Violet Barungi
Encyclopedia
Violet Barungi is a novelist and writer from Uganda, well-known in East African literary circles both for her own writing and her prolific career as the Editor for FEMRITE
- Uganda Women Writers’ Association.
Barungi’s play “Over My Dead Body” won the British Council New Playwriting Award for Africa and The Middle East in 1997, and has been subsequently anthologized in African Women Playwrights (ISBN 978-0-252-03387-2), edited by Professor Kathy Perkins, a recognized authority on African and African Diaspora Theatre.
Barungi’s other publications include short stories, poems, modern-day folk tales for children, and incidental journalism.The “themes that run through most of my works,” Barungi discussed in an interview with LaKeisha L. Caples for African Writer, are “liberation and empowerment of women (social, economic and political), with emphasis on the education of the girl-child.”
as FEMRITE Program Coordinator.Barungi has also assisted FEMRITE as a co-editor since her semi-retirement in 2007.
As FEMRITE Editor, Barungi worked with and published several writers who were then relatively unknown but have since received national, regional, and even international recognition. These FEMRITE alumni include the Caine Prize
winner Monica Arac de Nyeko
, Caine Prize nominee and Commonwealth Writers Prize winner Doreen Baingana
, Macmillan Writers Prize for Africa winner Glaydah Namukasa
, Ugandan Book Trust and Pan-African Literary Forum Award winner Mildred Barya
, Africa Region Commonwealth Short Story Competition winner Jackee Budesta Batanda, and Caine Prize nominee Beatrice Lamwaka among others.
Barungi’s co-editors have included Hilda Twongyeirwe, Susan Kiguli, Helen Moffet, and Ayeta Anne Wangusa
.
Femrite
FEMRITE - Uganda Women Writers' Association is an NGO based in Kampala, Uganda, whose programs focus on developing and publishing women writers in Uganda and—more recently—in the East African region...
- Uganda Women Writers’ Association.
Career as a solo author
Barungi regards her novel Cassandra as her finest literary achievement, and it remains the work that has received the most attention from critics.Barungi’s play “Over My Dead Body” won the British Council New Playwriting Award for Africa and The Middle East in 1997, and has been subsequently anthologized in African Women Playwrights (ISBN 978-0-252-03387-2), edited by Professor Kathy Perkins, a recognized authority on African and African Diaspora Theatre.
Barungi’s other publications include short stories, poems, modern-day folk tales for children, and incidental journalism.The “themes that run through most of my works,” Barungi discussed in an interview with LaKeisha L. Caples for African Writer, are “liberation and empowerment of women (social, economic and political), with emphasis on the education of the girl-child.”
Career as FEMRITE Editor
A founding member of FEMRITE, Barungi has served as Editor since 1997 to 2007 with Goretti KyomuhendoGoretti Kyomuhendo
Goretti Kyomuhendo, born Maria Goretti Kyomuhendo on August 1, 1965, is a novelist from Hoima, Western Uganda. A participant at the inaugural International Literature Festival Berlin in 2001, Kyomuhendo has been recognized for her “internationally renowned novels.” She has also earned notice in...
as FEMRITE Program Coordinator.Barungi has also assisted FEMRITE as a co-editor since her semi-retirement in 2007.
As FEMRITE Editor, Barungi worked with and published several writers who were then relatively unknown but have since received national, regional, and even international recognition. These FEMRITE alumni include the Caine Prize
Caine Prize
The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 2000, and was named in memory of the late Sir Michael...
winner Monica Arac de Nyeko
Monica Arac de Nyeko
Monica Arac de Nyeko is a Ugandan writer of short fiction, poetry, and essays. She was educated at Makerere University and the University of Groningen...
, Caine Prize nominee and Commonwealth Writers Prize winner Doreen Baingana
Doreen Baingana
Doreen Baingana is a Ugandan short story writer. Her book, Tropical Fish won the 2006 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, best first book, Africa, and an AWP Short Fiction Award....
, Macmillan Writers Prize for Africa winner Glaydah Namukasa
Glaydah Namukasa
A founding member of FEMRITE - Ugandan Women Writer's Association, Glaydha Namukasa is a prolific Ugandan writer and Midwife. She was the winner of the The 2005 Macmillan Writers Prize for Africa-Senior Prize.-Early life:...
, Ugandan Book Trust and Pan-African Literary Forum Award winner Mildred Barya
Mildred Barya
Mildred Kiconco Barya , born Owemigisha Patricia on 1 August 1976, is a writer and poet from Uganda. She was awarded the 2008 Pan African Literary Forum Prize for Africana Fiction, but had earlier gained recognition for her poetry, particularly her first two collections, , and .Barya has also...
, Africa Region Commonwealth Short Story Competition winner Jackee Budesta Batanda, and Caine Prize nominee Beatrice Lamwaka among others.
Barungi’s co-editors have included Hilda Twongyeirwe, Susan Kiguli, Helen Moffet, and Ayeta Anne Wangusa
Ayeta Anne Wangusa
Ayeta Anne Wangusa, born in Kampala, Uganda, on 9 September 1971, is a writer and activist.A founding member of FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers Association, Wangusa first achieved broader recognition in literary circles for her novel...
.
FEMRITE collections edited by Barungi
- Barungi, Violet. Words from a Granary. (Fiction: Short stories). Femrite Publications Ltd, Kampala, Uganda. 2001. (ISBN 9789970700011)
- Wangusa, Ayeta Anne and Violet Barungi, eds. Tears of Hope: A Collection of Short Stories by Ugandan Rural Women. Femrite Publications Ltd, Kampala, Uganda. 2002. (ISBN 978-9970700028)
- Barungi, Violet. Gifts of Harvest. (Fiction: Short stories). Femrite Publications Ltd, Kampala, Uganda. 2006. (ISBN 9789970700042)
- Moffet, Helen and Violet Barungi. Pumpkin Seeds And Other Gifts: Stories from the FEMRITE Regional Writers Residency, 2008. Femrite Publications Ltd, Kampala, Uganda. 2009. (ISBN 9789970700226)
- Twongyeirwe, Hilda and Violet Barungi, eds. Beyond the Dance: Voices of women on female genital mutilation. (Non-fiction). Femrite Publications Ltd, Kampala, Uganda. 2009. (ISBN 9789970700196)
- Twongyeirwe, Hilda and Violet Barungi, eds. Farming Ashes: Tales of Agony and Resilience (Non-fiction). Femrite Publications Ltd, Kampala, Uganda. 2009. (ISBN 9789970700202)
- Barungi, Violet. Talking Tales. Femrite Publications Ltd, Kampala, Uganda. 2009. (ISBN 9789970700219)