Nyana Kakoma is the founder of Sooo Many Stories, a publishing house and online platform which allows Ugandan writers to express their creativity. To date, Sooo Many Stories has published two books: The Headline That Morning and Other Poems by Peter Kagayi and Flame and Song by Philippa Namutebi, along with several other short stories. The blog she started in 2014 with the support of her husband has now morphed into a publishing house with a dedicated staff of four, and a wealth of Ugandan literal content in short stories, poems and book reviews.

After several years in the journalism and communications industry, Nyana quit her job and dedicated herself to creating this space that would be home to Ugandan writers and an outlet for so many stories. Her inspiration to start the blog was rooted in the fact that not many people knew about Ugandan literature. While an editor for the in-house Magazine and other publications at Madhivani group, she horned her writing skills and got to interact with other people in the African literary space.

“It was during this time that I started traveling for workshops outside Uganda and people were talking about publishers, writers and editors in their countries, but there were not so many from Uganda. I started getting a hunger for a platform that would talk about Ugandan writers.”  Nyana says

When she took the plunge into the publishing world, she attended several trainings and an editorial internship with Modjaji books in Cape town where she learnt from the extra ordinary Colleen Higgs, who still remains one of her biggest influences alongside Ella Allfrey, Jennifer Makumbi and Goretti Kyomuhendo (Founder of African Writers Trust). Through this internship, she learnt the ins and outs of publishing and got the necessary tools and motivation to expand her blog into a publishing for Ugandan literature.

“I wanted people to take me seriously, to take the blog seriously. I was doing this for real, not as a part time job. That meant that I  put in a lot. I would do interviews, book reviews and attend all these events. No one was paying me but the sheer joy of doing what I love made it worth it.”

Sooo Many Stories has taken on the responsibility of cultivating a reading culture in Uganda through book clubs for adults, teenagers and children. The Fireplace: Tot tales  is where children from the ages of 4 to 12 gather to read books. Divided into groups of 4 – 6, 7 – 9 and 10 – 12 years, these books clubs see up to 45 children at every session. These sessions are held in Ntinda at the Innovation Village and in Bugolobi. Two more chapters will be opened next year in Muyenga and Entebbe. This initiative has gone a long way in nurturing a keen interest in books both for children and adults.

“People throw around the phrase “reading culture in Uganda is so bad” but you don’t know how quite terrible it is that is until you try to sell a book, until you try to convince someone to buy a book. It was terrible, we started thinking. So we decided to start book clubs, which are called fireplaces. To boost the reading culture, it has to be done from the grass roots. If we are to promote Ugandan literature, it has to be through a holistic approach by making books available for children to read.” Nyana says

This brilliant concept has had a visible transformational effect on the children.

“The book clubs have created an explosion of reading. We’ve seen results. We’ve seen parents say “watch out for my kid he doesn’t talk to anyone” but that kid will be the first one to speak when we ask for volunteers to read. We’ve seen parents tell us that my kid is interested in books now. We are approaching reading from a fun side. Showing these kids that books are fun. They don’t have to be academic.”

Nyana envisions a time in Uganda when reading will become a thing. For people to stay in doors on weekends just to read without having people ask “Do you have a paper?” With the state of the economy, buying a book may not necessarily be a priority like soap and food but just like food, when you do not read you die too. It may not be a physical death, but lack of knowledge kills

Where are the Ugandan book junkies at?

If you thought Uganda hasn’t produced some of the best literature on the African continent, think again. Ugandan writers, both novelists, and poets are silently playing a very influential and decisive role in the promotion of Ugandan writing.

In this first part of our books recommendation series, we list for you some of the best fictional writings to ever come out of Uganda.

The list is by no means conclusive, as there are many beautifully written Ugandan books. You are free to include Ugandan fiction books you have enjoyed in the comments box.

1. Kintu

Kintu is the book every living Ugandan must-read. This is a book that represents the past, present, and future of Uganda and Buganda. In this striving tale of a family and of a nation, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi traces the origin of Kintu and connects the dots of his descendants’ lives as they pursue to break through their past shared family curse dating back to the 18th century, reconcile this inheritance of tradition and the modern world (present-day) which is their future.

You can buy Kintu from Turn the Page Africa here or at Bookpoint.

2. Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol

Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol is a fulfilling work of art. The poem which turned 50 years this year, is one of the most widely read literary works originating from Uganda written by Okot p’Bitek who has been widely referred to as a philosopher. It addresses the issues facing a liberated Africa and its identity crisis. The poem is a dialogue (story) between Lawino, a woman whose husband, Ocol, throws her out of their home and brings home a more ‘Europeanized’ woman as a wife. If you are educated and still proud of your African heritage, this book should be your bible.

