ENOCK MAREGESI2nd WINNER MABATI-CORNELL KISWAHILI PRIZE FOR AFRICAN

LITERATURE 2015AUTHOR OF KOLONIA SANTITA

THE INTERVIEW

How did you start writing?

I started writing by developing a passion. A passion of writing. Whenever I had

anything that I thought was worth jotting down I would do so without delay or hesitation. I started writing essays and

anything like letters to my girlfriend at the time, friends and family. That is what

got me into the writing business.

My first fiction ever to write was Magaidi wa Namba One (Namba

One being a place), a crime fiction short story about a local gang in

Dodoma. This was a 15-page story that I wrote when I was 15 or 16 years old at Bihawana Secondary

School in Dodoma region.

It was about a group of terrorists who had headquarters in the

outskirts of Dodoma and operated in and out of the city until one day

one of their top bosses was apprehended and later sentenced

to life imprisonment and hard labor, in a maximum security

prison.

Consequently, all the top operatives of the group were arrested and all were given sentences according to

the crimes they had committed.

What inspired you?I was inspired by so many people and so

many situations as a writer: Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Ben Mtobwa, Euphrase

Kezilahabi, Penina Mlama, Shafi Adam Shafi, action movies like Bruce Lee’s The Big Boss and Chuck Norris’s Missing in

Action, story-telling from my grandparents and other elders just to

name a few.

The most inspiration of all however was Shaaban Robert – a true patriot of

Tanzania and a legend of the Kiswahili language – whose books gave me

strength (and hope) to write my first novel Kolonia Santita. Kolonia Santita

was initially titled Salina Cruz – which is a town in southern Mexico where the

Kolonia Santita cartel was founded.

As soon as I finished my O-Level studies in 1992 I started writing

Kolonia Santita during the gap year. When I started writing officially so

to speak, 23 years ago, I had a beautiful dream in the garden of

my father’s house in Dar es Salaam.

A war of ideas battled endlessly within my head for a long time

about a certain idea; setting the dawn of the basis of my career, and

reminded me once again of the beauty of the talent and the ability of the aptitude; and how powerful I

might become to entertain and educate people by the power of the

word.

The audacity of having a go or rather of having an attempt and

overconfidence and hope, gave me the foundation to think and write on pieces of papers mountains of ideas and imaginations. I had the potential I supposed, of becoming

one of the best writers and entertainers in Tanzania.

In a daydream in the garden I fantasized a book published somewhere beyond

Africa, preferably in the UK or US where publishing is first class. My mind flashed

a novel that was going to be internationally set in more than four

cities across the world, and which was going to be a number one literary

blockbuster someday! I wanted my story to be published away hoping to get the best of the quality of the books and the

best of the quality of the services.

I wrote Kolonia Santita, from there, for three months consecutively until I had the first complete draft. (I was 20 years

old when I did that). Whenever I thought the manuscript was ready for publishing I found out later that it wasn’t ready. It was childish. In 1999 however I thought

it was ready and I took it to Popular Publications Ltd (PPL) for a publishing

contract.

But PPL rejected the manuscript. It rejected it following an invaluable report

prepared by the late Saifu D. Kiango, who was editor of BAKITA ( which is

Baraza la Kiswahili la Tanzania, National Swahili Council of Tanzania). Kiango

suggested in his report so many changes in the manuscript before I had to take it back to publishers but I failed to do that. I failed to take it back to the publishers.

PPL had lost some of the chapters in the Kolonia Santita manuscript (chapter 7, 8

and 9) and I wasn’t happy with the answers that were given to me by Mr Mhando (I have forgotten his other

names) that he/the office didn’t know where those chapters were and that

he/the office had taken the manuscript to BAKITA in its complete form. Mhando

was chief editor of PPL.

Because of that I withdrew my incomplete manuscript from PPL and vowed to correct each and

every error that Kiango had suggested; and vowed to publish it independently overseas whenever I

had a chance.

Between 1992 and 1999 I had written other five manuscripts, two

of them complete and three incomplete, crime fictions and love

stories. In 2004 I relocated to London where I had a good chance to research all my six manuscripts

to the standard that I always desired.

I had a desire in all my life of being an advocate for the Kiswahili

culture and language. I think we all need to be advocates for this language and other African languages for these are the identities of our continent.

In 1995 in fact, I made a vow of fighting for the Kiswahili language for the rest of my life. But I new I

couldn’t have achieved that without first achieving education.

So in 2010 I enrolled at The Writers Bureau in Manchester for a course in creative writing – just to be able to fulfill my dreams, and to have a

profession in writing as well.

The Writers Bureau gave me confidence. I was living in a burrow,

in the darkness. However, skimming across a few books of the course, I saw light at the end of the tunnel. I knew from that moment on that if I studied hard I would

have got the experience and expertise and guidance that I really

needed.

I wanted to be a good writer and entertain people as well as educate them. My wish was to become one

of the best writers and sellers of the entire writing community in

Tanzania, and beyond.

How did you win?

It was a surprise. News about the new Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili prize for African

Literature came to me as a surprise. I first got it from CDEA (Culture and

Development East Africa) director Ayeta Anne Wangusa in March 2015 in her

office in Dar es Salaam. Then I prepared my manuscript and sent it through the

prize’s website for the inaugural competition.

When Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for

African Literature Professor Abdillatif Abdalla rang to inform me that my

manuscript had won second place I was very grateful. I was so happy that I

locked myself in my room and danced for three hours nonstop and was happy

from that day to this moment. Top reason why my manuscript won the

prize was 'pushing the envelope'. That is, perseverance, hardworking and

discipline.

What is your advice to upcoming writers?

The only advice I should give to upcoming writers is education. No matter how talented or skilled you are, you will never reach your full

potential without expert guidance.