The Essential Handbook for African Creative Writers

Recognized as a contemporary African novelist of international importance, Goretti Kyomuhendo, a judge for 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize, is the author of The First Daughter, Secrets No More, and Waiting: A Novel of Uganda's Hidden War. But Goretti is as well-known in African literary circles for her mentorship of younger writers, including her service from 1997–2007 as the Programs Coordinator for FEMRITE - Uganda Women Writers Association. Now, as the Director and a founding member of African Writers Trust, Goretti continues to work with new and emerging writers. In this handbook specifically addressed to the needs of and opportunities for African Creative Writers, Goretti not only shares her own experience as to what works, how, and why. But she also answers the questions and issues that the new writers most often ask her about: How can I get published? How do I deal with writer’s block? Sustain my writing? Create credible settings? Use dialogue effectively? And much more. The Essential Handbook for African Creative Writers is recommended for new creative writers, teachers of creative writing, and even established writers desiring a fresh perspective on the fundamentals.

Recognized as a contemporary African novelist of international importance, Goretti Kyomuhendo, a judge for 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize, is the author of The First Daughter, Secrets No More, and Waiting: A Novel of Uganda's Hidden War. But Goretti is as well-known in African literary circles for her mentorship of younger writers, including her service from 1997–2007 as the Programs Coordinator for FEMRITE - Uganda Women Writers Association. Now, as the Director and a founding member of African Writers Trust, Goretti continues to work with new and emerging writers. In this handbook specifically addressed to the needs of and opportunities for African Creative Writers, Goretti not only shares her own experience as to what works, how, and why. But she also answers the questions and issues that the new writers most often ask her about: How can I get published? How do I deal with writer’s block? Sustain my writing? Create credible settings? Use dialogue effectively? And much more. The Essential Handbook for African Creative Writers is recommended for new creative writers, teachers of creative writing, and even established writers desiring a fresh perspective on the fundamentals

Goretti Kyomuhendo was born in 1965 and grew up in Hoima, western Uganda. She currently lives in London. She holds an MA in creative writing from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. Her first novel, The First Daughter, was published in Uganda in 1996, followed by Secrets no More, in 1999, which won the Uganda National Literary Award for Best Novel of the Year in the same year. She has also published a number of children’s books and short stories. Her third novel, Waiting, was published by The Feminist Press in New York in 2007. Goretti is a founding member of FEMRITE –Uganda Women Writers’ Association and Publishing House, and worked as its first Programmes Coordinator for ten years (1997-2007), designing and implementing writing projects. In 2004, Goretti was a tutor in the department of English at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, teaching and assessing creative writing second-year students. She has undertaken several writing consultancies including commission by UNICEF to develop a script for a multi-media package based on children in conflict situations, which was later published as an illustrated comic book entitled Sara and the Boy Soldier, in 2000. In 1997, Goretti was the first Ugandan woman to receive an International Writing Program fellowship at the University of Iowa. She has since been invited to participate in various international readings, literary and academic conferences in France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand, United States and others. Since 2009, Goretti has served as the director of African Writers Trust. Goretti has also been appointed as a judge for 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize.