The Third Issue of Weganda Review Explores Home in Ugandan Fiction and Nonfiction

The third issue of The Weganda Review is out this January 2024 and it features Ugandan fiction and nonfiction that explore the many meanings of home and homelessness.

The Weganda Review is a Ugandan literary journal run by the managing editor Rodney Muhumuza. Founded in 2023 as a project of the cultural nonprofit Weganda Foundation, it is a platform for writers and artists whose works deliver deep truths with “honesty, intelligence, authority, and a desire to be understood.” Although it is based in Uganda, TWR is a Pan-African journal. Check out the Brittle Paper feature of the inaugural issue here.

The Weganda Review’s third issue (January– March 2024) has been published in print and online. It includes essays on Ugandan tribalism, the nettlesome legacy of Uganda’s ruling party, Sol Plaatje’s South Africa, Julius Nyerere’s faithless followers, and the homelessness of Ugandan modernist art. Although this is not a themed issue, home is the general drift.

On the fiction end, we have fiction by Nnamdi Oguike and flash non-fiction by Ber Anena. Poetry is by Gloria Kiconco, Sihle Ntuli, Salimah Valiani, Ntungwerisho Gareth Ezra, and Atuhairwe Agrace Mugizi. Art portfolios belong to Ronex Ahimbisibwe and Ocom Adonias. The Quote of the Quarter is extracted from Stoner by John Williams.

Although most of the writers are based in Uganda, specifically the capital city of Kampala, there are also some from outside Uganda. South African poet Sihle Ntuli, Nigerian writer Nnamdi Oguike, and Canada-based Gerald Bareebe are also included in this issue.

Find the full issue here. Check out the table of contents below.

Essays

Gravediggers by Rodney Muhumuza

Affricates by Richard Poplak

Political Remains by Gerald Bareebe

Nyerere’s Disciples by Kwezi Tabaro

Artful Homelessness by Matt Kayem

Poetry

Wycliffe’s Song; Body Temple House: Two poems by Gloria Kiconco

Guruguru Rock: One poem by Salimah Valiani

King Kong Enters a European Museum; The State versus King Kong: Two poems by Sihle Ntuli

Her mouth was painted with what they wished was milk; Letting Go: Two poems by Ntungwerisho Gareth Ezra

Me Too: One poem by Atuhairwe Agrace Mugizi

Fiction

The Stone by Nnamdi Oguike

Diary

Riding by Paul Ssembatya, Boda-Boda Man

Q of the Q

John Williams via Stoner

Memoir

Privileged Despair by Ber Anena

Art and Photography

Weganda Cartoon by Joseph Mugume

Patches by Ronex Ahimbisibwe, with an introduction by TWR

Weganda Expression by TWR

Arguments by Ocom Adonias, with an introduction by TWR

Cover art by Ronex Ahimbisibwe

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