Books they read with Rogers Atukunda
Rogers Atukunda
What you need to know:
Beatrice Lamwaka talked to Rogers Atukunda, a Writer and the Marketing and Communications Representative of Nyati Motion Pictures about his passion for books.
What do you like about books?
Books are the immobile airplanes that take you to different parts of the globe .They solve riddles about life and human nature. They teach new philosophies, give hope and inspire through entertainment, amusement and education.
As an artist, what have you benefited from reading books?
To write better, argue, criticise and inspire. These, I learnt from the life of Hellen Keller, writings of D.H Lawrence, George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. Art is the fulcrum of life since it duplicates human nature and mirrors society.
What kind of stories appeal to you?
Comic because life is dull without laughter; optimistic because I disassociate with tragic events; inspirational because I need a reason to live; and critical because they provoke thought. A thoughtless, uncritical and unreflective life to me is no life at all.
Which novels would you read if you were stuck on an island?
Mine Boy by Peter Abrahams and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Abrahams presents the plea of the Africans and the dehumanising impact of a fascist apartheid regime in South Africa. Bronte is different in approach, she merges the gap between the powerful and the insignificant.
Which character do you admire?
Ibrahim Bakayoko in Sembene Ousmane’s revolutionary novel God’s Bits of Wood. Bakayoko is not mythical or divine. He is a man-flesh and blood- who does things for the good of humanity and practically becomes the change he wants to see in the world. He patriotically unites four towns of Thies, Dakar, Bamako and St. Louis to rebel against colonial exploitation in French occupied Senegal. He reminds me of Nelson Mandela, Mirabeau, Martin Luther, Gandhi or Obama.
Which Ugandan books have you read?
The Prodigal Chairman by Godfrey Kalimugogo. The Invasion by Atwooki Rwagweri which tackles Aids and its devastating effect. Equally piteous, is The Invisible Weevil by Mary Karoro Okurut. I read the History of Uganda in Kosiya Kifefe by Arthur Gakwandi. Together with The Burdens and The Floods by John Ruganda. I found the diverse Ugandan cultures; people’s philosophies, lifestyle and their relationships in Upon This Mountain by Timothy Wangusa, Song of Lawino by Okot PBitek and The Bride by Austin Bukenya.
Which are the most memorable books have you read?
When Rain Clouds Gather by Bessie Head. The tale of Makhaya Maseko who escapes from South Africa where ‘Africans are called boys or dogs’ to Botswana. Since my inception, I have been ‘an impossible child’ because I seek for freedom at every stage of my life. I twice ran away from home in search for self-independence.
Which books are you reading?
I am reading a critical book titled People Power, Battle the Mighty General by Vincent Nzaramba. It gives hints on how to topple totalitarian regimes using non-violence; the way Gandhi defeated the British in India.
