Where are our novelists?

Asks MOSES GAHIGI who searched for Rwanda’s fiction writers but to no avail. IN many parts of Africa, literature a mouth piece for our culture and a platform for moral and social transformation it is a priceless part of society. Here in Rwanda, the mention of people like Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Chinua Achebe or Okot p’Bitek, stir up melancholic feelings for the literature which is non existent here. When I consulted one of the leading book publishing companies in Rwanda, Macmillan Rwanda, their editorial project manager, Tumwine Antoinette, told me that they have not registered any Rwandan writer with a novel to publish. “We deal with the ministry of education, where they give us tenders to get them books on their syllabus, which we do. We have not had a case of a Rwandan novelist come to us to publish his or her book,” reported Tumwine. Ikirezi Book Shop, one of the leading bookshops in Rwanda, is full of genocide books, of all dimensions both by Rwandans and foreigners. Gladstone Rutayisire, the chief book seller, told me that there are no novels by Rwandans, however, there are some books highlighting Rwandan traditions like proverbs, and one on the Rwandan ancient monarchy. He further told me that the novels they have are rarely bought by Rwandans, instead they are bought by foreigners. Writing is one way, through which values, cultures, morals that conform to and identify with a certain society are preserved, and passed on from generation to generation. The sum total of that preservation contributes to wisdom, which is central to every society in the world. Through literature like novels, journals, and other kinds of books, people get a chance to learn from the literature heavy weights of all times. For instance philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and poets like Shakespeare have had a pivotal influence in the classical and modern philosophy, thinking and history. It is truly absurd, to find that in many African societies, this trend of writing is not undertaken. This threatens the continuity of our African traditions, a thing we take to be of great novelty, given the calamities that befall our societies, where we lose the elders, who would have passed on the traditions and cultures. It is evident that the culture of putting pen to paper is not common in Rwanda. However, there are a few writers like Jean Paul Kimonyo, Sebasoni, and Dr Alfred Ndahiro, who have written books here in Rwanda but none of theme have written novels, they have decided instead to focus on politics. The major worry is that there are no budding writers amongst the younger generation. This threatens culture preservation for the coming generations. In other countries like Uganda, secondary school curriculum incorporates novels, plays and poetry. Exams are even set at the national level on what has been studied in those books. Students are thus encouraged to read those books, and they grasp the cultural overtones intertwined in those books. Some develop a love for literature, and undertake writing, as a hobby or even a career. Eugene Muramira, a secondary teacher, revealed that literature is not studied in Rwandan schools. Students are not required to read novels. When I contacted the Ministry of Education, as regards their strategies to foster writing skills, the Minister of Education, Daphrose Gahakwa, disclosed that they are involved in nurturing the writing culture, but did not specify how. Since writing is empowered by reading, perhaps the reality of not having public libraries is a contributing factor towards the insignificant number of writers in Rwanda. This factor has indeed down played the development of writing skills among people. Most prolific writers in the world have undertaken writing after being inspired by others who have written books. So in this country the absence of this inspiration, and the absence of linguistic enhancers, that can be got from novels and other books, suppress the skills. However, this cannot be the excuse for not writing. Written materials are widely available, mostly on internet, where volumes and volumes of books are posted. Ends