Esther Uwase made a name for herself as an author when she released her debut book ‘Licence to Thrill’ in 2021. She calls it ‘a path to the revival of excitement in life’.

The young author, in March this year, released her second book, a poetry collection titled ‘A Conversation with Dusk: Songs of the Soul’, which informs readers that everything is ever-changing, which to her portrays the beauty of life.

This book encompasses 69 poems that deal with diverse themes such as the baffling paradox of God, life, love, feelings, bleeding, blemished flesh wounds of the soul, sad lapses of time, and records that cannot be rewound but remembered.

Cover art of the book

The author says the poems are blended with a salve of sweet songs of memories people sing unceasingly, and portrays the grace of the tears people find in their freedom while breathing between chaos and thunder.

The collection’s name was inspired by the poems’ speaker’s routine of meditating, telling the dusk how her day was, which Uwase says has birthed most of the poems it lodges. She decided to call them "Songs of the Soul” because they came from deep inside of her.

Uwase started writing the poems in 2019 while she was emotionally attached. Even though all the poems are not about her life (some were promptly given by friends), she declared that she became part of it.

She notes that she particularly decided to write a poetry collection because she wanted to give various messages in one book as well as to relax because poetry is her therapy.

One of the poems published in the book, ‘What Is Going On’, deals with the baffling paradox of ‘the thing we call God’ which Uwase says is magically wound on points people do not know.  

"I addressed this poem to those who expect a bunch of blessings through digital lies called miracles and to every religious person – where unseen and unsaid need no explanation and people own nothing from the thing they call a haven – the thing with a shell of kindness,” she says. "People fail to understand this sound. It’s magically wound on points we don’t know.”

‘Something more’, another poem published in the collection, is addressed to everyone who was bruised in yesterday’s battles or has dreams with wings of fantasies to remind them that healing is around the corner and the hollow they carry inside can take over them.

"There is always something more; whether good or bad. Everything is ever-changing,” she says.

She notes that in ‘Serenade of Seasons’ another poem that spotlights a guy who masked who he truly was and broke a girl’s heart while she thought he was different, communicates the issue many relationships are facing nowadays.

From her publishing experience, Uwase has been able to connect with different people and lifestyles which she says has hugely contributed to her growth.

One of the challenges she still faces is that many people still don’t give books the value they deserve and that Rwanda doesn’t have a book policy, hence, she calls for awareness so that people can understand the importance of books and play their role in uplifting Rwandan literary industry.

She says that ‘A Woe to Shine’ will be her next title if nothing changes. 

The hard copies of ‘A Conversation with Dusk: Songs of the Soul’ are being sold at Rwf 10,000. The book can be found on Amazon, or by emailing the author at estheruwase124@gmail.com.