Goretti Kyomuhendo
Encyclopedia
Goretti Kyomuhendo, born Maria Goretti Kyomuhendo on August 1, 1965, is a novelist from Hoima
, Western Uganda
. A participant at the inaugural International Literature Festival Berlin
in 2001, Kyomuhendo has been recognized for her “internationally renowned novels.” She has also earned notice in the African literary circles for her service from 1997–2007 as the Programs Coordinator for FEMRITE
—Uganda Women Writers Association, and her founding of African Writers Trust
in 2009.
, Durban
, South Africa
, and Masters of Arts in Creative Writing (2005), University of KwaZulu-Natal
, Durban, South Africa.
In 2003, Kyomuhendo was awarded a Graduate Scholarship for academic excellence by the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
Kyomuhendo was the first Ugandan woman writer to be awarded Honorary Fellow in Writing at the University of Iowa
, 1997, after participating in the International Writing Program of Iowa.
Kyomuhendo’s third novel, Waiting: A Novel of Uganda's Hidden War, has garnered the most international recognition to date. Publishers Weekly
described Waiting as “a sensitive, slowly unravelling observation of daily life in a remote Ugandan village as Amin’s marauding soldiers approach on their retreat north.” A reviewer for Book Loons praised Waiting as “a complex and disturbing story told with almost a touch of sweetness to it, through the eyes of a young girl forced to grow up before her time.” Kirkus Reviews
, The New Statesman
, Pambazuka News
, and the Mail & Guardian Online (South Africa) among others also provided favorable notice.
In additional to the published reviews of Waiting, the Poetry Café in Covent Garden
, London
featured Kyomuhendo reading a selection from Waiting for African Writer’s Evening in March 2009.
Kyomuhendo’s first graphic novel
Sara and the Boy Soldier (2001), written for UNICEF-ESARO about child soldiers in Africa, received a middling review by GoodReads. Kyomuhendo has written a number of children’s books and stories, but these have not been widely reviewed as of yet.
from 1997 to 2007, Kyomuhendo has been cited by some younger FEMRITE members as being instrumental in their development and success. Ayeta Anne Wangusa
, in an interview with Peter Nazareth
of Iowa University, affectionately remembers Kyomuhendo as “a tough lady” who would not take no for an answer until she got Wangusa’s first novel Memoirs of a Mother (1998) published. Mildred Barya
, who joined FEMRITE in 1997 and later won the Ugandan National Book Trust Award in 2002 for her poetry collection Men Love Chocolates But They Don't Say (2002), has claimed: ”from her (Kyomuhendo), I did not only acquire knowledge in publishing dynamics, but my writing improved, my poetry soared to the skies, I was set free, so I flew. “
While serving as Program Coordinator, Kyomuhendo was joined by another and already established Ugandan author, Violet Barungi
, who served as the FEMRITE editor from 1997–2007.
During the Kyomuhendo/Barungi period of service from 1997–2007, FEMRITE members Doreen Baingana
and Monica Arac de Nyeko
would be nominated for the Caine Prize
, with Monica Arac de Nyeko eventually winning the award in 2007. Additionally, other FEMRITE members during this time were shortlisted for or won various other prestigious literary awards.
Regarding FEMRITE in general during the period when Kyomuhendo was Program Coordinator, Monica Arac de Nyeko in her 2007 interview with the BBC declared: "FEMRITE has definitely had a positive impact on the Ugandan literary scene, particularly in forging a space for women’s voices to be heard. Perhaps as recently as the mid nineties there was a clear absence of women’s writing. FEMRITE came in, stormed the writing scene and is now a remarkable addition to our literary landscape."
Based upon both Kyomuhendo's FEMRITE service and published works as of 2009, the USA-based UTNE Reader
nominated Kyomuhendo as one of "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World" while describing FEMRITE as a "dynamic association for indigenous female writers."
in an effort to “coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to foster knowledge and learning between the two groups.”
Kyomuhendo has since served as the Director, joined by the following African writers as Advisory Board members: Zakes Mda
, Susan Nalugwa Kiguli
, Aminatta Forna
, Mildred Barya
, Helon Habila
, and Ayeta Anne Wangusa
. Although the Advisory Board includes members from various nations and regions in African, African Writers Trust as of 2011 is primarily operational in Uganda and headquartered in London.
The activities of African Writers Trust
under Kyomuhendo have included writing workshops and conferences, with these receiving favorable attention from African journalists – albeit so far primarily from East African journalists.
Hoima
Hoima is a town in Western Uganda. It is main municipal, administrative and commercial center of Hoima District in Uganda. It is also the location of the palace of the Omukama of Bunyoro.-Location:...
