Mildred Barya

Mildred Barya

Mildred Kiconco Barya (1976- ), 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, Men Love Chocolates But They Don't Say (2002), and The Price of Memory: After the Tsunami (2006).[1][2]

Mildred Kiconco Barya

Barya has also worked as journalist and travel writer. From August 2007-August 2009, Barya served as Writer-In-Residence at TrustAfrica, a Pan-African foundation based in Dakar, Senegal. Currently, Barya is in the MFA program at Syracuse University, New York, USA. She has previously lived and worked in Germany, Botswana, Kenya and Uganda. Besides her career as a writer, Barya has also worked as a Human Resource Advisor for Ernst & Young in Uganda.[3][4][5]

Barya is a founding member[6] and currently serves on the advisory board of African Writers Trust[7], "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to foster knowledge and learning between the two groups."[8]

Contents

Education

Born in Kabale District in southwest Uganda, Barya attended Mwisi Primary School and Kigezi High School. In 1996, she was awarded a full government scholarship to attend Makerere University in Uganda. She graduated in 1999 with a BA in Literature. She also while at college joined FEMRITE -- Uganda Women Writers Association, where she worked closely with Goretti Kyomuhendo, then Program Coordinator, and Violet Barungi, then FEMRITE editor.[9][10][4]

In 2000, Barya took certificate courses in Information, Communication and Globalisation at the International Women’s University, Vifu, in Hamburg, Germany. In 2002, she studied Editorial Practices and Publishing Management at Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. From 2002-2004, she rejoined Makerere University to earn a Masters degree in Organisational Psychology.[4][5]

In 2006-2007, Barya held a writer's residence fellowship at the Per Sesh Writing Program in Popenguine, Senegal, under the instruction of Ayi Kwei Armah.[1]

Critical reception

Barya's first published collection of poems, Men Love Chocolates But They Don’t Say, won the Ugandian National Book Trust Award for 2002.[1] Her second collection, The Price of Memory: After the Tsunami, also received favorable critical attention as shown by the two reviews cited below.

Yusuf Serunkuma Kajura, a reviewer for The Weekly Observer (Uganda), claimed that Barya's "poetry blossoms on indigenous African imagery, rhetorical devices and ideas, easily comparable to Okot p'Bitek's long poem, Song of Lawino." But Barya's poetry "is an enthusiastic trumpet, subtly blown for the woman in society, unlike Lawino’s defence of the traditional African values."[11]

Gaaki Kigambo, a reviewer for the Sunday Monitor (Uganda), claimed that "Barya’s subjects are informed by the things we are used to. In this era of mobile telephony, everyone will identify with Mathematically Proven Love." Kigambo also stated that such poetry "reveals the romanticist in Barya."[12]

Regarding Barya's third collection of poems, Give Me Room To Move My Feet, Peter Nazareth, Professor of English at the University of Iowa, USA, claimed that "the poet breaks down and mends herself through spirituality, religion, and poetry, bringing back to life what seemed to be dead" and that Barya "never stops loving Mother Africa." [13]

Barya's short fiction has appeared in FEMRITE anthologies, Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, African Love Stories Anthology, Picador Africa, and Pambazuka news. Likewise, an excerpt from her novel What was Left Behind earned her the 2008 Pan African Literary Forum Prize for Africana Fiction, as judged by Junot Diaz, the Dominican-American Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer and essayist.[2][5]

Published Poetry and Fiction

Poetry

Short Fiction

References

  1. ^ a b c Barya, M. K. (2008, June). "Bio." MildredBarya.com Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://mildredbarya.com/?page_id=2
  2. ^ a b Pan African Literary Forum. (2008, May). "Writing Contest Results." PALF. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www.panafricanliteraryforum.org/contest.html
  3. ^ Trust Africa. (2008) "Who We Are: Our Staff." TrustAfrica.org. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www.trustafrica.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=123&Itemid=103&lang=en
  4. ^ a b c Barya, M. K. (2006, March 7). "Creating an enabling enivronment for writers." Crossing Borders #10. British Council Arts. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://radiophonics.britishcouncil.org/magazine/issueten/
  5. ^ a b c Barya, M. K. (2008, June). "Press Release." MildredBarya.com Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://mildredbarya.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/press-release.pdf
  6. ^ Barya, Mildred. "The future of African writing: personal reflections." Pambazuka News. 2011-08-10. Issue 544. Retrieved August 24, 2011 from http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/75591
  7. ^ "Advisory Board." African Writers Trust. Retrieved August 24, 2011 from http://www.africanwriterstrust.org/advisory-board
  8. ^ "What is African Writers Trust?" African Writers Trust. Retrieved August 24, 2011 from http://www.africanwriterstrust.org
  9. ^ Musoke-Nteyafas, Jane. "Ugandan Writers: Meet Mildred Barya Kiconco." AfroLit. March 10, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2011 from http://afrolit.com/ugandan-writers-meet-mildred-barya-kiconco/335/l.aspx
  10. ^ Caples, LaKeisha L. "I try to highlight social issues affecting women - Violet Barungi." AfricanWriter.com. May 10, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2011 from http://www.africanwriter.com/articles/508/1/I-try-to-highlight-social-issues-affecting-women---Violet-Barungi/Page1.html
  11. ^ Kajura, Y. S. (2007, April 26). "Poetry with answers." The Weekly Observer. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www.ugandaobserver.com/new/archives/2007arch/ent/may/ent2007042611.php
  12. ^ Kigambo, G. (2006, April 16). "Barya the romanticist unveiled." Sunday Monitor. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/insights/Barya_the_romanticist_unveiled.shtml
  13. ^ "Give Me Room To Move My Feet." Amalion Publishing. Retrieved August 24, 2011 from http://www.amalion.net/catalogue_en/item/give_me_room_to_move_my_feet/

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