Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award school project
The BN Poetry Award began in 2008 with the aim of promoting poetry for development amongst women. Since then, Rt. Honourable Rebecca Kadaga has taken over as patron. It was registered under the name Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award under the number 169929 in November 2009 pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of the Business Names Registration Act and the rules made thereunder. The owner of this is Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva. The project’s goals will be met by partnering with various stakeholders in the financial and literary sectors for example GILGAL Family Network, Lantern Meet of Poets and Entrepreneurship clubs of schools. Since inception, the project has evolved to meet the financial and literary needs of both male and female students in schools through linking poetry to financial literacy. After several sessions, students will submit poems that speak largely on saving, investment and the culture of money. These poems shall then be reviewed by a panel of judges after which they will be printed and distributed amongst other schools in the region.
Monday, March 15, 2010
WHERE IS MY MUSE?
Where is my Muse? by Nambozo
My best poetry has been inspired and created during times of intense sadness. The state of not having anything to smile about is such a high motivator to write. It was so easy for me then to seek refuge from the prison walls of structure, traffic rules, escaped dreams and misunderstood ambition. I would cry and watch my tears crystallize into verse and as the words appeared and reappeared on paper, my life would take on a new meaning.
I’m often asked about the reason behind my poems like Al Qaeda, In the Restaurant and We made Love on Mt. Elgon and my response is simple. It is easy to fantasize when you don’t have. It is easy to create that which is not. To make something out of nothing. Sadness makes me create. Emptiness makes me want to feel full and so I write.
Now, it is difficult to write because I’m happy almost all the time with a wonderful husband and daughter and great friends. I personally don’t like writing about happy things. Some of my worst poems are love poems, poems about singing birds and smiling flowers. A poem for me should not just make me smile, but make me frown, cringe, throw up, vent, consider and reconsider. Poems are personal and these are all personal opinions.
I do not miss being depressed and always being in want and need. It’s an awful state. I just miss the creative energy that it gives me. I know there is a muse for me somewhere. I’m still searching.
My best poetry has been inspired and created during times of intense sadness. The state of not having anything to smile about is such a high motivator to write. It was so easy for me then to seek refuge from the prison walls of structure, traffic rules, escaped dreams and misunderstood ambition. I would cry and watch my tears crystallize into verse and as the words appeared and reappeared on paper, my life would take on a new meaning.
I’m often asked about the reason behind my poems like Al Qaeda, In the Restaurant and We made Love on Mt. Elgon and my response is simple. It is easy to fantasize when you don’t have. It is easy to create that which is not. To make something out of nothing. Sadness makes me create. Emptiness makes me want to feel full and so I write.
Now, it is difficult to write because I’m happy almost all the time with a wonderful husband and daughter and great friends. I personally don’t like writing about happy things. Some of my worst poems are love poems, poems about singing birds and smiling flowers. A poem for me should not just make me smile, but make me frown, cringe, throw up, vent, consider and reconsider. Poems are personal and these are all personal opinions.
I do not miss being depressed and always being in want and need. It’s an awful state. I just miss the creative energy that it gives me. I know there is a muse for me somewhere. I’m still searching.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Valentine's Day
This year's Valentine's was so so much better than last year's. Last year my husband, 4 month old daughter and I went to the Shires, on top of Tank Hill and saw the view of the whole city at night. Quite romantic. But it was very ordinary and common and I do not do ordinary. People who know me will tell you that. Yesterday,I stayed at home with my daughter who was a little unwell, I watched Desperate housewives, baked cookies and when my husband came back from church, we had katogo for lunch and stayed home together the whole day. Different and exhilarating. I wonder if next year's will top that.
Friday, November 6, 2009
2010 BEVERLEY NAMBOZO POETRY AWARD
2010 BEVERLEY NAMBOZO POETRY AWARD
Push Your Pens to the Pinnacle!
Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award is here again this time linking poetry to financial literacy and so we invite you to push your pens to the pinnacle. The theme for the 2010 Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award is Money and Culture.
Criteria:
Ugandan women residing in Uganda from the ages of 18 to 45
Unpublished poems between 15 to 30 lines
Poems must be in English following the theme, Money and Culture. Translations from local languages are acceptable.