You can buy Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol from Turn the Page Africa here

3. 30 years of Bananas

This play by Alex Mukulu has been described by writer Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi as the most influential book to ever have come out of Uganda. Through the experiences of the narrator, a refugee from Rwanda called Kaleekeezi, this play takes a satirical view of what Uganda has celebrated, suffered, and lost over the three decades of her independence.

You can buy 30 years of Bananas from Amazon here

4. Kosiya Kifefe

Sometimes a novel can best describe a country’s political history and for Uganda’s case, Arthur Gakwandi’s book takes the lead. First published in 1997, Gakwandi through Kosiya Kifefe (the main character in the book), traverses the years of the African youth with its dreams, uncertainties, and escapades, while at the same time projecting the images of a changing society that is rapidly disintegrating. The story is full of political intrigues, facades in high places, and lust for power and wealth. It is set in Uganda and Kenya.

You can buy Kosiya Kifefe from Amazon here

5. The Invisible Weevi

Mary Karooro Okurut’s fourth and most popular novel first published in 1994 fictionalizes Uganda’s record of the past tragic national journey. Set in three decades of three different regimes, the book covers the story of Africa’s post-colonial political actors typified by the thinly disguised Presidents, Opolo, Duduma, Polle, and Kazi.

You can buy The Invisible Weevil from Amazon here

6. Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe

Doreen Baingana’s fiction debut will always remain a classic. Like Kambili Achike in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, Tropical Fish follows and brings out society through the eyes of an innocent Ugandan teenage girl Christine Mugisha and her family after the end of Idi Amin’s as she navigates the uncertain terrain of adolescence in Entebbe, Kampala and Los Angeles.

You can buy Tropical Fish from Amazon here

7. Broken voices of the Revolution: An Anthology

This is by far the most popular collection of poems by the Lantern Meet of Poets who had their last recital (Moving On) in October this year. The anthology filled with humor and satire, points out how the once-promising dawn of political hope of the NRM government, has turned into the opposite.

You can buy Broken Voices of The Revolution from Turn the Page Africa here

8. Fate of the Banished

Julius Ocwinyo’s Fate of the Banished challenges the maxim of Catholic clerical celibacy. Set in Northern Uganda during the Kony war, Ocwinyo pits the church against the flow of people’s lives; a conflict that endlessly oscillates between comfort and discomfort, rage and peace.

You can buy Fate of the Banished from Turn the Page Africa here

9. Upon this Mountain         

Set around Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda, Timothy Wangusa’s Upon This Mountain excellently describes African life in the post-colonial era filled with clashes in communities where cultural and religious practices such as circumcision and baptism met. In all parts of the book, Wangusa uses humor to expose the contradictions in the church, and in society as a whole.

10. Abyssinian Chronicles

Moses Isegawa’s Abyssinian Chronicles is a remarkable story of Mugezi, a young man who manipulates Idi Amin’s reign of terror and experiences firsthand the most crushing aspects of Ugandan society. Mugezi withstands his distant father’s oppression and his mother’s cruelty in the name of Catholic zeal, endures the ravages of war, poverty, and AIDS, and yet he is able to keep a hopeful and even occasionally amusing outlook on life.

You can buy Abyssinian Chronicles here

11. Building the Nation and other poems

Written with rare wit and humor, the poems in this book by Christopher Henry Muwanga Barlow, deal with a diverse range of themes such as political opportunism, war, nature, and love. Spanning decades of experience and deep reflection by a veteran Ugandan poet, this collection offers fresh and enriching insights into subjects that are of interest and concern to us all.

You can buy Building the Nation from Bookpoint or Turn the Page Africa here.

12. The headline that morning and other poems       

The Headline that Morning is Peter Kagayi’s debut poetry collection published by Sooo Many Stories. This collection full of humor and satire gives a very good shot on Uganda’s contemporary politics, culture, religion, neo-colonialism, and love. This is a collection every person below the age of 40 should read.

You can buy The Headline that Morning from Bookpoint, Sooo Many Stories here, and Turn the Page Africa here

13. Waiting: A Novel of Uganda’s Hidden War

Goretti Kyomuhendo’s book is set in the seventies during the last year of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin’s brutal, often surreal rule, Waiting evokes the fear and courage of a small close-knit society uncertain of what the edicts of a madman or the marauding of his disintegrating army will bring with each day.