In this chapter, you will meet the writers of Kampala in Uganda: a city near the huge lake Victoria, in a country with a variety of landscapes, from lakelands to mountains to forests. Uganda is ethnically and linguistically diverse, with a mix of language groups, from Nilotic to Bantu. The continuity of the Buganda kingdom and other sub-national kingdoms survived colonialism.
In these interviews you will meet:
- A farmer who writes novels, and farms using new business models.
- The head of the local taxi drivers association who, in a rural village in West Uganda, has managed to create a library of 700 volumes.
- The young film makers who are using their special effects skills to tell stories based on local traditions.
You can read through the whole chapter by following the "next" links at the end of each interview, or jump to a specific interview by using the links below. Start with the
introduction. You can always return to this chapter index by clicking on the "100 African Writers of SF—Part Seven" link at the top of each interview, and return to the overall project index by clicking on the 100 African category, or clicking
here.
“So maybe fan fiction is the traditional belief fiction of the fan community.”
“I do remember the bonfires a lot. A lot of folklore was told by the bonfire. That’s what made the bonfire so interesting. Every evening the kids would gather round and the elders, the adults come around and tell you stories ...”
“My elder brothers used to tell me there is a rock where you can still see the blood flowing. And they say that is the rock which fell out of the sky. Every time I go to the north, I try to look for that rock ...”
“I am a farmer. I have a passion for farming. Two of the things in that story, the main themes: farming, and these perceptions of beauty.”
“I would write novels as a series, like it is on TV, in episodes. I would give them to my school friends to read and they would go ‘Oh my god, continue,’ and I would write the next bit.”
“I really like psychoanalysing people, and getting into their heads. I like to add the supernatural part of it as the icing on the cake.”
“I need to tell you every female Ugandan writer has been affiliated to FEMRITE at some point.”
“I was so proud that Billy Kahora had selected my work and edited it. You see, this was the first time I was published in prose. I had published before in poetry, but for someone big like Billy Kahora to find my work worthwhile, it was something.”
“We are animators here or writers. We may not say we are the best but we can say that we can do something good.”
We are looking at something with very deep roots in oral tradition.
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