TIPS FOR SHORT STORY WRITING-INTERNET SOURCE

1. Get Started: Emergency Tips Is your short story assignment due tomorrow morning? These emergency tips may help.

Who is your protagonist, and what does he or she want? (The athlete who wants her team to win the big game and the car crash victim who wants to survive are not unique or interesting enough.) When the story begins, what morally significant actions has he or she already taken towards that goal? (“Morally significant” doesn’t mean your protagonist has to be conventionally “good”; rather, he or she should already have made a conscious choice, with repercussions that drive the rest of the story.) What unexpected consequences — directly related to the protagonist’s efforts to achieve the goal — ramp up the emotional energy of the story? (Will the unexpected consequences force your protagonist to make yet another choice, leading to still more consequences?) What details from the setting, dialog, and tone help you tell the story? (Things to cut: travel scenes, character A telling character B about something we just saw happening to character A, and phrases like “said happily” — it’s much better to say “bubbled” or “smirked” or “chortled.”) What morally significant choice does your protagonist make at the climax of the story? (Your reader should care about the protagonist’s decision. Ideally, the reader shouldn’t see it coming.) Drawing on real-life experiences, such as winning the big game, bouncing back after an illness or injury, or dealing with the death of a loved one, are attractive choices for students who are looking for a “personal essay” topic. But simply describing powerful emotional experiences is not the same thing as generating emotional responses in the reader. (See “Show, Don’t (Just) Tell.”) For those of you who are looking for more long-term writing strategies, here are some additional ideas.