Submit your poems by email to ugpoetryaward@aol.com or by post to P O Box 8470 Kampala, Uganda
Typed poems must be in Times new Roman size 12 single spaced. Handwritten poems must be in blue or black ink.
Submissions will be accepted from November 15th 2009 to March 31st 2010
We accept up to 3 submissions.
Include the title of poem, your name, phone contact and email address separate from each actual submission.
PRIZES:
The first three winners will receive 250 USD, 150 USD and 100 USD respectively. In addition, all first six winners will receive autographed copies of The African Saga poetry collection by Dr. Susan Kiguli and How to Save Money for Investment by celebrated Kenyan author and motivational speaker Ken Monyoncho. All shortlisted winners will receive writing journals.
JUDGES:
1. Dr. Susan Kiguli; celebrated poet and author of The African Saga
2. Iga Zinunula; returnee judge, entrepreneur and poet
3. Joseph Mugasa; President of Literature Association of Uganda and published poet.
Push Your Pens to the Pinnacle!
Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award is here again this time linking poetry to financial literacy and so we invite you to push your pens to the pinnacle. The theme for the 2010 Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award is Money and Culture.
Criteria:
Ugandan women residing in Uganda from the ages of 18 to 45
Unpublished poems between 15 to 30 lines
Poems must be in English following the theme, Money and Culture. Translations from local languages are acceptable.
Submit your poems by email to ugpoetryaward@aol.com or by post to P O Box 8470 Kampala, Uganda
Typed poems must be in Times new Roman size 12 single spaced. Handwritten poems must be in blue or black ink.
Submissions will be accepted from November 15th 2009 to March 31st 2010
We accept up to 3 submissions.
Include the title of poem, your name, phone contact and email address separate from each actual submission.
PRIZES:
The first three winners will receive 250 USD, 150 USD and 100 USD respectively. In addition, all first six winners will receive autographed copies of The African Saga poetry collection by Dr. Susan Kiguli and How to Save Money for Investment by celebrated Kenyan author and motivational speaker Ken Monyoncho. All shortlisted winners will receive writing journals.
JUDGES:
1. Dr. Susan Kiguli; celebrated poet and author of The African Saga
2. Iga Zinunula; returnee judge, entrepreneur and poet
3. Joseph Mugasa; President of Literature Association of Uganda and published poet.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
THE REBEL FELL, THIRD WINNER IN BEVERLEY NAMBOZO POETRY AWARDS
THE REBEL FELL
Somewhere a bullet pierces a woman,
Beyond the reaped edges of her clan’s farmland.
She gets caught in a thicket whose thorns she does not feel,
Limp feet drag onto a tree whose name the woman does not know
With the sun at her back,
Here breaks the charm for luck.
Off her neck are the fetishes
From the sacrificial white hen, herb and hallowed water
To the bosom of the waiting earth.
The woman slumps, face down-
Watching her life drain away
Now the stained soil seeps from her lips;
Heavily the grain is still in the sack-
drawn to the feast a fly lands on her lips.
The light dips lower as the last sounds
Mute in the darkness, still she droops lower
into a night without mourning.
About her who fell unceremoniously
One day someday shall write;
No rock or wood marks the grave
Of these bleached broad bones
Save for a clump of wild sorghum
Hailing her lost name
By Sophie Brenda Alal
This poem won third prize in the first ever Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award in 2009, the first poetry award of its kind for Ugandan women. Sophia Brenda Alal won a cash prize of 100 USD. This award was proudly sponsored by Uganda Women Writers’ Association (FEMRITE), WordAlive Publishers and Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG).
Contact: ugpoetryaward@aol.com
Somewhere a bullet pierces a woman,
Beyond the reaped edges of her clan’s farmland.
She gets caught in a thicket whose thorns she does not feel,
Limp feet drag onto a tree whose name the woman does not know
With the sun at her back,
Here breaks the charm for luck.
Off her neck are the fetishes
From the sacrificial white hen, herb and hallowed water
To the bosom of the waiting earth.
The woman slumps, face down-
Watching her life drain away
Now the stained soil seeps from her lips;
Heavily the grain is still in the sack-
drawn to the feast a fly lands on her lips.
The light dips lower as the last sounds
Mute in the darkness, still she droops lower
into a night without mourning.
