Award winning writer and novelist, Lauri Kubuitsile, is set to release her latest offering, ‘The Scattering’,which is a fiction novel that chronicles the 1904 German-Herero War, its trail of destruction and the emotional truth of the war’s impact. A historic publication that brings a human perspective to a painful occurrence, the book will be officially launched at the Maun Library on the 29th of June in conjunction with Poetavango.
“When I set out to write this book, I thought about how horrible tragedies like war are often given to us in numbers. The mortality rate in the concentration camps was between 45-75%, with 12-18 people dying every day. You feel war and tragedy in your heart when it is brought down to the individual life. That’s what I wanted. I wanted to create a novel that made war real through individual stories,” explains Kubuitsile.
The Scattering is a moving and intimate novel providing a fascinating glimpse into the indomitability of the human spirit. The story traces the fates of two remarkable women whose paths cross after each has suffered the devastation and dislocation of war. The story is set against the backdrop of Southern Africa’s colonial wars at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Local performers, vocalist Katini as well as poets Charles Kakomee and Jame Mutenge in Otjiherero will grace the launch.
This publication is Lauri’s first full-length adult literary novel. It was chosen to form part of Exclusive Books promotion for Africa Day, which took place on 25 May. A second launch will be held at The National Assembly in Windhoek, Namibia on the 20th of July. Both launches are a collaborative effort between Lauri and Sauti Arts and Performance Management.
Lauri is a two-time winner of The Golden Baobab Prize for children’s literature, the winner of the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture’s Botswerere Prize for Creative Writing, and was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize. Her short stories and essays have been published around the world in literary magazines, trade magazines, and anthologies including Mslexia, The New Internationalist, Karavan, New Contrast, and Jungle Jim only to mention a few. Her work has been translated and published in Swedish, Slovakian, and French.
“Kubuitsile has crafted an ambitious, powerful and poignant historical novel that brings to life a very important period.” ÔÇô Tendai Huchu, author of THE HAIRDRESSER OF HARARE.
