| Intro | Ugandan writer |
| Is | Midwife |
| From | Uganda |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | Entebbe |
Glaydah Namukasa is a Ugandan writer and midwife. She is the author of two novels, Voice of a Dream and Deadly Ambition. She is a member of FEMRITE, the Ugandan Women Writer’s Association, and is currently (2014) its Chairperson. She is one of the 39 African writers announced as part of the Africa39 project unveiled by Rainbow, Hay Festival and Bloomsbury Publishing at the London Book Fair 2014. It is a list of 39 of Sub-Saharan Africa’s most promising writers under the age of 40.
Early life and education
Glaydah was born in Uganda. Bereaved of her father as a child, she grew up in Entebbe with her mother, three sisters and two brothers. She studied in Nkumba Primary School, then Entebbe Secondary School. She graduated as a midwife in June 2000 at Kabale Nursing school. Currently, she is working with Wakiso District. She joined the Uganda Female Writers Association, FEMRITE in 2002. Later she joined the British Council Crossing Borders creative writing scheme.
She started her writing career by telling stories to fellow students at Nkumba Primary and Entebbe Secondary School. She used to ask herself why she could not write the stories instead. She would use exercise books to record her stories and later request friends to read through the work. One of her enthusiastic friends, Andrew Byogi, who read them over and over again, recommended her to FEMRITE, where she became an activist and active writer.
Writing
Glaydah’s young adult novel, Voice of a Dream, won the 2005/2006 Macmillan Writers Prize for Africa-Senior Prize She was awarded the 2006 Michael and Marylee Fairbanks International Fellowship to attend the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference in Ripton, Vermont, USA.
Her second novel, Deadly Ambition, was published in 2006 as part of the Crossing Borders project. In fall 2008 she was awarded the title of Honorary Fellow by the International Writers Program (IWP), University of Iowa, USA. She has also been a visiting writer in residence at City of Asylum Pittsburgh and Ledig House International writers’ residence, Hudson, New York, where she began drafting her second novel. As a participant on Friends of Writing, she is working on her novel Crossing the Bramble Field with mentor Angela Barry. In 2012 her story “My New Home” was part of a project that featured African women on indigenous writing. Her short stories have been published in anthologies in Uganda, South Africa, UK and Sweden. She has written three books for children, all published under the Pan African, Macmillan imprint.
Published works
Novels
- Voice of a Dream. Macmillan Education. 2006. ISBN 978-1-4050-9592-1.
- The Deadly Ambition. Mallory International Limited (Verlag). 2006. ISBN 978-1-85657-103-6.
Short stories
- “And Still Hope Survives”, in Helon Habila, Kadija George, ed. (2008). Dreams, Miracles and Jazz. Picador Africa. ISBN 9781770100251.
- “Then Now and Tomorrow”, in Jungfrau and other short stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing, 7th Annual Collection. New Internationalist Publications Ltd. 2007. ISBN 978-1-904456-62-9.
- “The Naked Bones”, in Violet Barungi, ed. (2006). Gifts of Harvest. FEMRITE publications. ISBN 9789970700042.
- “Ojera’s Final Hope”, in Raoul J. Granqvist, ed. (2005). Michael’s Eyes: The War against the Ugandan Child. Umea, Sweden : Institutionen for moderna sprak Umea universitet. ISBN 9173059897.
- “The Second Twin”, in Hilda Twongyeirwe, ed. (2004). I Dare to Say. FEMRITE publications. ISBN 978-1-56976-842-6.
- “My New Home”, Words Without Borders, 2013
- “Dreams dreams and dreams!”, authorme.com
Poems
- “Yet Hope Survives”, Sable Magazine, UK (shortlisted for the Ken Sarowiwa Legacy) 2004
- “That Place”, FEMRITE Word Write Journal, 2004, republished in Poetry Poster Project, 2008