Beatrice Lamwaka (born and raised in

Alokolum Alokolum is a town in Gulu District in the Northern Region of Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the ...

Gulu Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2°46'54.0"N 32°17'57.0"E. The distance from Gulu to Kampala, Uganda's capital and large ...

) is a Ugandan writer. She was shortlisted for the 2011

Caine Prize The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 20 ...

for her story "Butterfly Dreams"."Previously shortlisted writers"
The Caine Prize. caineprize.com. Retrieved 27 January 2014.

Other works

She is the founder and director of the Arts Therapy Foundation,"Butterfly Dreams by Beatrice Lamwaka"
, Arts Therapy Foundation. Retrieved 7 April 2014. a non-profit organisation that provides psychological and emotional support through creative arts therapies. She is the general secretary of PEN Uganda Chapter and an executive member of the Uganda Reproduction Rights Organisation (URRO).Uganda Reproduction Rights Organisation
IFRRO. Retrieved 7 April 2014. She has served on the executive board of the Uganda Women Writers Association (FEMRITE), where she has been a member since 1998. She formerly wrote articles for the Global Press Institute about issues affecting women, including

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

, the impact of war on women, and social justice. Her short stories and novel also focus on these issues.Beatrice Lamwaka
transculturalwriting.com. Retrieved 26 January 2014. In 2009, she was a writer in residence at Château de Lavingny, Switzerland.Writers' Residence
, Château de Lavigny. Retrieved 5 May 2014. In November 2013, she was a resident working on her novel, ''Sunflowers'', at the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

's Bellagio Center. She was a recipient of 2011 Young Achievers Award in the category of Art, Culture and Fashion.Beatrice Lamwaka
, diversity.org.mk. Retrieved 1 April 2014. She received a grant from the HF Guggenheim Foundation to research land disputes in post-conflict northern Uganda. She was shortlisted for the 2011

Caine Prize for African Writing The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 20 ...

and was a finalist for the PEN/Studzinski Literary Award 2009.Short Story Day Africa
. Retrieved 26 January 2014."Writivism Mentorship Programme"
Caceafrica, 23 January 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
femriteuganda.blogspot.com. Retrieved 7 April 2014.

Early life and education

Lamwaka was born and raised in

, Uganda. She attended the Uganda Martyrs Secondary School,

Namugongo Namugongo is a township in the Central Region of Uganda. Location Namugongo is in Kyaliwajjala Ward, in Kira Municipality, Wakiso District, approximately north-east of Uganda's capital Kampala. The township is bordered by Nsasa to the north, ...

, before joining

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

for a Bachelor of Arts with Education degree. She specialised in literature and English.Racheal Ninsiima
"Babe of the week: Lamwaka, the princess who loves words"
''The Observer'' (Uganda), 11 October 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014. She went on to pursue a master's degree in human rights from Makerere University."Beatrice Lamwaka"
''Global Press Journal''. Retrieved 26 January 2014.

Writing career

In her third year at Makerere University, she joined

FEMRITE FEMRITE – Uganda Women Writers' Association, founded in 1995, is an NGO based in Kampala, Uganda, whose programmes focus on developing and publishing women writers in Uganda and—more recently—in the East African region. ...

, an organisation aimed at developing and promoting women writers. By 2001, her first short story, "Vengeance of the Gods", was published in the anthology ''Words From A Granary''. Later, she penned "Queen of Tobacco", a story of a lady who idolised tobacco smoking. This story was picked up by the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

after Lamwaka submitted it to Gowanus Books online in the ongoing project "Crossing Borders". She was shortlisted for the 2011

for her story "Butterfly Dreams".

Mildred Barya Mildred Kiconco Barya is a writer and poet from Uganda. She was awarded the 2008 Pan African Literary Forum Prize for Africana Fiction, and earlier gained recognition for her poetry, particularly her first two collections, ''Men Love Chocolates ...

"Beatrice Lamwaka on the 2011 Caine Prize Shortlist"
23 May 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2014. Her short stories have been published in various anthologies, including the Caine Prize anthologies, ''To See the Mountain and other stories'' and ''African Violet and Other Stories'' (2011). She is also a contributor to the 2019 anthology ''

Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'', edited by

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...

. Among other publications in which Lamwaka's work has appeared are ''Butterfly Dreams and Other Stories from Uganda'', ''New Writing from Africa 2009'', ''Words from A Granary'' (2001), ''World of Our Own'', ''Farming Ashes'', ''Summoning the Rains'', ''Queer Africa: New and Collected Fiction'' (2013), and ''PMS poemmemoirstory'' journal. She is working on her first novel, ''Sunflowers'', and a number of short stories.Nsengiyunva, Beverly Nambozo
"The Butterfly Effect: An interview with Caine Prize-nominee Beatrice Lamwaka"
''Start Journal'', 1 November 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2014.

Published works

Story books

Short stories

*"Chief of the Home", in *"Butterfly Dreams", in *"Bonding Ceremony", in * "Butterfly Dreams" and "Bottled Memory", in *"Pillar of Love", in *"Butterfly Dreams", in * "The Garden of Mushrooms", in *"Village Queen", in *"The Family of Three"; "The Bully"; and "The Garden of Mushrooms", in *"The Star in My Camp", in *"I Always Know", in * "Vengeance of Gods", in
"Butterfly Dreams"
Gowanus Books, 2002

Poems

*"Mwoc Acoli", "Nyeri", in *"The Stars in Gulu", in

Awards and recognition

*Janzi Awards 2021 (''Butterfly Dreams'') *Young Achievers Award 2011 (Art, Culture and Fashion category. *Laureate for the Council for the Development of Social Science Democratic Governance Institute 2012 *Shortlisted for the

, 2011. *Finalist for the PEN/Studzinski Literary Award 2009."2009 PEN/Studzinski Literary Award Finalists Announced"
''BooksLive'', 5 February 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2014. *Fellow for the

Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation was established by Harry Guggenheim to support research on violence, aggression, and dominance. The foundation writes: "He was convinced that solid, thoughtful, scholarly and scientific research, experimentati ...

, 2009.

References

External links

* Dennis D. Muhumuza
"Taking literature back home"
23 February 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamwaka, Beatrice Living people Makerere University alumni People from Gulu District Ugandan short story writers Ugandan women short story writers Ugandan women writers Year of birth missing (living people)