection

Informations

• Publié par: Femrite Publications
• Date de parution: 06 novembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9789970700264
• Langue: English

Extrait

Summoning the Rains
Summoning the Rains is an important book that everyone should read. This is a deft, witty, stylish anthology by the exciting new generation of women from all over Africa, writing about rapid change and the unchanging: love, violence, burning ambition, endurance. Maggie Gee, Author of The White Family (2002), shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 2005

Lovely and fascinating stories by Africa s emerging female voices. This collection proves that the continent s literary legacy is in good hands. Lauri Kubuitsile, Finalist for Caine Prize 2012

This is a rich tapestry of stories that transport you into worlds that are at once fantastic and real, stories that seamlessly blend the visceral and the intellectual. Many of them will hold you in thrall from start to finish, because of the exquisite telling and imagining, as well as the surprises that seem to lurk around every corner. Julius Ocwinyo, author of Fate of the Banished and Footprints of the Outsider
Summoning the Rains
3 rd FEMRITE Regional Residency for African Women Writers
Editors: Hilda Twongyeirwe Ellen Banda - Aaku

FEMRITE PUBLICATIONS LIMITED
FEMRITE PUBLICATIONS LIMITED P.O. Box 705, Kampala Tel: [phone] Email: info femriteug.org www.femriteug.org
Copyright FEMRITE - Uganda Women Writers Association 2012
First Published 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without written permission of the publisher or the contributors who hold copyright to their individual stories.
ISBN 9789970700257
Cover illustration by Bonnetvanture Asiimwe proxyconceptsconsult gmail.com
Text designed by Ronald Ssali ronalds410 gmail.com
Printed by: Good News Printing Press Ltd. P.O. Box 21228 Kampala, Uganda Tel: [phone] E-mail: info goodnewsprinting.co.ug
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
1. In the Shadow of God
Gothataone Moeng
2. The Absorber
Onyinye Ihezukwu
3. Walking the Familiar Path
Nakisanze Segawa
4. Flesh to Flesh
Tanya Sam Chan
5. In the Shadow of the Blue Bus
Isabella Morris
6. Inside the Rosebud
Jocelyn Bananuka Ekochu
7. Cold Feet on a Sunny Day
Susan Munywoki
8. Mother of the Beast
Sylvia Schlettwein
9. Nine Lives
Rosey Sembatya
10. Seeing Gray
Monique Eleanor Kwachu
11. Small Poles
Nana Nyarko Boateng
12. The Knife Pleat Skirt
Rhoda Zulu
13. A Son for Zondo
Mary Muzyece Sililo
14. Mother Bird s Eggs
Juliet Kushaba
15. Beauty
Mamle Kabu
16. My Big Toe
Aujo Lillian Akampurira
17. I have Sinned
Tendai Tshakisani Makavani
18. Let it be an Angel
Hilda Twongyeirwe
19. States of Matter
Wame Molefhe
20. Bonding Ceremony
Beatrice Lamwaka
Acknowledgements
The stories in this anthology are so varied in terms of theme, thought and intensity that boxing them under a title and cover that fits all, felt like pushing a long-horned cow into the boot of a small car! Not that I have ever pushed a cow into a boot but I can imagine the task. The variety will ensure that every reader finds something intriguing, something to ponder on and enjoy, or something to laugh about; thanks to the ingenuity of the authors.
This work is a result FEMRITE s 3rd Regional Women Writers Residency hosted in Uganda. Participants came from eleven countries. Nana Boateng; Ghana, Onyinye Ihezukwu; Nigeria, Monique Kwachu; Cameroon, Tendai Makavani; Zimbabwe, Suzan Munyoki; Kenya, Gothataone Moeng; Botswana, Rhoda Zulu; Malawi, Asma Nairi; Tunisia, Tanya Chan Sam; South Africa, Sylvia Schlettwein; Namibia and Beatrice Lamwaka, Jocelyn Ekochu, Rosey Sembatya, Nakisanze Segawa and Juliet Kushaba; Uganda. FEMRITE is grateful to these participants for dedicating their time to a programme aimed at strengthening the African writing sisterhood.
FEMRITE appreciates the development partners that have supported the organisation in enhancing women s literary abilities across the continent. The November 2011 residency was supported by Stitchting DEON Foundation, Art Moves Africa, and the Royal Danish Embassy in Uganda. We appreciate their invaluable moral and financial support. Indeed, many African readers cannot harness their passion for reading if they do not identify with existing literature. This anthology has provided African women the opportunity to contribute to African s literary heritage and to offer readers stories they can identify with.
As has been the custom, a few stories came from writers who were not at the residency. Thumbs up to Isabella Morris; South Africa, Lillian Aujo; Uganda, Mamle Kabu; Ghana and Wame Molefhe; Botswana, who submitted stories for this anthology. Mamle and Wame were at the second residency that was held in Jinja.
