Local author, screenwriter, and poet Juvens Nsabimana co-authored a book, 'Kill the Devil' with Dr Tony Macaulay, a bestselling author, leadership consultant and suicide prevention advocate from Northern Ireland.
The novel portrays love, hope, and reconciliation after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The authors are planning to turn the book into a movie that will be shown around the world, spreading the message of hope and reconciliation from Rwanda.
In an in-depth interview with The New Times reporter, Joan Mbabazi, Nsabimana discusses the book and the inspiration behind it.
Excerpts:
Congratulations on the release of your new book, which is already trending on Twitter. What message do you want to convey in 'Kill the Devil'?
The book is about a woman and a man who are nearly destroyed by extreme violence, hatred, and despair but who discover forgiveness, love, and hope. I believe that everyone has two wolves inside, the good and the bad, always fighting each other - the one that wins is the one you feed well.
In 'Kill the Devil', there are two characters whose hearts have two sides that are always rebellious. For example, the Tutsi Genocide survivor who experienced agony and pain in 2004 when she remembers her lost family. On the one hand, she thinks the world is so dark and her life is no longer worth living, but she discovers that there could still be hope for a good and happy life.
We want to show the world that any wounded heart can heal. If it happened in Rwanda, it can happen anywhere in the world.
How did you connect with author Tony Macaulay to write this book? Did you know him before?
I met Dr Tony Macaulay in 2018 through a mutual friend from Northern Ireland, UK. He came to Rwanda to meet Christophe Mbonyingabo, Director of CARSA - Christian Action on Reconciliation and Social Assistance, and learn about their work. He was intrigued to hear from Rwandans and learn about our journey of reconciliation.
One evening after his visits to Genocide memorials and different villages in Rwanda, we met in a coffee shop in Kimihurura. We had a discussion about our writing. He showed me the books he has written about growing up during the conflict in Northern Ireland, and I shared the screenplays that I had been writing since 2013.
We discovered that we both share a love for writing, and Tony was interested in collaborating with me on a book about unity and reconciliation because he had been moved by the stories he heard from Rwandans during his visit to storytelling workshops. He was amazed by a man and a woman who stood up and told their stories. The woman shared how the perpetrator who killed her husband and children during the Genocide decided to forgive him after being released from jail, and now they are living in peace as good friends.
How long did it take you to write the book? Did you both write each chapter together, or did you write individually and then compile the work together?
It took us four years to write this fiction novel. After we discussed writing a book together, Tony went back to Europe. As a screenwriter, I wrote the synopsis of the story and sent it to him. When he read it, he loved it and suggested that we could write such a story. I didn't have a laptop, so he got me one and I wrote the full screenplay. Then, from each scene in the screenplay, Tony wrote the chapters of the book. He added some characters, locations, and so on and when he finished each chapter he sent it to me. Then I made some edits and we moved on to another chapter. We did all of this via email and WhatsApp.
What was your main inspiration behind writing this book?
After we pondered on writing a book about forgiveness, love, unity, and reconciliation, I had to be creative and create a storyline for Rwandans, Africans, Americans, Europeans, Asians, and everyone in the world. While growing up in Gikondo, I always wanted to write stories. I grew up watching movies and observing people and everything around me to learn the truth about the world. I used to walk up the hill at Rebero. While there, I could see almost the whole of Kigali. I composed poems, scenes of screenplays, and stories that convey hope for people. In 2019, while alone and with my mind thinking loudly, I allowed my memory to work.
I remembered the faces of people around me in the early 2000s when I was young. I recollected some testimonies, documentaries, and songs we used to see, and hear on television during the commemoration period every April. I used to sit and meditate on the genocide prisoners who came to build classrooms in our primary school. I recreated all those scenes in my mind and then walked for 90 minutes every day from my home in Gikondo to the US Embassy Library and Kigali Public Library in Kacyiru to research and learn more and write.
Where can copies of the book be accessed and how much is a copy?
The book is available from online bookstores around the world in paperback at £9.99 (Approx: Rwf9000) and e-Book £3.99, (Approx: Rwf4000). Copies will be available in Rwanda in July.
I understand the book is already launched, how did the event go?
The book was launched on April 5 in a reconciliation centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a community that had experienced a great deal of conflict and violence between 1968 to 1998. I was interviewed live on Zoom on a big screen by a Belfast journalist.
The launch was attended by 100 people who were interested in the book and how we co-authored it. The novel has been featured in all the main newspapers in Northern Ireland and on BBC Radio. On the 25th Anniversary of their Peace Agreement, people in Northern Ireland were very interested in learning more from Rwanda about reconciliation.
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Should we expect a Rwandan launch as well?
The book was published in the UK and Ireland on March 28, we shall be launching it in the USA in June and in Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya in July.
What lessons would you wish a reader to pick from the book?
Personally, I can say people need to learn that there is no pain or sorrow that a person can't recover from. We see a good number of Genocide survivors who lost their siblings, wives, husbands, children, and relatives on the journey of recovering, and even managing to smile and laugh. If someone lost their relatives that some even witnessed them butchered, but can now manage to sleep, wake up in the morning and go to work, there is a possibility of healing.
Why do you think love and reconciliation are key, especially during the commemoration period?
As we remember over a million Tutsi victims we lost in the Genocide, we ought to remember, unite and renew, and above all, keep loving each other. It can be a bit difficult to explain the kind of love I mean, but we can love each other as Rwandans. In the latter half of the 20th century, Rwandans hated each other because of who they were, so in the 21st century why not love each other for who we are?
