I was struck by how few authors I could name who are women. With Makewana, the ‘mother’ responsible for rain, as our namesake, my group set out to end the literary drought
, Daughters of Makewana: A study of women in selected Malawian novels in English. We thought about Malawi’s history, and the leadership of rainmakers in the 18th century. We could not resist the urge of connecting creation and creativity, and we felt that the rainmaker’s strong image would be inspirational to women seeking to end the country’s literary drought. Our slogan, “Let words rain and reign”, reflected all that Makewana’s Daughters was aiming for.
We have not found all the answers as to why Malawi does not have as much creative writing by women. I have talked to women and girls who have been writing for a long time, not because of Makewana’s Daughters, but because they felt that urge. For some, their work has been kept hidden in closets. They felt it was enough to write. For others, the work was rejected by publishers.
Using our online forum, we publish short stories, poems and songs as well as personal narratives. We have even created a comic strip, Nerdy Niva, which addresses another kind of drought – female protagonists created by female writers in comic strips. Among the many things I am happy about is that we are no longer just an online forum, there have been times when we have been to a school and heard girls clap their hands and shout, “Makewana!”We have also taken part in workshops with organisations such as Pepeta Malawi, a feminist platform fighting against gender-based violence, and Wona Collective, which focuses on social advocacy using the arts.
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