We were asked to give a 4-5 min speech at the opening of the 17th Time of the Writer on the theme- Freeing our Imaginations, taken from Binyavanga's wonderful videos.
Here is what I said.
For writers a prescribed imagination is death. But sadly, in Africa, from every corner, there are threats trying to curtail what we can think, who we can be- and therefore -what we can write. Even the simple act of saying- I want to be a writer- is smashed down and destroyed. A writer? Be serious. Go be a doctor, an engineer, a nurse.
In Botswana, where we have no programme for writers in the entire country, the vice chancellor of our only university at the time, was once presented with a proposal to start a creative writing programme. He said- what does Botswana need writers for? This is a perfect example of how the lack of imagination in Africa is killing us. How the colonisation of our minds is still strong and vibrant- and deadly.
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