If you are having trouble getting started, look out the window. The whole world is a story, and every moment is a miracle. -Bruce Taylor, UWEC Professor of Creative Writing Keep a notebook. To R. V. Cassill, notebooks are “incubators,” a place to begin with overheard conversation, expressive phrases, images, ideas, and interpretations on the world around you. Write on a regular, daily basis. Sit down and compose sentences for a couple of hours every day — even if you don’t feel like it. Collect stories from everyone you meet. Keep the amazing, the unusual, the strange, the irrational stories you hear and use them for your own purposes. Study them for the underlying meaning and apply them to your understanding of the human condition. Read, Read, Read Read a LOT of Chekhov. Then re-read it. Read Raymond Carver, Earnest Hemingway, Alice Munro, and Tobias Wolff. If you don’t have time to read all of these authors, stick to Chekhov. He will teach you more than any writing teacher or workshop ever could. -Allyson Goldin, UWEC Asst. Professor of Creative Writing 2. Write a Catchy First Paragraph In today’s fast-moving world, the first sentence of your short story should catch your reader’s attention with the unusual, the unexpected, an action, or a conflict. Begin with tension and immediacy. Remember that short stories need to start close to their end. No I heard my neighbor through the wall. Dry and uninteresting. Yes The neighbor behind us practiced scream therapy in his shower almost every day. The second sentence catches the reader’s attention. Who is this guy who goes in his shower every day and screams? Why does he do that? What, exactly, is“scream therapy”? Let’s keep reading… Yes The first time I heard him, I stood in the bathroom listening at our shared wall for ten minutes, debating the wisdom of calling the police. It was very different from living in the duplex over middle-aged Mr. and Mrs. Brown and their two young sons in Duluth. The rest of the paragraph introduces I and an internal conflict as the protagonist debates a course of action and introduces an intriguing contrast of past and present setting. “It is important to understand the basic elements of fiction writing before you consider how to put everything together. This process is comparable to producing something delectable in the kitchen–any ingredient that you put into your bowl of dough impacts your finished loaf of bread. To create a perfect loaf, you must balance ingredients baked for the correct amount of time and enhanced with the right polishing glaze.” -Laurel Yourke 3. Developing Characters Your job, as a writer of short fiction–whatever your beliefs–is to put complex personalities on stage and let them strut and fret their brief hour. Perhaps the sound and fury they make will signify something that has more than passing value–that will, in Chekhov’s words, “make [man] see what he is like.” -Rick Demarnus In order to develop a living, breathing, multi-faceted character, it is important to know way more about the character than you will ever use in the story. Here is a partial list of character details to help you get started. Name Age Job Ethnicity Appearance Residence Pets Religion Hobbies Single or married? Children? Temperament Favorite color Friends Favorite foods Drinking patterns Phobias Faults Something hated? Secrets? Strong memories? Any illnesses? Nervous gestures? Sleep patterns Imagining all these details will help you get to know your character, but your reader probably won’t need to know much more than the most important things in four areas: Appearance. Gives your reader a visual understanding of the character. Action. Show the reader what kind of person your character is, by describing actions rather than simply listing adjectives. Speech. Develop the character as a person — don’t merely have your character announce important plot details. Thought. Bring the reader into your character’s mind, to show them your character’s unexpressed memories, fears, and hopes. For example, let’s say I want to develop a college student persona for a short story that I am writing. What do I know about her? Her name is Jen, short for Jennifer Mary Johnson. She is 21 years old. She is a fair-skinned Norwegian with blue eyes, long, curly red hair, and is 5 feet 6 inches tall. Contrary to the stereotype about redheads, she is actually easygoing and rather shy. She loves cats and has two of them named Bailey and Allie. She is atechnical writing major with a minor in biology. Jen plays the piano and is an amateur photographer. She lives in the dorms at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She eats pizza every day for lunch and loves Red Rose tea. She cracks her knuckles when she is nervous. Her mother just committed suicide. 4. Choose a Point of View Point of view is the narration of the story from the perspective of first, second, or third person. As a writer, you need to determine who is going to tell the story and how much information is available for the narrator to reveal in the short story. The narrator can be directly involved in the action subjectively, or the narrator might only report the actionobjectively. First Person. The story is told from the view of “I.” The narrator is either theprotagonist (main character) and directly affected by unfolding events, or the narrator is a secondary character telling the story revolving around the protagonist. This is a good choice for beginning writers because it is the easiest to write. Yes I saw a tear roll down his cheek. I had never seen my father cry before. I looked away while he brushed the offending cheek with his hand. Second Person. The story is told directly to “you”, with the reader as a participant in the action. Yes You laughed loudly at the antics of the clown. You clapped your hands with joy. (See also Jerz on interactive fiction.) Third Person. The story tells what “he”, “she,” or “it” does. The third-person narrator’s perspective can be limited (telling the story from one character’s viewpoint) or omniscient (where the narrator knows everything about all of the characters). Yes He ran to the big yellow loader sitting on the other side of the gravel pit shack. Your narrator might take sides in the conflict you present, might be as transparent as possible, or might advocate a position that you want your reader to challenge (this is the “unreliable narrator” strategy). Yourke on point of view: First Person. “Unites narrator and reader through a series of secrets” when they enter one character’s perceptions. However, it can “lead to telling” and limits readers connections to other characters in the short story. Second Person. “Puts readers within the actual scene so that readers confront possibilities directly.” However, it is important to place your characters “in a tangible environment” so you don’t “omit the details readers need for clarity.” Third Person Omniscient. Allows you to explore all of the characters’ thoughts and motivations. Transitions are extremely important as you move from character to character. Third Person Limited. “Offers the intimacy of one character’s perceptions.” However, the writer must “deal with character absence from particular scenes.” 5. Write Meaningful Dialogue Make your readers hear the pauses between the sentences. Let them see characters lean forward, fidget with their cuticles, avert their eyes, uncross their legs. -Jerome Stern Dialogue is what your characters say to each other (or to themselves). Each speaker gets his/her own paragraph, and the paragraph includes whatever you wish to say about what the character is doing when speaking. (See: “Quotation Marks: Using Them in Dialogue“.) No “Where are you going?” John cracked his knuckles while he looked at the floor. “To the racetrack.” Mary edged toward the door, keeping her eyes on John’s bent head. “Not again,” John stood up, flexing his fingers. “We are already maxed out on our credit cards.” The above paragraph is confusing, because it is not clear when one speech stops and the other starts. No “Where are you going?” John asked nervously. “To the racetrack,” Mary said, trying to figure out whether John was too upset to let her get away with it this time. “Not again,” said John, wondering how they would make that month’s rent. “We are already maxed out on our credit cards.” The second example is mechanically correct, since it uses a separate paragraph to present each speaker’s turn advancing the conversation. But the narrative material between the direct quotes is mostly useless. Write Meaningful Dialogue Labels “John asked nervously” is an example of “telling.” The author could write “John asked very nervously” or “John asked so nervously that his voice was shaking,” and it still wouldn’t make the story any more effective. How can the author convey John’s state of mind, without coming right out and tellinig the reader about it? By inference. That is, mention a detail that conjures up in the reader’s mind the image of a nervous person. Yes John sat up. “Wh– where are you going?” Yes “Where are you going?” John stammered, staring at his Keds. Yes Deep breath. Now or never. “Where are you going?” No John sat up and took a deep breath, knowing that his confrontation with Mary had to come now, or it would never come at all. “Wh– where are you going?” he stammered nervously, staring at his Keds. Beware — a little detail goes a long way.Why would your reader bother to think about what is going on, if the author carefully explains what each and every line means? Let’s return to the first example, and show how dialogue labels can affect the meaning of a passage. Yes “Where are you going?” John cracked his knuckles while he looked at the floor. “To the racetrack.” Mary edged toward the door, keeping her eyes on John’s bent head. “Not again,” John stood up, flexing his fingers. “We are already maxed out on our credit cards.” In the above revision, John nervously asks Mary where she is going, and Mary seems equally nervous about going.But if you play a little with the paragraphing.. Yes “Where are you going?” John cracked his knuckles while he looked at the floor. “To the racetrack.” Mary edged toward the door, keeping her eyes on John’s bent head. “Not again.” John stood up, flexing his fingers. “We are already maxed out on our credit cards.” All I changed was the paragraphing (and I changed a comma to a period.)Now Mary seems more aggressive — she seems to be moving to block John, who seems nervous and self-absorbed. And John seems to be bringing up the credit card problem as an excuse for his trip to the racing track. He and Mary seem to be desperate to for money now. I’d rather read the rest of the second story than the rest of the first one. 6. Use Setting and Context Setting moves readers most when it contributes to an organic whole. So close your eyes and picture your characters within desert, jungle, or suburb–whichever setting shaped them. Imagining this helps balance location and characterization. Right from the start, view your characters inhabiting a distinct place. -- Laurel Yourke Setting includes the time, location, context, and atmosphere where the plot takes place. Remember to combine setting with characterization and plot. Include enough detail to let your readers picture the scene but only details that actually add something to the story. (For example, do not describe Mary locking the front door, walking across the yard, opening the garage door, putting air in her bicycle tires, getting on her bicycle–none of these details matter except that she rode out of the driveway without looking down the street.) Use two or more senses in your descriptions of setting. Rather than feed your readers information about the weather, population statistics, or how far it is to the grocery store, substitute descriptive details so your reader can experience the location the way your characters do. Yes Our sojourn in the desert was an educational contrast with its parched heat, dust storms, and cloudless blue sky filled with the blinding hot sun. The rare thunderstorm was a cause for celebration as the dry cement tunnels of the aqueducts filled rapidly with rushing water. Great rivers of sand flowed around and through the metropolitan inroads of man’s progress in the greater Phoenix area, forcefully moved aside for concrete and steel structures. Palm trees hovered over our heads and saguaro cactuses saluted us with their thorny arms. 7. Set Up the Plot Plot is what happens, the storyline, the action. Jerome Stern says it is how you set up the situation, where the turning points of the story are, and what the characters do at the end of the story. A plot is a series of events deliberately arranged so as to reveal their dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance. -Jane Burroway Understanding these story elements for developing actions and their end results will help you plot your next short story. Explosion or “Hook.” A thrilling, gripping, stirring event or problem that grabs the reader’s attention right away. Conflict. A character versus the internal self or an external something or someone. Exposition. Background information required for seeing the characters in context. Complication. One or more problems that keep a character from their intended goal. Transition. Image, symbol, dialogue, that joins paragraphs and scenes together. Flashback. Remembering something that happened before the short story takes place. Climax. When the rising action of the story reaches the peak. Falling Action. Releasing the action of the story after the climax. Resolution. When the internal or external conflict is resolve.

Brainstorming. If you are having trouble deciding on a plot, try brainstorming. Suppose you have a protagonist whose husband comes home one day and says he doesn’t love her any more and he is leaving. What are actions that can result from this situation? She becomes a workaholic. Their children are unhappy. Their children want to live with their dad. She moves to another city. She gets a new job. They sell the house. She meets a psychiatrist and falls in love. He comes back and she accepts him. He comes back and she doesn’t accept him. She commits suicide. He commits suicide. She moves in with her parents. The next step is to select one action from the list and brainstorm another list from that particular action. 8. Create Conflict and Tension Conflict is the fundamental element of fiction, fundamental because in literature only trouble is interesting. It takes trouble to turn the great themes of life into a story: birth, love, sex, work, and death. -Janet Burroway Conflict produces tension that makes the story begin. Tension is created by opposition between the character or characters and internal or external forces or conditions. By balancing the opposing forces of the conflict, you keep readers glued to the pages wondering how the story will end. Possible Conflicts Include: The protagonist against another individual The protagonist against nature (or technology) The protagonist against society The protagonist against God The protagonist against himself or herself. Yourke’s Conflict Checklist Mystery. Explain just enough to tease readers. Never give everything away. Empowerment. Give both sides options. Progression. Keep intensifying the number and type of obstacles the protagonist faces. Causality. Hold fictional characters more accountable than real people. Characters who make mistakes frequently pay, and, at least in fiction, commendable folks often reap rewards. Surprise. Provide sufficient complexity to prevent readers predicting events too far in advance. Empathy. Encourage reader identification with characters and scenarios that pleasantly or (unpleasantly) resonate with their own sweet dreams (or night sweats). Insight. Reveal something about human nature. Universality. Present a struggle that most readers find meaningful, even if the details of that struggle reflect a unique place and time. High Stakes. Convince readers that the outcome matters because someone they care about could lose something precious. Trivial clashes often produce trivial fiction. 9. Build to a Crisis or Climax This is the turning point of the story–the most exciting or dramatic moment. The crisis may be a recognition, a decision, or a resolution. The character understands what hasn’t been seen before, or realizes what must be done, or finally decides to do it. It’s when the worm turns. Timing is crucial. If the crisis occurs too early, readers will expect still another turning point. If it occurs too late, readers will get impatient–the character will seem rather thick.-Jerome Stern Jane Burroway says that the crisis “must always be presented as a scene. It is “the moment” the reader has been waiting for. In Cinderella’s case, “the payoff is when the slipper fits.” While a good story needs a crisis, a random event such as a car crash or a sudden illness is simply an emergency –unless it somehow involves a conflict that makes the reader care about the characters (see: “Crisis vs. Conflict“). 10. Find a Resolution The solution to the conflict. In short fiction, it is difficult to provide a complete resolution and you often need to just show that characters are beginning to change in some way or starting to see things differently. Yourke examines some of the options for ending a story.

