FEMRITE – Uganda Women Writers' Association, founded in 1995, is an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

based in

Kampala, Uganda Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, whose programmes focus on developing and publishing women writers in Uganda and—more recently—in the East African region.Affiliates: FEMRITE
" Women's World. FEMRITE has likewise expanded its concerns to East African issues regarding the environment, literacy, education, health, women's rights and

good governance Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for th ...

."Programmes"
FEMRITE – Uganda Women Writers' Association. Retrieved 22 August 2011.

History

FEMRITE was founded in 1995 by Mary Karoro Okurut, currently (as of 2011) a member of the 8th Parliament of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, but at that time a lecturer at

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 ...

. Okurut was joined by Lillian Tindyebwa,

Ayeta Anne Wangusa Ayeta Anne Wangusa (born Kampala, Uganda, 9 September 1971) is a Ugandan writer and activist. A founding member (1995) of FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers Association,

, Susan Kiguli, Martha Ngabirano, Margaret Ntakalimaze, Rosemary Kyarimpa, Hilda Twongyeirwe, Philomena Rwabukuku and Judith Kakonge."History of FEMRITE"
FEMRITE Uganda Women Writers' Association. Retrieved 22 August 2011. FEMRITE was officially launched as a Non-Governmental Organization on 3 May 1996.

Goretti Kyomuhendo Goretti Kyomuhendo (born 1 August 1965) is a Ugandan novelist and literary activist.

, who would later found

African Writers Trust The African Writers Trust (AWT) was established in 2009 as "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to foste ...

, served as FEMRITE's first coordinator. Other notable early members include Beverley Nambozo,

Glaydah Namukasa Glaydah Namukasa is a Ugandan writer"Women writin ...

, Beatrice Lamwaka,

Doreen Baingana Doreen Baingana (born 1966) is a Ugandan writer and literary arts manager. Her short story collection, ''Tropical Fish,'' won the Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction in 2003 and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book, Africa Region ...

Violet Barungi Violet Barungi (born 18 December 1943) is a Ugandan writer and editor. She has edited several publications published by FEMRITE.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 ...

(also known as Mildred Kiconco), and Jackee Budesta Batanda.FEMRITE Achievements and Milestones
" FEMRITE – Uganda Women Writers' Association. Retrieved 22 August 2011. Of FEMRITE's origins and mission, Kyomuhendo, in a 2003 interview with '' Feminist Africa'', stated: "To talk about FEMRITE is to talk about Uganda's literary scene, about Ugandan politics, and especially about the connections between women, politics and writing in Uganda."Kyomuhendo, Goretti.
Profile: FEMRITE and the Politics of Literature in Uganda"
, ''Feminist Africa'', 2003, vol. 2. Retrieved 30 August 2011.

Major achievements of FEMRITE members and alumni

* Monica Arac de Nyeko won the

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 ...

in 2007;"'Taboo' story takes African prize"
BBC, 10 July 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2017. Beatrice Lamwaka was shortlisted for the same prize in 2011;

was shortlisted in 2005."Beatrice Lamwaka – 2011 Caine Prize Nominee"
Uganda Women Writers' Association (FEMRITE), 2 August 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011. *

won the

Commonwealth Writers Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

for First Best Book, Africa Region (2006); Baingana was also shortlisted for the

Hurston-Wright Legacy Award The Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards program honors Black writers in the United States and around the globe for literary achievement. Introduced in 2001, the Legacy Award was the first national award presented to Black writers by a national organizatio ...

in the Debut Fiction category (2006). * Beatrice Lamwaka was shortlisted for the 2009 PEN/Studzinsky Literary Award (2009)."Book awards: Hurston/Wright Legacy Award nominee"
''

LibraryThing LibraryThing is a social cataloging web application for storing and sharing book catalogs and various types of book metadata. It is used by authors, individuals, libraries, and publishers. Based in Portland, Maine, LibraryThing was developed by ...

''. *

Glaydah Namukasa Glaydah Namukasa is a Ugandan writer"Women writin ...

won the Macmillan Writers Prize for Africa, Senior Category (2005). *

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 ...

won the Pan-African Literary Forum Award for Africana Fiction (2008)."Advisory Board"
African Writers Trust. Retrieved 24 August 2011. * Jackee Budesta Batanda won the

Commonwealth Short Story Competition Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

, Africa Region (2003). *

Violet Barungi Violet Barungi (born 18 December 1943) is a Ugandan writer and editor. She has edited several publications published by FEMRITE.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 ...

