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Uganda: Beatrice Lamwaka
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The Monitor (Kampala)
INTERVIEW
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Beatrice Lamwaka is the author of Anena's Victory, one of the Fountain Junior Living Youth Series. Her short stories appear in various anthologies and she has founded a book club that will meet once a month to discuss books. She is currently working on a novel.
What would one discover about you by looking through your book shelf?
I can't get enough of well written books.
Which author can't you get enough of?
For now, Maya Angelou...She has that special spirit that makes me love her so much.
What was the first book you fell in love with and why?
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo is so real; I always identify him on the Streets of Kampala. It also made me think I could write.
Is there a book you borrowed but wished you didn't have to return?
Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouim. It's a no-nonsense guide to get skinny but I may never. I just keep hoping.
Which book, if any, changed your life?
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier. In it, Sidney explores personal values to take his own measure--as a man, as a husband and father, and as an actor.
Is there a book you refer to for life's lessons?
The Alchemist, now I look out for my omens to guide me
Which book, if any, got you thinking that you too could write?
Wer pa Lawino (Song of Lawino). I have read both versions and I think the Acholi version is more powerful. I can relate with Lawino and I know her environment. "...He says I am silly like the ojuu insect that sit on the beer pot". Before I read Wer pa Lawino, I thought all writers were white and dead - Shakespeare, Charles Dickens... but Okot p'Bitek made me believe that I could write about my culture; what I hate and love.
Which book would you re-read anytime?
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
What is your favourite quote from any book you have read?
"The mouth owes stories the debt of speech....A voiceless man is as good as dead." from Arrows of Rain by Okey Ndibe.
You are such a prolific reader, how did the reading bug catch you?
Even when I didn't own any, I somehow got books to read. I stole books in school and managed to return them before the owners realised their books were missing. I love to read about places I have never been to, know what people would like to say but never do...just being transported to a little cocoon is great for me.
Tell us a little about your book club...
The Book Club is open to book lovers who love to discuss about the books they have read. Members read the club prescribed book and meet once a month. Our first meeting is on May 17 and we will be discussing Beast of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala.
If you were to sit down and talk about favourite books or quotes, who would you do it with? (Dead or Alive)
Oprah, isn't she a goddess?
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What are you currently reading?
Where Soldiers Fear to Tread by John S. Burnett
Jackline A. Olanya
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