BN POETRY AWARD GOES INTERNATIONAL-IT'S TIME.

Hello, this message is for you-you who have been there for the team during the arduous and rewarding years of putting the BN Poetry Award together.

(Photo taken from one of the art pieces at Kenya National Museum) Thanks for being a heads up kind of person during the 4 past BN Poetry Award ceremonies. Next year 2013, will be the last annual poetry award for Ugandan women living in Uganda because, we have decided it is time to live larger. From 2014, the award will increase to include both female and male poets from East Africa. The award has achieved significant success in Uganda with remarkable aplomb amidst support from the media, individuals and other literary groups in Uganda and in honour of the surprises of poetry, it's time to show how radical and real poetry can be. If there ever was a time, it's now. Further to that, the award will also target Ugandan Women in the Diaspora , specific to regions. For example, in 2014, target Ugandan women in Southern Africa, 2015, Ugandan women in the U.K, and with the succeeding years, a new region. These ideas were augmented from the intense individuals whose ideas are like a springboard whenever we sit for our roundtable discussions. of the BN Poetry Foundation. Currently, we are still accepting poems from poets from Eastern Africa for an anthology thanks to funding from Prince Claus Fund. If you are interested, send the poems to bnpoetryaward@mail.com as a word attachment with your contact details. The deadline is end of December 2012. 2013 is going to be an intense fundraising year and a great time to be alive. Have a memorable week and you may follow us on facebook at Beverley Nambozo Poetry Foundation and this Friday and Saturday from 6:00pm, Lantern Meet of Poets will be holding a recital at The Uganda National Cultural Center (National Theater), tickets at only 10,000/-.

