Glaydah Namukasa

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 was the Chairperson in 2014 for 2 terms. 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 Entebbe, 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

Namukasa’s young adult novel, Voice of a Dream, won the 2005–2006 Macmillan Writers’ Prize for Africa (Senior Prize). In 2006, she was awarded the Michael and Marylee Fairbanks International Fellowship, which enabled her to attend the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in Ripton, Vermont, United States.

Her second novel, The Deadly Ambition,

She has also been a visiting writer in residence at City of Asylum Pittsburgh and at Ledig House International Writers’ Residency in Hudson, New York, where she began drafting her second novel. As a participant in the Friends of Writing project, she worked on her novel Crossing the Bramble Field with mentor Angela Barry.

In 2012, her short story “My New Home” was part of a project highlighting African women writing in indigenous languages.

Namukasa’s short fiction has appeared in anthologies published in Uganda, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, including in New Daughters of Africa (2019), edited by Margaret Busby. In addition to fiction for adult audiences, she has written three books for children, all published under the Pan African imprint of Macmillan.

Published works

Novels

Short stories "And Still Hope Survives", in "Then Now and Tomorrow", in "The Naked Bones", in "Ojera's Final Hope", in "The Second Twin", in "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