FEMRITE is very grateful to the residency facilitators, Ellen Banda - Aaku (winner of the Penguin Prize for Africa 2010) and Doreen Baingana (winner of the Commonwealth Foundation first Best Book Award 2006). They were awesome!
Eureka Place, the cosy hotel that hosted the event, is much appreciated too. It offered great hospitality and inspiration for the women to write.
It is hoped that reading communities and all FEMRITE supporters and fans will join hands to celebrate yet another anthology of African women writers!
Hilda Twongyeirwe February 2012
Foreword
One of the greatest challenges we face as African women writers is finding the time and the space to write. In November 2011 the third FEMRITE African Women Writers Residency alleviated this challenge for 15 women writers from 11 different countries across the continent.
The writers from Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Tunisia, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, and Botswana gathered in Kampala, Uganda for two weeks. (Unfortunately, our first ever participant from North Africa-Tunisia-had to leave because of a personal emergency.) Together we wrote, and we shared our work, our ideas and our experiences. We discussed our writing projects and challenged one another in an effort to develop our writing skills and our stories. We are continuing this discussion on facebook and have formed a community of support.
This anthology is the product of the writing developed before and during the residency. These short stories are told from different perspectives, with varied voices, some experienced, others less so, but all told with freshness and honesty. They may not be real, but they are true, as has been said of good fiction.
Traditionally, many African women were groomed to be submissive; to lower their eyes, their heads, their voices. Our many mothers before us were expected to maintain harmony, to camouflage and contain matters that were potentially disruptive to the family or the community. In fulfilling this role as peacemakers, women often kept quiet. Hence, when African women first started to speak and write about issues they had incubated for years, they were labelled anti-tradition, rebellious. But still, they broke their silence.
Those days are behind us. As African women writers today, we are not speaking out as victims, we are discovering and embracing who we are, and by exploring difficult themes we are questioning ourselves. We are sharing our stories proudly.
The evaluation and varied expression of who we are as African women of all colours, religions, classes, ages, influences and interests is evident in the stories in this anthology. The themes are universal, the characters come alive, and the writing is evocative. Most of us know a woman who believes that she is better off in an abusive relationship than in no relationship at all, as does Ezine who in The Absorber , justifies her relationship with her abusive husband. And how often is incest committed against a child whilst adults - often women - look the other way, as they do in, Walking the Familiar Path. In another story, a mother is distraught when she discovers her daughter is a sex worker. And then there is the bride who has second thoughts as she walks down the aisle on her father s arm. These are but a taste of the themes explored in this collection. Summoning the Rains is a valuable contribution to the growing library of contemporary literature by African women.
Finally, as workshop facilitators, we acknowledge the graciousness and willingness of the participants to contribute and be fully involved in the residency activities. We too learnt a lot about writing and the writing life, made new friends and returned to our own writing with renewed vigour.
And so here we present our voices and cheer, as our Nigerian sister taught us:
Bosa! Bosa! Bosa!
Ellen Banda - Aaku Doreen Baingana February 2012
3rd FEMRITE Regional Residency for African Women Writers
In the Shadow of God
Gothataone Moeng

W hen I was little, I thought it was my mother who summoned the rains. I thought it was she who commanded the night to softly swoop down, and that it was she who ignited the moon which lit our yard and the world beyond it. I remember that every day at dusk, when the sun bid farewell to the day, Mme would come to stand at the fence and shout out to my brother and me as we enjoyed our last moments of batho-safe.
A ko le tle lapeng! Come home. The darkness is coming. And the darkness would come.
I thought it was Mme who summoned the rains. She would sniff the air and squint up at the darkening clouds with her half-blind eyes and say matter-of-factly, The rain is here. Hordes of peo