Susan Piwang shares her story at Storymoja Hay Fest in Nairobi

The Storymoja Hay festival, as I understood it, is a celebration of literary work in Africa. Storymoja collaborates with Hay Festival, a group that runs literary festivals worldwide. It is a chance to have new, young writers meet famous authors and learn more about writing; to discover the mystery of literature (which, if you are already an author, isn’t a mystery at all), and in general a great big jamboree that revolves around books. After attending it, you should walk away thinking, ‘ah, how proud I am to be literate!’ And I did.

Poetry Masterclass with Lemn Sissay I attended under the Beverley Nambozo Poetry Foundation. As winner of the fourth poetry contest I was awarded a full-expense paid trip to Nairobi to attend the festival. The most significant change I experienced is of course actually winning the prize. I have been used to getting compliments on my work which made me think that in the very least my writing was ‘okay’. But winning this competition was a leap away from the mediocre state of average. I had thought I’d have a chance at second, or third. First place was a daring dream that I honestly thought would remain a dream. Winning the prize was overwhelming; it was a blatant declaration; a foghorn blaring in my ears and shaking my settled brain: YOUR WORK IS NUMBER ONE MATERIAL! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! Don’t worry about any brain damage. If anything, my brain is working better than ever. I think it had been still for too long and was on the verge of stagnancy; I needed the shake up. Winning the prize opened the door to a hall of a million more doors, all holding many opportunities behind them. I have never attended anything like the Storymoja festival until now. I never even thought there could be those many people willing to do so much for the love of reading—in one country, I mean. It was a change to be a part of such a wonderful group and not to be looking on from the outside. To know that I wasn’t there because someone-or-other pulled some strings (not that I have ever gotten anywhere that way), but on my own merit, with my own work, because of my writing. My work is no longer the profound sentiments I scribble down in secret and recite to an audience of one—me. I was listened to, appreciated and congratulated. Yes, at eighteen, I made my mark.

Susan Piwang at the Poetry gala The whole experience was encouraging as well. Being in the middle of all those great literary minds was a motivation. The energy of the entire event commanded my slowing molecules into movement and I highly doubt they will ever stop again. I have become a literary perpetual motion machine! Need I say more? The Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award is a voice for the mute, a stage for the timid and a chance for those with none (I know that’s so cliché, but it’s still very true). I’m just glad it happened to exist at the same time I did and that I could be part of it.

storymoja Hay fest 2012, sawa sawa!

It was an unrealistically beautiful experience. A packed programme with so many fantastic options from Lemn Sissay the larger than life performance poet, Dinaw Mengestu, winner of 2007 Guardian first book award for his novel,Children of the Revolution to Sitawa Namwilie,author of Cut off my Tongue. The 13th to 17th September 2012 will hardly be forgotten.

The poets at Lemn Sissay's class, storymoja hay fest 2012 The winners of the 2012 BN Poetry Award Susan Piwang and Paula Biraaro, attended the festival as part of their prize and surprisingly blew me away when they recited their winning pieces during the poetry gala on the morning of the 14th at the storymoja amphitheater, Nairobi Museum. By the way, that museum puts ours to shaaaaaaaaaame. There you can carry out parallel workshops, play music and charge an entry fee without the fear of the artefacts crumbling under too much wind. During the effervescent Lemn Sissay’s poetry masterclass, he said one important thing, among many. The stage should be the last place a poem should be. Every poet will remember that. And then Dinaw, sigh, what a writer! I told him that he is the type of writer that can easily write with a female protagonist without the readers figuring it out. His first novel Children of the Revolution started his career and from the deliberate and careful way he selects his words before speaking, it is no doubt his career will make him leap bounds. Oh, and he hates these over used words like She smiled. He was like, what kind of smile? It should be specific to the character. I chaired the discussion of his book and fund out, he also believes in writing for social change! Yeiiii!

