World of Our Own and other stories

Description

This short story collection is the outcome of the writing residency for African women writers held in Jinja, Uganda, in January 2011. Writers from across English-speaking Africa contribute stories as diverse as the continent itself, stories that explore universal concerns in acutely individual ways. Among others, an upper-class Ghanaian confronts the irony of race from a prison cell; a Zambian mourns her sister and tackles the restrictions of tradition in a surprisingly humorous way; in Tanzania, two strangers go to extremes to seek elusive health; a Ugandan housewife reflects on personal and world politics as she watches a dog fight; another Ghanaian remembers a love affair that led her into an ancestor's embrace; two Nigerians shopping in London get more than they bargained for; and in a 2011 Caine Prize nominated story by Ugandan writer Beatrice Lamwaka, children cry tears of pain and happiness during an armed conflict.

Sujets

• Collection
• Collections

Informations

• Publié par: Femrite Publications
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789970480036
• Langue: English

Extrait

WORLD OF OUR OWN
and Other Stories
Stories from the second FEMRITE
Regional Residency for African Women Writers
Edited by Hilda Twongyeirwe

FEMRITE PUBLICATIONS LIMITED
FEMRITE PUBLICATIONS LIMITED
P.O. Box 705, Kampala
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
www.femriteug.org
Copyright FEMRITE - Uganda Women Writers Association 2011
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 individual contributors who hold copyright to their stories.
ISBN 978-9970-700-24-0
Cover illustration by Bonnetvanture T. Asiimwe
E-mail: [e-mail]
Printed by:
Good News Printing Press Ltd.
P.O. Box 21228 Kampala, Uganda
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Contents
Introduction
Foreword
Butterfly Dreams
Beatrice Lamwaka
Colour Separation
Mamle Kabu
Endless Distance
Lillian Tindyebwa
Burial Rites for Tisa
Mary Mzyece Sililo
Leaving Oxford Street
Molara Wood
A World of Our Own
Elizabeth Namakula Lenana
Chasing Butterflies
Colleen Higgs
Torpedo
Constance Obonyo
The Fulani
Yaba Badoe
Master Class
Kerstin Norborg (Translated from Swedish by B.J Epstein)
Agony in the Silence
Elieshi Lema
Journey to Loliondo
Ayeta Anne Wangusa
As If
Hilda Twongyeirwe
The Rhythm of the Drum
Philo Ikonya
Introduction
F EMRITE presents herein African women s voices, resulting from the second African Regional Women Writers Residency held in January, 2011 in Jinja, one of Uganda s most popular tourist-attraction towns. The residency was attended by writers from six countries; Mamle Kabu: Ghana, Ketina Muringaniza: Zimbabwe, Wame Molefhe: Botswana, Maliya Mzyece Sililo: Zambia, Elieshi Lema: Tanzania, and from Uganda: Beatrice Lamwaka, Lillian Tindyebwa, Constance Obonyo, Elizabeth Namakula Lenana and Linda Lillian. In addition to the residency stories, the anthology includes submissions from other African women writers.
In order for one to qualify for the residency, one had to be working on a novel manuscript. The aim was to encourage and support women novelists. While it is easier to get the space and time to write a short story or a poem, it is much harder to complete a novel. As a result, only a few women in Africa are writing and publishing novels. One of the main aims of the annual regional residency is to get women writers on the continent to come together, compare experiences, share solutions and encourage one another to sustain longer writing projects.
This year, the programme consisted of skills enhancement through writing exercises, the discussion of novel manuscripts, literary presentations and, of course, private writing time. All this culminated in a public reading held at the Uganda Museum in the capital city, Kampala, where the writers in residency read extracts of what they had worked on. For some, it was the first time they read to such a large audience. There were also inspirational field excursions: a boat ride on Lake Victoria and a visit to Sipi Falls, one of Uganda s most spectacular waterfalls. During the ten days, participants shared personal stories, their fears and aspirations as writers, and their experiences as mothers, daughters, wives and professional women. People have several layers of lives and it takes certain comfortable and safe spaces to unpeel these layers so that the stories underneath can be shared. Such is the space FEMRITE envisaged in designing the Regional Women Writers Residency project. Indeed, one of the participants, Elieshi Lema from Tanzania, was moved to comment: This is the first time I sit in a family of my writing sisters! It is hoped that the annual residency will continue to strengthen sisterly ties among African women writers.
FEMRITE is very grateful to The Swedish Institute, The Commonwealth Foundation, UK, and Karavan (a Swedish journal of international literature), the three institutions that funded and supported the event. This is the second time that The Commonwealth Foundation has funded the Residency and accompanying publication and we appreciate this constancy. Karavan was enthusiastic about the regional residency and so not only did it support the programme, but joined FEMRITE as a co-host. Thus Birgitta Wallin, Eric Falk, and Kerstin Norborg, as well as Professor Gakwandi from Makerere University Literature Department, facilitated the program in Jinja. Swedish author Kjell Eriksson was also very instrumental, especially in the planning process as he was part of the team that visited FEMRITE prior to the residency.
