Wakiso midwife shortlisted in Macmillan writers’ finals

Dec 17, 2005

GLAYDAH Namukasa, a midwife at Namayumba Health Clinic IV in Wakiso District, has been nominated for the 2005 Macmillan Writers’ Prize for Africa.

By Geresom Musamali

GLAYDAH Namukasa, a midwife at Namayumba Health Clinic IV in Wakiso District, has been nominated for the 2005 Macmillan Writers’ Prize for Africa.

The manuscript of 25-year-old Namukasa’s novel entitled Voice of a Dream, will compete with five others for the ultimate award of $5,000. The others are South Africa’s Christian Coetzee (Taki’s Ship of Desert), Nigeria’s Ngozi Ifeyinwa Razak-Soyebi (The House that Kojo Built), Ghana’s Elizabeth Irene Baitie (A Saint with Brown Sandals), Kenya’s Nanjala Nyabola (Pieces of My Country) and Marialena van Tonder from Namibia (The Kidnapping of Dr Kai).

Namukasa is also competing with Nanjala and Tonder for the senior category prize of $3,000. The award is for a children’s book in the age range of 13 to 17.

Coettzee, Razak-Soyebi and Baitie are also competiting for the other prize for children’s book in the category of 7 to 12 years. Another Ugandan woman, Suzan Mugizi Kajura, won both the 2001 junior category award and the ultimate prize. Mugizi’s book, entitled Daudi’s Dream, was later published.

The chief judge, Meshack Asare, said in a press release recently that about 600 writers from 19 African countries sent entries to this year’s competition.
“I can’t believe I have come this far, that I have beaten so many people,” said Namukasa. “I pride myself in helping mothers deliver and doing literary pieces,” she added.

Namukasa, currently a fellow of the British Council Crossing Borders Programme, started her writing career by telling stories to fellow students at Katabi Primary and Entebbe SS.

“I used to ask myself why I should not write the stories instead. I would use exercise books to record my narratives and later request friends to read through the work,” she said in an interview.
“I have one enthusiastic friend, Andrew Byogi, who read them over and over again, then recommended me to Femrite where I became an activist,” she said.

Femrite is an organisation of Ugandan female writers headed by Mbarara Woman MP Mary Karooro Okurut, but it also has many active male members. They hold peer reviews and readings on Monday evenings at their Kamwokya offices.

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