Monica Arac de Nyeko

Monica Arac de Nyeko (born 1979) is a List of Ugandan writers Ugandan writer of short fiction, poetry, and essays, living in Nairobi, Kenya. In 2007, she became the first Ugandan to win the Caine Prize Caine Prize for African Writing with her story "Jambula Tree". She had previously been shortlisted for the prize in 2004 for "Strange Fruit", a story about child soldiers in Gulu, Northern Uganda. Quotes I write to understand myself, the world around me, the things that have come and passed and those that are yet to come. I am Arac, a woman, Acoli, Ugandan, a daughter, an aunt, a sister – all these things shape my existence and fascinate me. I think people should write whatever they want to write. Writing is not prescriptive. It is good to see several recent books tackle head-on a lot of complex themes and predicaments on the continent. That is what good stories should do. Interview with Monica Arac de Nyeko Poetry is briefer and intense. That is what I like about it. But then again, I can transport those things I like about poetry into fiction. So for me fiction then becomes a marriage of different forms. I grew up in Kampala but Kitgum is the place I call home. There is this thing perhaps in Uganda or elsewhere as well (I do not know) but it does not matter if you grew up elsewhere all your life. The place where your parents are from is always home. Monica Arac de Nyeko, The Per Contra Interview by Miriam N. Kotzin You Don't Have to Be a Dead, Old English Man to Be a Writer Monica Arac de Nyeko in Conversation with Doreen Strauhs External Links Category:Ugandan writers Category:Ugandan poets Category:Caine Prize winners Category:1979 births Category:Living people