Although participants Ketina Muringaniza, Wame Molefhe and Linda Lillian are not represented in this anthology, FEMRITE recognises their valuable contribution at the residency. We hope everyone who reads World of Our Own and Other Stories will enjoy it as much as we did putting it together. The themes evoked in these stories are quite diverse; each story presents a world of its own, inviting readers to explore and excavate the secrets therein. FEMRITE is very grateful to all the contributors for their generosity of spirit.
Editor
Foreword
R eading and writing are inseparable. Writers always read, for pleasure like the rest of us, and to learn from others, compare themselves with them. They also read their own texts, again and again. Some readers claim that they do not write but that is true only in the strict and boring literal sense. They bring their own experiences and imagination to the story and so make up a great part of it.
Plato, the philosopher, feared the co-operation between writers and readers in the shaping of a story because he saw in it a dangerous unmooring of meaning. Without the guiding voice of the author to secure and explain their intentions, words were made to enter the world on their own and were easy prey to readers whims. Written words, he said, were orphans.
What Plato really feared was the loss of control over meaning. He was afraid to let go and he spoke, of course, as a certain kind of anxious writer. There are many who do not share Plato s anxiety. The gaps in stories, the complexities of scene, the ambiguities in turns of phrase, and the things that happen when narratives travel are what keep readers interested, and what allow them to talk unendingly about literature. Those are the features that give readers right who lay claim to stories. Many of us say, This story is mine, I relate to it, I know that character, I have been in that world. That world then bears our mark as well as the author s. Words in stories are not orphans; they belong to as many families as there are readers. For many writers in World of Our Own, unlike Plato, there is a certain joy to the unpredictable lives that their stories will lead in the minds of their readers.
Most of the authors presented in this anthology participated in the workshop FEMRITE and Karavan hosted in Jinja earlier this year, and a majority of the stories were either begun, or workshopped during the residency in Jinja. Our memories of those productive ten days - from the first breakfast to the last night s party - are vivid. For us Swedes, tormented at that time of year by cold, the climate - at times it was only slightly warmer than an ordinary Swedish summer s day - was like a long exhalation. For all of us, the lush, calm setting offered the necessary escape from everyday commitments.
The discussions of work in progress, which were a central part of the workshop, remain particularly bright in memory. Having a first audience at hand is a luxury not afforded by every writer, but here it was. Under the shade of parasols and thatched roofs, writers turned readers, and readers became writers, while the conversation meandered. Relaxed and informal, it was always focused, and the insights, the imagination and the rigour brought to these exchanges made them truly enjoyable. During these sessions, words were given temporary homes and the author was a guest invited to visit.
This anthology is testament to the work done during those days in January and February. It is a collection of great variety and multiplicity that now awaits its many-fold completion. That is the task of the readers. All the words in here are ready to venture out into the world on their own, and enter other lives - those of the readers.
Erik Falk and Birgitta Wallin, Stockholm August 2011
FEMRITE
Regional Residency
for African Women Writers
Butter fly Dreams by Beatrice Lamwaka was first Published in Butterfly Dreams and other short stories from Uganda Ed. Emma Dawson (CCC Press, 2011), and is reproduced by permission. Was short listed for the Caine Prize for African Writing 2011
Butterfl y Dreams
Beatrice Lamwaka
L abalpiny read out your name on Mega FM. This was an answer to our daily prayer. We have listened to the programme every day for five years. You and ten other children had been rescued by the soldiers from the rebels in Sudan. For a minute we thought we heard it wrong. We waited as Labalpiny re-read the names. He mentioned Ma s name. Our village, Alokolum. There could not be any other Lamunu but you.
During the last five years, we had become part of the string of parents who listened to Mega FM. Listening and waiting for the names of their loved ones. We sat close to the radio every day. Our hearts thumped every time we heard Lamunu or Alokolum.
Without saying words for one hour a