, Western Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. A participant at the inaugural International Literature Festival Berlin
International literature festival berlin
right|alt=alt text|logo ILB|thumb|ILB logoThe International Literature Festival Berlin also known as ILB,is an annual event based in Berlin. The festival takes place in early autumn and its purpose is to present contemporary developments in prose and poetry from all around the world...
in 2001, Kyomuhendo has been recognized for her “internationally renowned novels.” She has also earned notice in the African literary circles for her service from 1997–2007 as the Programs Coordinator for FEMRITE
Femrite
FEMRITE - Uganda Women Writers' Association is an NGO based in Kampala, Uganda, whose programs focus on developing and publishing women writers in Uganda and—more recently—in the East African region...
—Uganda Women Writers Association, and her founding of African Writers Trust
African Writers Trust
African Writers Trust was established in 2009 as "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to foster knowledge and learning between the two groups."The current...
in 2009.
Education
Kyomuhendo obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) English Studies (2003), University of NatalUniversity of Natal
The University of Natal was a university in Natal, and later KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, that is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It was founded in 1910 as the Natal University College in Pietermaritzburg, and expanded to include a campus in Durban in 1931. In 1947, the university...
, Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and Masters of Arts in Creative Writing (2005), University of KwaZulu-Natal
University of KwaZulu-Natal
The University of KwaZulu-Natal or UKZN is a university with five campuses all located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville.-History:-University of...
, Durban, South Africa.
In 2003, Kyomuhendo was awarded a Graduate Scholarship for academic excellence by the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
Kyomuhendo was the first Ugandan woman writer to be awarded Honorary Fellow in Writing at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
, 1997, after participating in the International Writing Program of Iowa.
Critical Reception
Kyomuhendo’s first novel The First Daughter (1996) was well-received in Uganda, earning some regional (East African) attention as well. Her second novel Secrets No More (1999) won the National Book Trust of Uganda Award for 1999.Kyomuhendo’s third novel, Waiting: A Novel of Uganda's Hidden War, has garnered the most international recognition to date. Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
described Waiting as “a sensitive, slowly unravelling observation of daily life in a remote Ugandan village as Amin’s marauding soldiers approach on their retreat north.” A reviewer for Book Loons praised Waiting as “a complex and disturbing story told with almost a touch of sweetness to it, through the eyes of a young girl forced to grow up before her time.” Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
, The New Statesman
The New Statesman
The New Statesman is an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time...
, Pambazuka News
Pambazuka News
Pambazuka News , published by Fahamu since 2000, is a pan-African electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa providing: contemporary commentary and in-depth analysis on politics and current affairs development, human rights, refugees, gender issues and culture in Africa...
, and the Mail & Guardian Online (South Africa) among others also provided favorable notice.
In additional to the published reviews of Waiting, the Poetry Café in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
featured Kyomuhendo reading a selection from Waiting for African Writer’s Evening in March 2009.
Kyomuhendo’s first graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Sara and the Boy Soldier (2001), written for UNICEF-ESARO about child soldiers in Africa, received a middling review by GoodReads. Kyomuhendo has written a number of children’s books and stories, but these have not been widely reviewed as of yet.
Service with FEMRITE - Uganda Women Writers Association
As Program Coordinator for FEMRITEFemrite
FEMRITE - Uganda Women Writers' Association is an NGO based in Kampala, Uganda, whose programs focus on developing and publishing women writers in Uganda and—more recently—in the East African region...
from 1997 to 2007, Kyomuhendo has been cited by some younger FEMRITE members as being instrumental in their development and success. Ayeta Anne Wangusa
Ayeta Anne Wangusa
Ayeta Anne Wangusa, born in Kampala, Uganda, on 9 September 1971, is a writer and activist.A founding member of FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers Association, Wangusa first achieved broader recognition in literary circles for her novel...
, in an interview with Peter Nazareth
Peter Nazareth
Peter Nazareth is a major critic and writer of fiction and drama. He was born in Uganda of Goan and Malaysian ancestry, and was educated at Makerere University and at the universities of London and Leeds in England....
of Iowa University, affectionately remembers Kyomuhendo as “a tough lady” who would not take no for an answer until she got Wangusa’s first novel Memoirs of a Mother (1998) published. Mildred Barya
Mildred Barya
Mildred Kiconco Barya , born Owemigisha Patricia on 1 August 1976, is a writer and poet from Uganda. She was awarded the 2008 Pan African Literary Forum Prize for Africana Fiction, but had earlier gained recognition for her poetry, particularly her first two collections, , and .Barya has also...
, who joined FEMRITE in 1997 and later won the Ugandan National Book Trust Award in 2002 for her poetry collection Men Love Chocolates But They Don't Say (2002), has claimed: ”from her (Kyomuhendo), I did not only acquire knowledge in publishing dynamics, but my writing improved, my poetry soared to the skies, I was set free, so I flew. “
While serving as Program Coordinator, Kyomuhendo was joined by another and already established Ugandan author, Violet Barungi
Violet Barungi
Violet Barungi is a novelist and writer from Uganda, well-known in East African literary circles both for her own writing and her prolific career as the Editor for FEMRITE - Uganda Women Writers’ Association.-Career as a solo author :...
