This blog first appeared on the Commonwealth Writers site. Commonwealth Writers is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. It inspires, develops and connects writers and storytellers in a range of disciplines. Reflecting on the recent 2015 Uganda International Writers’ Conference, Dilman Dila considers whether large Ugandan publishers need to do more to embrace digital books. […]
Monthly Archives: March 2015
Written by Juliane Okot Bitek When Professor Zakes Mda gave his keynote speech at the conference, he beautifully lined out and linked the theme of his speech: “Autobiography, Memoir and Memoires” to the conference theme of “Truth and Memoir”. Writing from memory, he told us, requires emotional truth whereas autobiography […]
Commonwealth Writers are inviting writers from Commonwealth African countries to submit proposals for a piece of creative non-fiction. We’re seeking stories from the continent of Africa, by African writers – in the form of creative non-fiction, including memoir, life-writing, literary reportage and essays. Specific, rigorous and reflective, these stories will […]
The inaugural FT/OppenheimerFunds Emerging Voices Awards aims to recognise extraordinary artistic talent in three categories – fiction literature, film-making and art across more than 100 emerging market nations. There is a remarkable structural shift in the world, propelled by economic progress in the developing markets and the advanced reach of […]
This blog was first published on Commonwealth Writers site. By Louise Umutoni, a Rwandan writer and journalist who has worked as a journalist in Rwanda and Canada, and is the founder of Andika Ma, a literary community of Rwandan female writers. Writing from the Uganda International Writers’ Conference, she charts an […]
This blog was first published on Commonwealth Writers site. By Mildred Barya Criticism of an African writer writing from a distance (those born or living in the Diaspora who write about Africa) inevitably focuses on the writers’ identity and the space they occupy, rather than how they’ve crafted their work. […]
Focus on The Etisalat Prize for Literature, Commonwealth Short Story Prize and The Africa39 Project The emergence of literary prizes and writing contests for African writers in the past decade has boosted the creative energies of writers and propelled the winners to international stardom. The winning books are guaranteed high […]
4th March, 2015 Morning session Panelists: Dilman Dila of Lawino Literary Magazine, Uganda and Melissa Kyeyune of KHAMEL Publishing, Uganda. Second morning to afternoon session: Life Writing: Recollecting the Self and Narrating Multiple Voices Panelists: Noo Saro-Wiwa on writing Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria, Granta, 2012, and […]
Topic: Memoir as Remembered Narrative Zakes Mda’s autobiography: Sometimes There Is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider, was the New York Times Notable Book for 2012. It was first published by Penguin books in 2011, and Farrar Straus and Giroux in 2012. Zakes has published 21 books and has been […]