Welcome to Litsy!

This essay collection was written as part of the “Rwanda: Writing as a Duty to Memory“ 1998 initiative involving writers from various African countries (so, not Rwandan, but not Western). They were invited to Rwanda for 2 months to produce literary texts “outside of Western narratives“. These essays feel quickly thrown together. They require a decent amount of knowledge re the genocide to fill in the blanks (not a criticism, just an observation).

Starting early w/ Englebert des Collines (tagged is a different book by same author) for #FoodandLit #Rwanda b/c it's a library book & I don't like to keep them longer than necessary. Englebert, a Tutsi genocide survivor roaming the streets of Nyamata looking for drinks & conversation, told his story to Hatzfeld, a French journalist/novelist whose parents were Holocaust survivors.
@Catsandbooks @Texreader
Pic of daffs for something less depressing

It is impossible to judge a memoir of a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. Mukasonga had escaped through Burundi, married a French man and was living in France when 27 of her family members were murdered. She is a survivor, and with that comes guilt and a desire to tell her story.
I think it is helpful to know about this time and place before going in, she does not attempt to explain the politics or landscape (I had a map open while reading)
4/5⭐

Reading about how the Rwandan regime made the Tutsi people dig up food to plant coffee plants that the government would sell and keep the money from as I sit drinking coffee halfway across the world and 60 years later.
This is not a pleasant book but so important, especially today and thinking that I had believed that the '96 Genocide happened pretty much overnight but learning it was a 40 year battle.

This book has been sitting on my shelf since 2018. I finally got around to reading it and I am sorry I waited so long. What an incredible story. I‘ve been struggling a bit with life in general and reading stories like this makes me realize how resilient the human spirit can be. I have lots of thoughts about this but I cannot articulate them properly.

3.5⭐️

#burundi

Sister Deborah is a healer and prophetess in an early 20th c. African-American charismatic cult that traveled to Rwanda to await the Second Coming. She could well be the “reincarnation“ of a famous queen and witch. We explore her life and others' through 2 POVs. The author based her novel on local history, mythology and stories, so that's another rabbit-hole to fall into. BTW, I loved the ending!

Pic of Lake Kivu: Adam Jones via Wikimedia Commons

Two novellas and three short stories, each set in a different African country; all are devastating and heartbreaking. 💔 Most feature children. This is fiction, but we know it is rooted in truth: exploitation, religious violence, ethnic conflict, poverty, despair.

#The52BookClub24 Sticker on cover (Oprah)
#Pop24 Title complete sentence
#TBRtarot (January) YOU in title
#Roll100 February