Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

thumb Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (born 1960s) is an Ugandan-British novelist and short story writer. Quotes The earliest inspiration came from mental health problems in the family. My father was unwell and there were whispers that it ran in the family, although it was triggered when he was brutalised by Idi Amin’s men. Then I came to Britain and saw how, in Western media, Africa was presented as ‘mental’ and the idea of a ‘mad’ family, mad nation and mad race was formed. But along the way, the inspiration to write Uganda before Europe occurred. Later, I made the decision to shift my focus away from colonisation. How Jennifer got the inspiration for her book titled behind the story of Kintu the use of Luganda in my writing and the way I adapt English to Luganda is a result of focusing on Ugandan readers as my primary audience. Having studied the nature of reception and readerships and how the anticipation of a certain audience affects how you write, I made the decision to write for Ugandans, specifically for the teenager I was, desperately impoverished of stories and characters like me or of my world, in the novels I read. I aspire for a Ugandan reader to pick up my book and immediately feel at home, as if Uganda is at the centre of the world Jennifer’s reason behind using the Lugandan vocabulary to write I can’t remember anyone who celebrates the black body the way Achebe does in Things Fall Apart. The way he presents Okonkwo and Amalinze the cat during that wrestling match, Achebe is inviting you to gaze at the magnificence of the black male. Passages replete with images of hypermasculinity. Because the body is minimally clothed, the reader is invited to gaze on the physical strength of the African male in performance Jennifer talks about the novel that best explores the black body Chinelo Okparanta’s collection of short stories, Happiness Like Water. I would hint that my favourite story in the collection is ‘Fairness,’ But then again, with people that bleach the problem is psychological, and they suffer from a deep lack of confidence. Jennifer mentions a book she would give to a dark skinned young woman that has the intention of buying bleaching cream It took me a long time to realise this. In fact it is quite recent, in 2003 when I finished my M.A in creative writing and my supervisor said I was really good. But it was when my novel was rejected that I set out to prove it to myself that I could write. Then I got hooked. So for me it started inadvertently. I am not one of those writers who knew from an early age that they wanted to write. I wanted to be a lawyer but I ended up as a teacher – which I enjoyed so much that I wondered why I ever wanted to be a lawyer. I first wrote scripts for school play competitions, then for the church I belonged to. Then one day my boss, the headmaster of the school where I taught, told me that I should write and tell the world about Uganda. I now imagine that his idea of the world was mainly the West. That there was a lot of misinformation, misrepresentation and misunderstanding about Africa in the world. So I started with that huge, grand idea of putting the record straight. But of course, along the way I realised how small and inconsequential I was and how I could not tell the world about Africa the point where Jennifer decides to be a writer As a child, I lived with my grandparents during holidays – they told stories in the evening, so I was introduced to storytelling early on. I decided that, even though my writing is literary, I’m going to focus on the idea of a story. That might be because I was introduced to storytelling from the oral traditions of folk tale and fairytale. The element of entertainment, of holding the reader, is as important as the message. interview response to why most of her work have folklore at its heart. The kind who would miss meals to read – when cooking, food would burn. I remember at school being so into Mills & Boons around 12 or 13. I would immerse myself in other worlds. I read Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart when I was very young and still living with my dad, as he had a lot of books; I would look for the thinnest volume and pick that up. It was so African, I could see these characters in my village. Jennifer interview response to the kind of a reader she was as a child? Growing up, I didn’t think I was going to be an author, but looking back I remember that Kintu was inspired by God’s Bits of Wood (by Senegalese writer and film-maker Ousmane Sembène). Toni Morrison I discovered much later in life. She reminded me all the time that you just can’t throw a sentence on the page, it must earn its place. Alice Walker. Yvonne Vera was inspiring in terms of being bold and writing about the unsayable. Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions. Jennifer interview response to the writer that influenced her No. All of my stories tend to spend a lot of time in my head before I write them. They’re knocking about and I’m restructuring, so by the time I put pen to paper I’ve learned to draw a road I’m going to take. I tend to write compulsively. If I have something to write, I’ll put it down until I drop. Jennifer interview response to if she has a writing routine External links Category:Living people Category:1960s births Category:Novelists from Uganda Category:Short story writers from Uganda