, who served as the FEMRITE editor from 1997–2007.
During the Kyomuhendo/Barungi period of service from 1997–2007, FEMRITE members Doreen Baingana
Doreen Baingana
Doreen Baingana is a Ugandan short story writer. Her book, Tropical Fish won the 2006 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, best first book, Africa, and an AWP Short Fiction Award....
and Monica Arac de Nyeko
Monica Arac de Nyeko
Monica Arac de Nyeko is a Ugandan writer of short fiction, poetry, and essays. She was educated at Makerere University and the University of Groningen...
would be nominated for the Caine Prize
Caine Prize
The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 2000, and was named in memory of the late Sir Michael...
, with Monica Arac de Nyeko eventually winning the award in 2007. Additionally, other FEMRITE members during this time were shortlisted for or won various other prestigious literary awards.
Regarding FEMRITE in general during the period when Kyomuhendo was Program Coordinator, Monica Arac de Nyeko in her 2007 interview with the BBC declared: "FEMRITE has definitely had a positive impact on the Ugandan literary scene, particularly in forging a space for women’s voices to be heard. Perhaps as recently as the mid nineties there was a clear absence of women’s writing. FEMRITE came in, stormed the writing scene and is now a remarkable addition to our literary landscape."
Based upon both Kyomuhendo's FEMRITE service and published works as of 2009, the USA-based UTNE Reader
Utne Reader
Utne Reader is an American bimonthly magazine. The magazine collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment from generally alternative media sources, including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music and DVDs...
nominated Kyomuhendo as one of "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World" while describing FEMRITE as a "dynamic association for indigenous female writers."
Founding and Directorship of African Writers Trust
In 2009 Kyomuhendo founded African Writers TrustAfrican Writers Trust
African Writers Trust was established in 2009 as "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to foster knowledge and learning between the two groups."The current...
in an effort to “coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to foster knowledge and learning between the two groups.”
Kyomuhendo has since served as the Director, joined by the following African writers as Advisory Board members: Zakes Mda
Zakes Mda
Zakes Mda , legally Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda , is a South African novelist, poet and playwright. He has won major South African and British literary awards for his novels and plays.-Early life and education:...
, Susan Nalugwa Kiguli
Susan Nalugwa Kiguli
Susan Nalugwa Kiguli, born on June 24, 1969 in Luweero District, Uganda, is an internationally recognized Ugandan poet and literary scholar. Currently a senior lecturer at Makerere University, Kiguli has been an advocate for creative writing in Africa, including service as a founding member of...
, Aminatta Forna
Aminatta Forna
Aminatta Forna is a British writer of Sierra Leonean and Scottish heritage. She is the author of a memoir, The Devil that Danced on the Water and two novels, Ancestor Stones and The Memory of Love...
, Mildred Barya
Mildred Barya
Mildred Kiconco Barya , born Owemigisha Patricia on 1 August 1976, is a writer and poet from Uganda. She was awarded the 2008 Pan African Literary Forum Prize for Africana Fiction, but had earlier gained recognition for her poetry, particularly her first two collections, , and .Barya has also...
, Helon Habila
Helon Habila
Helon Habila is a Nigerian novelist and poet. He won the Caine Prize for African fiction in 2001, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 2003....
, and Ayeta Anne Wangusa
Ayeta Anne Wangusa
Ayeta Anne Wangusa, born in Kampala, Uganda, on 9 September 1971, is a writer and activist.A founding member of FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers Association, Wangusa first achieved broader recognition in literary circles for her novel...
. Although the Advisory Board includes members from various nations and regions in African, African Writers Trust as of 2011 is primarily operational in Uganda and headquartered in London.
The activities of African Writers Trust
African Writers Trust
African Writers Trust was established in 2009 as "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to foster knowledge and learning between the two groups."The current...
under Kyomuhendo have included writing workshops and conferences, with these receiving favorable attention from African journalists – albeit so far primarily from East African journalists.
Published Fiction
- The First Daughter. Fountain Pub Ltd. Kampala, 1996. (ISBN 978-9970021192)
- Secrets No More. FEMRITE Publications Ltd, Kampala, 1999. (ISBN 978-9970901050)
- Sara and the Boy Soldier. (Graphic novel). Maskew Miller Longman, S.Africa. 2001. (ISBN 978-0636048157)
- Waiting: A Novel of Uganda's Hidden War. The Feminist Press. New York, 2007. (ISBN 978-1558615397)
- Justus Saves His Uncle. (Children’s book). Macmillan Publishers, UK. 2008. (ISBN 978-0-230-53319-6)
- A Chance to Survive. (Children’s book). Macmillan Publishers, UK. 2008. (ISBN 978-0-230-53312-7)