Nahida Esmail

Nahida Esmail is a Tanzanian author and poet. She is a lifetime sponsor of 'The Teen Writers Awards'. Nahida Esmail was born and raised in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She was educated at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and graduated with a BSc in psychology and completed a master's degree in Child Development with Early Childhood Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. Quotes “We can never underestimate how reading can impact on a person’s life.” Looking at life from a glass half-full perspective, so many books need to be written. I have already published adventure, mystery, historical fiction, religious non-fiction, poetry and picture books. I have also written a variety of newspaper and magazine articles. This year, I was commissioned by a US non-profit organization, Worldreader, to write a story for young adults for a ‘Women and sports series’; the book has just come out and is free to read online. I have attempted a fantasy genre that is currently in the editing stage. I also got an opportunity to display my poem titled Twenty Twenty at a local art exhibition held at the Swedish Embassy. I started collecting books before I was pregnant. Once I got pregnant, I was interested more in African children’s books especially Tanzanian. To my disappointment, I found that there were not many children’s books available written by Tanzanians, or even stories set in Tanzania for that matter. The few that I did find were not at the standard I thought children should have. I believe everything in life happens for a reason and it so happened at that point in my life I came across this quote by Toni Morrison: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” I took it as a sign. I wanted to write a story my child could relate to. Besides that, I also saw this as a chance to alter the stereotypical mindset of Africa being a continent of only disease and poverty. There is so much beauty in Africa and I thought that people should know about it. In an interview Creativity does not have a right or wrong answer. Creativity is the power to connect with the seemingly unconnected. I find the first-person singular, where the story is told from one individual point of view, makes it more personal and engaging. It can immediately put the reader into the character’s head, allowing for an intimate connection. The reader can feel what the character feels. The limitation of using this point of view is that you cannot go into the mind of another person. Writing stories from your perspective is voicing your opinions. We shouldn’t wait for our stories to be written by others. I want Tanzanians to become avid readers, so I am aiming to provide good storybooks for them. Give our children the possibility to dream and take on challenges after they have been discouraged from achieving and succeeding in their goals. We can never underestimate how reading can impact on a person’s life. Girls and women make up nearly half of the world’s population and are still discriminated because of their gender.” Girls need to see role models in this male-dominated world, besides being wives and daughters. Girls need to have the confidence that they can be whatever they aspire to be. They can be presidents, queens, warriors, scientists, astronauts, doctors, technicians, basically anything they want. Girls also need stories they can relate to and identify with. This is an ongoing challenge. One of my goals is to make my stories available to these very children. However, it is not something that can be completely achieved individually. The support of governments, organizations and civil society is paramount. It’s not impossible to become a nation of readers.” To be a good writer you also need to be a good reader and read a variety of books. This is what I am focusing on for now – making books available for them to read. I hope they realise their potential as I want to inculcate in them that they can reach for the sky and beyond if they want. One day, when the time is right, they will write. My determination can be summed up with this one quote, ‘stories worth reading, stories worth remembering.’ My children play a big role in inspiring me to keep writing. I also want to be a catalyst for change in education in Tanzania. I’ll compare my situation with a small story. Let’s say an old man planted an apple tree, he starts with a seedling. Most probably he will not be able to enjoy the fruits but he is doing it for the future generation. His children will enjoy the fruits of his struggle, he might not. I think all Tanzanians need to lead by this example; they need to mobilise for a better future. Example, the situation people with albinism face today which is portrayed in my book ‘Living in the shade’. The circumstance might not change now, but I am hoping through reading and efforts, the future generation will be able to terminate a senseless thinking that the body parts of albinos have magical powers. In an interview If all secondary school students have to learn English, why is their foundation not strong enough to make them competent enough to make the biology or chemistry books an easy read? It becomes a challenge for many to understand concepts in their text-books which is written in English. As a result the students cram. I have taught in the past and my experience is that when you give a student a question using different words but leading to the same answers, as a teacher, I will be told to ask questions which are in the book. Our children are so stuck in ‘passing the exams only’, they will not read anything else. You know they need to understand that books teach you so much and it encourages independent thinking. I think there should be more books and children should be encouraged to read books which are beyond their curriculum. They should not rely on writing as their sole career yet. It will not pay them their bills. Many of my fellow writers have a full time job and they do writing as their side thing. However, they should not give up, because they can contribute to the change we are looking for. They should ask themselves, ‘Why do I want to write?’ If the young writers want to write to change and improve the way Tanzanian think then that is what they should focus on – and that should be their inspiration. So basically, the aspiring writers should take this time as an opportunity, if they want to write, they should just do it. Success will follow. Her advice to young aspiring writers External links Category: living people Category:Women authors from Tanzania Category:Poets from Tanzania