Bev and Dinaw Mengestu after his writing masterclass The second night we were hosted at a grand dinner at Muthoni Garland’s house (read palace). You have never seen anything like it. The founder of the storymoja Hay Fest cut no corners when it came to building her home sweeter than home. My eyes got drunk with all the magnificence. It was a cosy dinner where I got to talk to Giles Foden who by the way doesn’t talk much, no sir! Curt answers, well, at least I got a photo.

Bev and Giles Foden, author of Last King of Scotland (Muthoni's house in background) Lots of artists, Precious Williams, Lola Shoneyin, Akil,Eurig the Welsh poet, Lauri Kubuitsile, a prolific and most down to earth writer from the continent I have met. Then the unmistakable John Sibi Okumu of Zain Africa Challenge who talks on and on and on, I guess to match his stature. He is an interesting person to listen to. It was gwangamanga mwah mwah mwah. Can there be a Hay Festival in Uganda? You tell me. Susan, Paula and I were the only Ugandans from Uganda , so make sure you're there next time, you will love it-I did!

Some of us at the British Council farewell reception

October's going to be hot

Hi Friends,

during the time I have been away-hopefully making a positive impact at my workplace, i have been thankfully making a small impact around me. Two media articles hav appeared about th poetry event , One in the Observer newspaper on 22 July and the other in the New Vision of 28 July. Thanks guys, but pleeeeeeeeeeeease next time mention the sponsors-hey!
In October, will be holding a poetry training workshop with support fro Stitching Doen-thanks again.

Priority goes to the participants of either 2009 or 2010 poetry award and other interested as well. Looking forward to that and then my family and I will go for a one week holiday in Nairobi and Mombasa.

Hopefully in October, I will also hold my book launch but that depends on how fast I can get the books in Uganda. Take care now.

Cheers y'all great week.

FEMRITE article on Poetry Award

Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva was nominated for the August 2009 Arts Press Association (APA) Awards for revitalizing poetry in Uganda after initiating the Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award, the first poetry award for Ugandan women.
- Lillian Aujo Akampurira won first prize in the Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award for her poem, Soft Tonight. Sophie Brenda Alal won third prize for her poem, The Rebel Fell.
- Catherine Kemigisha won the second prize for the Beverly Nambozo Poetry Award.

http://www.femriteug.org/?view=7

The Observer newspaper article dated 3rd September 2009

Poetry award of a different kind
Sizzling Entertainment
Written by David Tumusiime
Thursday, 03 September 2009 04:50
The literary world is used to literary awards having elderly patrons, men and women in their 50s and 60s. Or even more commonly, awards named after some dead notable.

This is just one of the many reasons why the Beverly Nambozo Poetry Award stands out.
Beverly Nambozo Nsengiyunva is no elderly lady.

The bubbly, petite Beverly is in fact a new mother with a 10-month-old baby, one of the younger members of FEMRITE, and an ambitious published poet herself.

If anything, Beverly is barely at the beginning of her life. So what in heaven’s name would possess her to start a literary award? And one named after herself?

“I feel strongly that there are so many poets, female poets, who are underground. I know for a fact that I have so many poems I have written.

I show them to a few people but that is where it ends because I don’t have the confidence to publish them. I want to motivate the women poets out there,” Beverly says.

Beverly was not in the least intimidated in setting up the first Ugandan literary award in a long time because, “I am a bold person really. I have been working in gender based organisations and I have a feeling for women.

This is something that I can do for Ugandan women. I felt that the time was now to do something to uplift poetry in the country. I decided to do it and see how it goes.”

How it went down at Fang Fang Restaurant on August 21 was that three young women emerged from the 60 poem submissions; Lillian Ajuo, Kemigisha Catherine, and Sophie Brenda. The overall winner, Ajuo, claimed 250 dollars, the first runner up, Kemigisha, got 150 dollars, while Sophie Brenda took 100 dollars for coming third.

