JOSELYNE NZISABIRA has authored 'Urukundo Nanze', a Kinyarwanda fiction book that features a story of a young girl and her life struggles, battling heartbreak, betrayal, shame and regret.
"I was inspired by what I see and hear," said the author who is a medical student at the University of Global Health and Equity (UGHE). "I created the story considering the betrayals and hardships people face in life."
In her story, the young girl, main character, is betrayed by a man she loves which results into childhood trauma, early pregnancy as well as abortion. According to Nzisabira, the story also shows how the issues affected her as well as people around her.
a copy of her book ‘Urukundo Nanze’
"In life, you see someone and wonder why they like or hate something. Many have personal experiences that made them so," she said, adding that the book’s title follows the main character’s change – hating "loving" after the man betrayed her trust.
Nzisabira started writing short stories, short poems and dialogues when she was 11. She said that most of the time her works reflected the socially constructed gender disparities she experienced.
"Urukundo Nanze" loosely translated as "The Love I Detested" is her first Kinyarwanda book that she started working on in December 2021. She declared that writing the book in the mother language is her contribution to Rwandan literature.
"I am a Kinyarwanda admirer and have grown up enjoying Kinyarwanda short stories, but when it came to books, apart from a few history-related books, I rarely saw Kinyarwanda storybooks in libraries. I could search for Rwandan books, and at the end of the day, I would find out that most of the authors published their books in English,” she said.
According to her, local authors should consider writing in their mother language to preserve the language.
"We not only want to build the spirit of writing and reading with English but also with our local language. Let's take an example of the reasons why making grammatical errors when writing in Kinyarwanda is becoming much easier than when writing in English. Some people may argue that it's because Kinyarwanda is hard, but I disagree. It's because we actually don't use the language that much. English becomes easy because we speak it, write essays and assignments in it, and use it,” said Nzisabira who revealed that she had a good experience writing her book as she learned and reminded herself how to write in vernacular.
"I believe,” she continued. "It's going to be easier for me when doing it for the second time. That's how we get better; by using a language more and inspiring the next generation to also use it.”
Nzisabira also noted that a person of any age can read "Urukundo Nanze” and pick lessons.
"A parent can learn from the parenthood theme it addresses and the young ones can learn the wrongs they are likely to do as well as the consequences they might face. Those who had childhood trauma or are dealing with it can also get support. The book tackles relationships in general; between lovers, friends, family and within yourself," she said.
Her challenges include that a lot of Rwandans still don’t love to read since most who are purchasing her book are friends and a low number of others, adding that the platforms and publishing companies to publicize or publish works by young writers aren't enough.
Nevertheless, Nzisabira plans to write many books and boost her career.
Hard copies of "Urukundo Nanze" can be found at Kimisagara, Maison de Jeune on any day from 3p.m-5:30p.m or by contacting the author: 0790166622. The soft copies can be found on https://isomero.rw/product/46/urukundo-nanze