Contents
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Reworking Ugandan history and Ganda oral traditions in contemporary fiction.
Kintu · Manchester Happened
- Born
- Unknown
- Birthplace
- Kampala, Uganda
More people
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is a Ugandan-British novelist and short-story writer. Her books explore family, belonging and women’s lives through stories rooted in Uganda and its diaspora.
Early life
Kampala childhood
Grew up in Uganda and began writing plays while at school.
Teaching
Studied education and taught English and literature before moving to Britain.
Career
- 2001 onward
Creative-writing study
Moved to Manchester for a master’s degree and later completed a doctorate at Lancaster.
- 2014
Kintu published
Her debut novel followed its success in the Kwani? Manuscript Project.
- 2019–2020s
Further fiction
Published a story collection and The First Woman, alongside teaching.
Selected work
Kintu
Traced the history of a Ugandan family across generations.
Manchester Happened
Collected stories of Ugandans in Britain.
The First Woman
Explored girlhood and womanhood; published in the United States as A Girl Is a Body of Water.
Beyond work
Oral traditions
Draws on Ganda folktales, myths and sayings.
Reading communities
Has organised an African reading group in Manchester.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Institutional source ↗Photo: DeuxPlusQuatre. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