International New Play Writing Award for Africa and the Middle East (1997).VioletBarungi.com
Retrieved 28 August 2011. *

Goretti Kyomuhendo Goretti Kyomuhendo (born 1 August 1965) is a Ugandan novelist and literary activist.

(novel: 1999), Susan Kiguli (poetry: 1999), Mary Karoro Okurut (novel: 2003), and

(poetry: 2003) won the National Book Trust of Uganda Literary Award.

Public response to FEMRITE programmes

FEMRITE, as reported by various journalists, has been active in Uganda and the greater East African region in the areas of promoting literacy, educational reform, women's rights, and good governance. These activities have generally received positive notice. * Emmanuel Ssejjengo, as reported i
AllAfrica.com
for 14 July 2011, stated that "the FEMRITE Literary Week" was "one of the most celebrated events in Uganda's literary arts."Ssejjengo, Emmanuel.

" AllAfrica.com, 14 July 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011. * Dennis Muhumuza, in th
''Daily Monitor''
(Uganda), 23 July 2011, discussed FEMRITE's influence on Uganda's National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), and the resulting inclusion of more Ugandan works of literature in the high school and college curriculum.Muhumuza, Dennis

''Daily Monitor'', 23 July 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011. * Muhumuza, also for the ''Daily Monitor'' (Uganda) on 9 January 2011, reviewed the FEMRITE antholog
''Pumpkin Seeds and Other Gifts: Stories from the FEMRITE Regional Writers Residency'', 2008
(), calling it a "delicious treasure" that "you will want to take along with you on a journey, or cuddle on the sofa and read in the beauty of solitude, or even read aloud to your children around the fireplace."Muhumuza, Dennis.

''Daily Monitor'', 9 January 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011. * Halima Abdallah, i
''The East African''
(Kenya), 14 August 2011, reviewed the FEMRITE antholog
''Never Too Late''
(), concerning the AIDS/HIV epidemic, declaring it "a must read for all age groups as it raises questions and most times provides answers that require collective action" while noting that the collection was "born out of a desire by Femrite to generate literature for positive change aimed at addressing social issues facing not just the youth but society at large."Abdallah, Halima.

''East Africa'', 14 August 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011. * Dora Byamukama for ''

New Vision The ''New Vision'' is a Ugandan English-language newspaper published daily in print form and online. Overview ''New Vision'' is one of two main national English-language newspapers in Uganda, the other being the ''Daily Monitor''. It is publi ...

'' (Uganda) favourably reviewed the FEMRITE collection of non-fiction storie
''Beyond the Dance: Voices of women on female genital mutilation''
(), and stated that the testimonies presented "call for support to end the practice of

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

(FGM)."Byamukama, Dora.
Female genital mutilation is the worst form of torture"
''New Vision'', 27 October 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2011. * The American news programm
''Wide Angle''
(

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

) featured FEMRITE's collaboration with IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the United Nations Office, to produce ''Today You Will Understand'', a collection of the personal war stories of 16 women affected by the

Lord's Resistance Army The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Co ...

rebellion.Lord's Children: Ugandan Women Tell Their War Stories"
''Wide Angle'' (PBS), 29 July 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2011. * Also commenting on ''Today You Will Understand'', Martyn Drakard for the ''

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Computer science and information theory * In information theory, any system which receives information from an object * State observer in con ...

'' (Uganda) on 10 December 2008 stated that the collection is "a voice for the voiceless" and "Compulsory reading for anyone wanting to know how the LRA war has affected people’s lives".Drakard, Martyn
"War taking everything from women"
''The Observer'', 10 December 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2011. * David Kaiza, in a 2007 editorial entitled "Women writers rule" for ''

The East African ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national ''Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' is circulated in Kenya and the other countries of the African Great Lakes Th ...

'' also discussed albeit somewhat sardonically the growing regional impact of FEMRITE.Kaiza, David.
Women writers rule"
''The East African'', 29 October 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2011.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control * * Organizations for women writers Ugandan women poets Women's organisations based in Uganda Women and education in Africa Women's rights in Uganda

History

Major achievements of FEMRITE members and alumni

Public response to FEMRITE programmes

See also

References

External links