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reviews of winning titles
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18th January 2002 - Kalungi Kabuye, The New
Vision, Uganda: Kajura wins writer’s award
For years she wrote a column called The Secret Diary of Christina in The New
Vision, about the trials of a young, single woman living in Kampala. Then she started one
of the most popular children's stories, The Adventures of Tema, which ran in
Sunday Vision for several years.
Now Susan Kajura has seen all that writing come to fruit. This week she was announced as
the winner of the $3,000 'Most Promising New Children's Writer Award' category in the
Macmillan Children's Literature Awards, 2002.
Kajura's story, Daudi's Dream, was praised for its contents of 'fun and hope'.
Susan Kajura has been interested in children's writing from a young age. She was
encouraged to engage in extra curricular activities such as music, dance and drama. She
kept it through adulthood. "You know, I find life hilarious," she said.
"There are so many funny things that happen. I wanted to capture the humour of life
and, for me writing was the way to do it. I started out writing for myself. To amuse
myself."
In her story, the first time she writes a full-length story, Daudi is a poor young boy who
does not want to see his mother suffer in poverty. So he sets out to find the money
necessary to buy her a sewing machine.
It has all the music, laughter, love, luck, and community spirit typical of Africa, and
outshines the hard destiny of so many Africans.
"It's the magic in life that is important," she said. "The feeling that
against all odds, against what your eyes tell you is a hopeless situation, something good
can come out of it. Fun and hope. Those are the elements which enthralled me as a
child," she said.back to top |
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October 25, 2002 – Bob Kisiki, The New Vision, Uganda:
Unanswered cries helps us to find our bearings
When I read the first page of Unanswered Cries, I pitied all the other people who
had submitted entries in this category, alongside Conteh’s.
Unanswered Cries is a simple story. Not so the way it is told… Conteh’s
writing is unfair. It leaves you with no choice but to race on to page 88, beyond which
there is no other page. There might be cases of contrived action and other incidents, but
the style makes up for this. The sentences are measured to do one thing: move on to the
next thing, and the next. They all carry action, and you can hardly pick out one that just
sits there on the page, keeping the rest company.
Conteh’s language is beautiful. His proverbs, the images and the humour. You hear his
native dialect in the English, and the resultant effect is desirable.
Unanswered Cries is an indictment on a number of things we could have taken for
granted. And with the return of monarchies in Uganda, there are a number of practices that
become controversial when looked at in the context of modern society.
Can the two worlds (ancient and modern) co-exist peacefully and meaningfully? To borrow
the image of the virgin’s son, can old wine do well in new wineskins? And just who is
the right judge in this case: someone we can call a relic from the past or one who looks
like a lost alien to her/his people? We need to find our bearing.
The other people on trial are parents. Yes, parents just have to tie up their shyness, and
face their children squarely…
People, let’s not fool ourselves – we must learn to read, and read always…
the books that expose our ignorance and offer us solutions to the complex situations that
assail us. If you read Unanswered Cries and you are either anti-FGM, or pro-female
circumcision, or a parent, or a boy/girl with a girl/boyfriend, you will see what we mean
here. back to top |
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