FEMRITE – Uganda Women Writers Association in partnership with PAWA – The Pan-African Writers Association and Kyambogo University and with support of development partners; The Ford Foundation, Aga Khan Foundation, The Swedish Embassy and Fountain Publishers, will host the International Conference in celebration of African Literature and in honour of the Life & Works of the 2021 Nobel Prize Laureate: Abdurazak Gurnah. The Nobel Prize, which started in 1901, has so far been awarded to 954 individuals of whom only 1.7% are blacks. It is therefore in order that we take this opportunity to celebrate Prof. Gurnah, the first writer from East Africa, to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Prof Gurnah was born in 1948 in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and later relocated to the United Kingdom in the 1960s during the Zanzibar revolution. The citation for his Award, stated that it was “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fates of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.” His story of dislocation at a young age is a story of many African young people, his story of then is a story of today. Gurnah is a novelist and an academic, Emeritus Professor of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent. Some of his notable works include Paradise (1994), shortlisted for the Booker Prize and Whitbread Prize, Desertion (2005) and By the Sea (2001) longlisted for the Booker and shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He is author of many short stories, essays and 10 novels.
The Conference
The conference which will run under the theme: Celebrating the Life and Works of Abdulrazak Gurnah for the future of African Literature, will be held at Kyambogo University in Kampala, from the 22nd to 24th Nov 2023. It will host writers, scholars and other literary dignitaries, from within and outside Africa. Professor Tina Steiner of Stellenbosch University and Dr. Godwin S. Siundu of Nairobi University, will deliver the Keynote speeches. The event will feature Paper Presentations, Panel discussions, Audio-visual screenings and book Exhibitions.
There will be Book launches too, of: Kamalilo ka Lawino, a translation of Song of Lawino into Lumasaba, by Lucy Sophie Lunyolo; Nalule’s Travels and Adventures, by Helen Liebling; Mourning Glory by Egara Kabaji and When we heard Echoes by Taban El Tablaz Nassur.
A Brief about the organisers
FEMRITE- Uganda Women Writers Association is a Non-Governmental and non-profit Organisation of Ugandan women, established 1995 to train, publish and promote writers especially women. Since inception, the organisation, has contributed immensely to Uganda and Africa’s literary heritage through several strategic programes. During the time of FEMRITE’s establishment, there were hardly any published women writers in the country. The association was established to create level ground for women to write and get published. The organisation envisions a community of published women writers meaningfully contributing to national and international development and cultural memory through creative writing. FEMRITE core values include: Commitment to writing, Sisterhood, Voluntarism, Love of Books, Integrity, Professionalism.
PAWA – The Pan African Writers Association is a leading Pan African writers’ cultural institution with headquarters in Ghana. It was fully accorded Diplomatic Status by the Government of Ghana in 1992, and is currently made up of 52 National Writers Associations on the continent. FEMRITE is the official Uganda representative Association. PAWA operates under several objectives, seeking to contribute its quota to moral, cultural and intellectual renaissance in Africa, while seeking to restore to people of Africa, confidence in themselves and reinforcing the vision for a Common African Home. Since its formation, PAWA has participated in and organized many worthwhile literary and cultural initiatives toward the promotion of African literature and African writers.
Kyambogo University is one of the eight public universities and degree-awarding institutions in the country. The university is located on a vast area, which gives it an excellent ambiance for study, research and teaching. It is located along Kyambogo Road, Kiwatule – Banda – Kyambogo Rd, with three access gates. The University was established with the main aim of promoting & advancing knowledge and development of skills in Science, Technology and Education and such other fields, having regard for quality, equity, progress and transformation of society.
For further details please contact;
Ms. Hilda J. Twongyeirwe (Executive Director, FEMRITE – twongye@gmail.com) Tel: 0772 743943
Dr. Wale Okediran (PAWA Secretary General – pawahouse@gmail.com) Tel: +233 235 973 594