About her who fell unceremoniously
One day someday shall write;
No rock or wood marks the grave
Of these bleached broad bones
Save for a clump of wild sorghum
Hailing her lost name
By Sophie Brenda Alal
This poem won third prize in the first ever Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award in 2009, the first poetry award of its kind for Ugandan women. Sophia Brenda Alal won a cash prize of 100 USD. This award was proudly sponsored by Uganda Women Writers’ Association (FEMRITE), WordAlive Publishers and Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG).
Contact: ugpoetryaward@aol.com
BETTER AT DAWN, SECOND WINNER IN BEVERLEY NAMBOZO POETRY AWARDS
BETTER AT DAWN
If I am going home tomorrow
Let it be at dawn
Before I have heard the cock crow
Thrice at noon
But not at dusk
After I have seen lurking shadows on the walls
Neither in the night
When a knock on the door
Shall hang my soul over roasting fire
And set me on a precipice
Let it be at dawn
For then, I shall go fulfilled.
Should I not at dawn
I shall have to return
To settle the score
For I never forgot an injury
Never forgave an insult.
To pay the debts I owe
For I was never dishonest
Then, I shall go in peace
At dawn I must depart
So let me go – at dawn
After I have traveled around this world
Eaten all the delicacies
Drank from the wells of Love, Unity and Justice
And tasted all the sweet wine of forgiveness
When I have found my lost treasure
When I have cast all my miseries into the sea
It shall be utter dawn
And I shall be gone.
By Catherine Kemigisha
This poem won second prize in the first ever Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award in 2009, the first poetry award of its kind for Ugandan women. Catherine Kemigisha won a cash prize of 150 USD. This award was proudly sponsored by Uganda Women Writers’ Association (FEMRITE), WordAlive Publishers, Uganda clays Limited and Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG).
Contact: ugpoetryaward@aol.com
If I am going home tomorrow
Let it be at dawn
Before I have heard the cock crow
Thrice at noon
But not at dusk
After I have seen lurking shadows on the walls
Neither in the night
When a knock on the door
Shall hang my soul over roasting fire
And set me on a precipice
Let it be at dawn
For then, I shall go fulfilled.
Should I not at dawn
I shall have to return
To settle the score
For I never forgot an injury
Never forgave an insult.
To pay the debts I owe
For I was never dishonest
Then, I shall go in peace
At dawn I must depart
So let me go – at dawn
After I have traveled around this world
Eaten all the delicacies
Drank from the wells of Love, Unity and Justice
And tasted all the sweet wine of forgiveness
When I have found my lost treasure
When I have cast all my miseries into the sea
It shall be utter dawn
And I shall be gone.
By Catherine Kemigisha
This poem won second prize in the first ever Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award in 2009, the first poetry award of its kind for Ugandan women. Catherine Kemigisha won a cash prize of 150 USD. This award was proudly sponsored by Uganda Women Writers’ Association (FEMRITE), WordAlive Publishers, Uganda clays Limited and Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG).
Contact: ugpoetryaward@aol.com
Monday, August 24, 2009
SOFT TONIGHT, WINNING POEM OF BEVERLEY NAMBOZO POETRY AWARD, 2009
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
t...r...i...c...k...l...e...of love
I hope you catch every
d.......r......o......p......of me
when I d...r...i...p...intoyourpalms
'cause I feel so...
...soft...
tonight.
By Lillian Akampurira Aujo
This poem was the winning poem of the first ever Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award in 2009, the first poetry award of its kind for Ugandan women. Lillian Aujo won a cash prize of 250 USD. This award was proudly sponsored by Uganda Women Writers’ Association (FEMRITE), WordAlive Publishers, Uganda Clays Limited and Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG).
Contact: ugpoetryaward@aol.com
... 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
t...r...i...c...k...l...e...of love
I hope you catch every
d.......r......o......p......of me
when I d...r...i...p...intoyourpalms
'cause I feel so...
...soft...
tonight.
By Lillian Akampurira Aujo
This poem was the winning poem of the first ever Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award in 2009, the first poetry award of its kind for Ugandan women. Lillian Aujo won a cash prize of 250 USD. This award was proudly sponsored by Uganda Women Writers’ Association (FEMRITE), WordAlive Publishers, Uganda Clays Limited and Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG).
Contact: ugpoetryaward@aol.com
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