Marie-Louise ‘Bibish’ Mumbu was born in Bukavu, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 1975. It is here that the seeds of writing were sown into the journalist-turned author. Although professional writing was a bit of an abstract concept to her at the time, Mumbu confesses to a peculiar interest in words – both reading and writing them, right from a tender age. Mumbu speaks about her work recently. (Moses Opobo) Upon joining high school, she opted for language and social sciences, a fact that admittedly propelled her to a new level beyond that of an ordinary reader: “Whenever I read a story, I tried to unearth the underlying meaning in the text. I grew up in an environment where words were always around me, so I never put down a story or book until I understood the meaning of every word.” But perhaps the singular event that sealed her destiny as a writer was the death of her father, in 1994. According to Mumbu, it was the burning desire to capture her pain and grief in words that eventually unleashed the writer in her. “When I started to put words to my grief, I suddenly realized that words have power to heal and to lessen pain. They are vehicles through which stories and emotions are transmitted. Words have the power to make you laugh or cry.” She recalls that from that point on, writing ceased to be a personal issue to her, but “how words can connect different peoples.” As an author, she has two short stories, ‘La fratrie errante’ (2007), and ’Moi et mon cheveu’, which won the Mark Twain Prize, a monthly literary prize attributed by the Embassy of the United States in Kinshasa, in October 2009). Mumbu the journalist has worked with Africultures and other local newspapers such as ‘L’observateur, and ‘Le Potentiel’. She appeared in the documentary film Mboka Té, released in 2013 and produced by the Congolese film maker Douglas Ntimasiem. Between January and April 2009, she conducted workshops on memory or the fight against amnesia, in Kinshasa, Limoges and Rio de Janeiro. She received a scholarship of the ‘Centre national français du livre’ (CNL) (the French national centre of the book), for a residency of writing of two months in the House of authors in Limoges. Coming to Rwanda “I came on the invitation of Carole Karemera (founder and director of Ishyo Arts Center), who I have known for a while,” Mumbu explains. The two met in Belgium years ago. Making the trip was important to Mumbu on account of two factors: She had never been here before; but there was also the fact of her father’s death in 1994, a prominent year in Rwanda’s history. This time, Ishyo held its traditional book Café with the Congolese author who now lives in Canada. This rendez-vous which usually happens once every three months, took place on November 6 at Ishyo’s new library, the Espace Madiba. The library is well-stocked and dedicated to books from Africa and the Caribbean, and boasts a book diversity that caters for all age-groups, right from the toddler to the 70-year old. It was candid sessions of debate, discussions and sharing that also included lectures and book signings. To introduce and officially, Carole Karemera first welcomed Madam Mumbu and the rest of guests. Just like in the other Book Cafés, a group of local comedians took to the flow and read excerpts from some of the author’s books. Carole Karemera, Michael Sengazi (a member of Comedy Knights), Natacha Muziramakenga, a poet and Sabrina Iyadede, a Rwandese singer who lives in the USA took up the roles. They all read different books (short stories, novel etc) of Marie-Louise Mumbu. The first one was the text “fratrie errante” (drifting fraternity), a text that talks about siblings who lost their parents and are now faced with poverty, which forces them to and decide to sell a part of the family house, realizing that the big house they used to have is nothing else but a shallow home and too much for them, without dad and mom. The second text to be read was “Samantha à Kinshasa” (Samantha in Kinshasa), a novel published in 2008, and that talks about a young girl named Samantha who is about to leave her home city for Europe. The last text read was “Moi et mon cheveu” (Me and my hair), which addressed the issue of identity, and the importance of natural hair for black women. After this, the debate was open for anyone, to give suggestions or ask questions, a session which was marked by questions on the work of the author, and her source of inspiration. “The workshop is a link, a bridge that cuts across generations. It’s about hearing and learning from each other,” Mumbu later remarked. The workshops were part of the ‘Arts & Memory’ project, which aims to preserve the memory of the1994 Genocide, and encourage dialogue and the healing of society through the expressions of various artistic and cultural forms. It was coordinated by Ishyo, in partnership with Groupov (Belgium), Rwanda Professional Dreamers (Rwanda), and Kemit Productions (Rwanda), and supported by the European Union. It was organized in collaboration with the French Institute in Rwanda. So what does it feel like stepping on Rwandan soil for the first time? “Fortunately,” Mumbu explains, “I’m the kind of person who believes that seeing is believing, so I came here with an open mind. In my time in Rwanda, I’ve met people, visited places, and heard stories. For me the most important question was: how was I going to handle and react to what I would find?” She has “met and interacted with different people, young and old”, and to her, the common denominator in all their tales was the fact that each had dreams they are actively pursuing.