The well attended event definitely impressed.
“I underestimated the cost of the event. At first I had thought I would hold a small event in the FEMRITE gardens but people kept on encouraging me to go all the way,” Beverly admitted afterwards.

“It is a learning process. Thankfully I did get some sponsors. Word Alive Publishers, UHMG, Uganda Clays and FEMRITE were on board and that helped a lot. I am going to prepare earlier for next year’s event.”

The poet whose 67-poem manuscript I’m Jumping is ready for publication named the award after herself because, “I don’t have anyone else’s name to call it. I decided to use my name because it will make me work harder to make sure it is successful. It is also my way of attracting writers to me. I enjoy the company of writers.”

To qualify for the Beverly Nambozo Poetry Award, you must be female, above 20 years, and resident in Uganda. Each poet is allowed to submit at least three pieces.

dtumusiime@observer.ug
http://observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4942:poetry-award-of-a-different-kind&catid=42:sizzling-entertainment&Itemid=74

WOUGNET ARTICLE

The First Beverley Nambozo Annual Poetry Award For Women
On the 21st August 2009, the first Beverley Nambozo Annual Poetry Award ceremony was held and graced with the presence of the Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, as the Chief Guest. On a beautiful night out under the open skies, the true stars of the evening were the poetry gems revealed to the public.

The Award is the brain-child of Beverley Nambozo, a poetry gem in her own right, with a passion for helping young writers, particularly women to develop their talents. The Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award will be an annual event. Every woman with a creative spirit, should have a chance at empowering themselves with the pen.

Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga, in her keynote address urged the corporate world to sponsor such innovative and educative events. She also said that these literary awards should be placed on Uganda’s national calendar.

The top three awards went to Ms. Sophia Brenda Alal who won a cash prize of $100 for “The Rebel Fell”, Ms. Catherine Kemigisha won a cash prize of $150 for “Better at Dawn” and the very first winner of the Beverley Nambozo Annual Poetry Award is Ms. Lillian Aujo who won a cash prize of $250 for “Soft Tonight”.

Ms. Aujo is a student of Law at Makerere University. Her winning poem, won the hearts of the judges who judged each poem anonymously.

The next call for submissions for next year begins in November. The awards target Uganda women who have not yet published a book and are residing in Uganda. The award ceremony attracted over 150 guests from academia, publishing houses, writers and poets and friends of poetry.

Beverley's aim is to have winning poems published in an anthology. She appreciates all those that submitted and looks forward to more for the next awards.

http://www.wougnet.org/cms/content/view/411/1/

New Vision Article, September

‘Soft Tonight’ wins first poetry award
Tuesday, 8th September, 2009

By Nigel Nassar

The winning poem at the Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award, held at Fang Fang Restaurant, could not have been anything other than Lillian Akampurira Aujo’s Soft Tonight, an awesome take on romance with a submissive and trusting tone.

“I feel so soft tonight…I feel like butter under the sun…on hot stone spreading out…melting…flowing a yellow rivulet sliding down that slab towards you. I hope you catch every trickle of love…I hope you catch every drop of me…when I drip into your palms…’cause I feel so soft tonight.” Soft Tonight took home a winning prize of $250 (about sh600,000).

Nambozo, the awards’ founder and member of Uganda Association of Women Writers (FEMRITE), said the poem’s form was something of a marvel to the judges and herself Nambozo hopes to get the winning poems published to encourage other female poets. The event was sponsored by WordAlive Publishers and Uganda Health Marketing Group.

The Media Hype

The Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award, has, since its inception attracted so much media attention. It is more than I can grapple with. In August 2009, I was also nominated for the Arts Press Association (APA) Awards for revitalizing poetry in the country. Things like this make me realize that I am doing the right thing. And that feels so good. Some of the media links are below, From The Daily Monitor, The New Vision and The Bi-weekly Observer. I have also appeared twice on Record TV and in The Education Times Magazine. Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva, from small time poet to media hyped poet activist.