Shades of Us: The 2019 Writivism Festival

The 2019 Writivism Festival is here and we are pumped!

Here is all you need to know about the festival…and why you should definitely attend.

When you come to the festival

Expressed in modern diction, “Ugandan party life will finish your money.” The plus side here is; no one has to spend on an entrance free to join in on the fun. At no cost, you get the chance to be entertained by the most sought after performers in the creative realm.

The Writivism festival is a unique merry-making ceremony. The event celebrates African culture with emphasis on creative arts in every aspect that is; photography, poetry recitals, fashion, music to say the least. The festival is also held to celebrate African literature and remind you that books are very much enjoyable; you just haven’t landed on a good story yet.

Artistic performances; every play, drama, concert, poem is formed out of words then brought to life through melody, body language and speech. Performances by award winning writers like Harriet Anena, Joshua Mmali and several short films will be screened.

The festival is a family event. We have organized children’s activities too to make it as inclusive as possible. There will be a kid’s corner too facilitated by the celebrated Acan Innocent who has just recently released a kid’s book titled Black, Yellow, Red.

Key note conversations; on topics like race and nationalism featuring figures like Apolo Makubya and Jennifer Makumbi not forgetting book launches.

The annual festival is arguably East Africa’s leading literary festival and has become a fixture on the arts calendar of the region. Important books like Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s Kintu which won her the Windham Campbell Prize for Literature and No Violet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, among others were unveiled a tour festival.

Legendary figures in African literature like Uganda’s John Nagenda, Zimbabwe’s Tsitsi Dangarembga, Kenya’s Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Nigeria’s EC Osondu and Chika Unigwe and South Sudan’s Taban Lo Liyong have spoken at the Writivism Festival. Mention any important name in contemporary African Literature and intellectual circles and they have appeared at the Writivism Festival at some point.

The 2019 festival brings back Ugandan Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Chair of the Writivism Short Story Prize judging panel, winner of the Kwani Manuscript Prize, Commonwealth Prize and lecturer of Creative Writing in the United Kingdom) with her new book,Manchester Happened as well as Zimbabwean Panashe Chigumadzi (winner of the K. Selo Duiker Literary Prize and doctoral fellow at Harvard University) with her new book, These bones will rise again.

Activities of the festival