The vision of the Sentinel Poetry Movement is to build the world’s premier community of writers and artists from all backgrounds, nationalities, race, religion, gender, age, sexuality, political or ideological affiliation. Their TRYangle Project Short Story Competition 2011 has a closing date of 10th November. It is for stories in the English Language up to… Continue reading Sentinel Poetry Movement Competition
Reading Uganda
This is the last day of the ‘Reading Uganda’ festival and starts with a free day. I visit some old haunts, walking all the way from Makerere to the National Theatre via the Ban Café and the Masala Chaat resturant on Dewington Road. It’s pretty hot with a clear sky and the city is incredibly… Continue reading Reading Uganda
Reading Uganda
The day starts with a power cut on Makerere campus. Then into the museum with Hilda to set up the poetry workshop – 20 students, most of them also attending the Tuesday session. The atmosphere is much more relaxed this time and we work through a range of individual and collaborative exercises exploring metaphor, image… Continue reading Reading Uganda
Reading Uganda
Today I attend a debate on the presence of Ugandan Literature in the secondary school curriculum (they still have the old ‘O’ and ‘A’ level system here). A spokesperson for the National Curriculum Development Council delivered a spirited defense of the current policy, where very few Ugandan writers are featured. She cites a number of… Continue reading Reading Uganda
Bode Asiyanbi wins African Performance playwriting competition
We are delighted to announce that Nigerian writer Bode Asiyanbi has wonthe 2011 BBC African Performance playwriting competition. Bode is just completing his first year of the Lancaster Distance Leaarning MA in Creative Writing. He is a recipient of one of our International Scholarships for 2010-12. It is the second time he has won the accolade… Continue reading Bode Asiyanbi wins African Performance playwriting competition
Ugandan Writer Shortlisted for Caine Prize
Ugandan writer Beatrice Lamwaka has been shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing – one of the leading prizes open to African writers. Beatrice has participated in both the British Council ‘Crossing Borders’ programme, directed by Professor Graham Mort from Lancaster. and the recent ‘Lancaster/Uganda Friends Writing Project’ organised by the Centre for Transcultural Writing and Research and funded… Continue reading Ugandan Writer Shortlisted for Caine Prize
Travel, Writing, and the Ethics of Observation
Travel, Writing, and the Ethics of Observation, a Workshop and Seminar at Lancaster University, was held on Thursday June 16th. This free one-day event featured a generative writing workshop, a projected photographic exhibition and presentations from Dr. Corinne Fowler and Dr. Harry Whitehead (University of Leicester) and photographer Richard Hanson. Read full details of the conference.
Reading Uganda
Hilda picks me up at 8.00am and takes me through the manic Wandegaya traffic to the Museum of Uganda on Kiira road – a dim hangar-like space, though there are cotton tablecloths on the solid mahogany tables. It’s a slow start to my prose workshop, starting with a shy group of 16 that slowly swells… Continue reading Reading Uganda
Reading Uganda
I rise at five-thirty, try some fruit juice and get the airport shuttle. Men in spotless white headdresses and robes guide us into the airport. The flight to Entebbe is on time and after touching down in Addis, we’re flying over the khaki uplands of Kenya and then the deeper more luscious green of Uganda.… Continue reading Reading Uganda
Reading Uganda
I set out late afternoon as they were baling hay in meadows along the Lune Valley, a beautiful day with hot sunshine and Ugandan clouds pushed up by thermals into fantastically billowing horizons. A buzzard appears over the motorway, wings and tail fanned in an almost perfect circle of lit plumage. Then the airport and… Continue reading Reading Uganda