Wole Adedoyin interviews Evaristo Arineitwe: The Best Way to Write is to Start

WA: TELL US ALL ABOUT YOUR WRITING BACKGROUND –WHAT YOU’VE WRITTEN, WHAT YOU’RE CURRENTLY WRITING?
EVARISTO: My writing started way back in S.2 at Kabale Trinity College (2005), Uganda when my teacher of English Language, M/s Kate Kawera, read my compositions in English Language. She was my teacher of English Language and later (S.3- S.4), my teacher of Literature in English as well. Her comments on my work motivated and awakened in me the love for Literature. She told me that ardent writers are avid readers! I started composing poems (of course, raw ones) which I could share with classmates and friends like   Richard Tumushabe, Oscar Kamukama and Grace Abaho.
My perception of literature especially poetry grew as I advanced to A' Level (S.5&S.6) and later on, University. However, I was somewhat sceptical about publishing my work in big platforms and publishing companies as I thought it would involve huge costs (which I could not meet at the time). Besides, I was not aware of free publishing platforms like IHRAF. Owing to this, my poems would end in school and University magazines like The Ray (for St. Mary’s College Rushoroza where I was a teacher of Literature and General Paper from 2018-2023) and The Kab Mirror (for Kabale University where I have been teaching since 2014)!
While working at Kabale University, I got chance to interface with Professors like Assoc. Prof Benon Tugume (Kabale University) Prof. Egara Kabagi (a vising scholar and a writer at Kabale University from Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology-Kenya), Prof. Timothy Wangusa (Bishop Stuart University), Assoc. Prof Danson Sylvester Kahyana (Makerere University) and many others.
My first poem “The Return” was published in Where Broken Hearts Go and Other Poems (edited by Egara Kabagi etal). Also, my three poems “The War mongers”, “Loud Silence” and “The Boiling Point” were published later (2023)   in Thorns, Tears and Treachery: A Collection of Poems, Short Stories and Art Work on the Sudanese Civil War by the International Human Rights Movement (IHRAM).A year later (2024), I published my first poetry collection titled The Boiling Point and Other Poems. All these books can be accessed on amazon.
Currently, I am also editing an anthology of poetry tentatively titled, Echoes from Mother Nature as well as my autobiography tentatively titled Mending Broken Pieces.

WA: WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT A PIECE OF WRITING?
EVARISTO: Quite a number of things excite me about a piece of writing or different pieces of writing but, the outstanding one of all is the novelty that a writer creates in their work! The way writers come up with an out-of-this-world language to communicate their message in quite novel ways captivate my reading! Therefore, I am always greatly fascinated by the style of writing. How a writer differs from others is, in my opinion, informed by the way they write (the style they use)! However, a topic being handled may be just as novel as the style used thereof!

WA: WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS AND WHY?
EVARISTO: My favourite writers are William Shakespeare for the timeliness of his works. His poems and plays deal with message(s) that are relevant to all generations. The universality of Shakespeare’s works fascinates me. Also, I admire Charles Dickens for his long descriptions (a trade mark of his style). Ngugi Wa Thiongo is also a great African writer that I admire because of his satire, a style he wields as he writes his novels. I am also fascinated by Romantic poets like William Wordsworth, John Keats, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake etc.

WA: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A NEW WRITER STARTING OUT?
EVARISTO: As hitherto said, great writers are avid readers. Therefore, my advice to new writers is that they have to read widely. Besides, they have to get out of the dream of “I will write” and come to reality by writing something small every day. They could write a voluminous piece of work (say a novel) in piecemeal. Postponing writing to a future date may be the tomorrow that never comes! No procrastinations! Other things like professional advice on how to make the work better can fall in place (once one has the work)! The muse never finds us lazing about or dilly-dallying. We have to write something!

WA: WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE?
EVARISTO: I am inspired by real life (what I encounter in my life or what others people encounter in life)!I feel that writing about topics like hunger, war, poverty and disease, could contribute in one way or another, towards changing the current state of affairs! This is particularly so with the issues pertaining to the environment. When writing, I am also greatly inspired by nature.

WA: DO YOU HAVE A WRITING ROUTINE? A PLACE THAT’S SPECIAL?
EVARISTO: I have a writing routine. Every week, I must write something on my biography or poetry collection(s). However, tight schedules at the work place tend to tempt me to stop writing but, I carry on regardless. One has to cultivate a habit of writing something, however small! That is what keeps me moving. Otherwise, time can never be sufficient.
My usual sport is Kabale university library. There is a quiet spot where I normally sit to work on my writing projects. I also prefer serene environments where I can reflect on life! This may be standing on the hills of Kigezi overlooking L.Bunyonyi all alone.

WA: HOW, WHEN AND WHY DID YOU FIRST START WRITING?
EVARISTO: I started writing as early as 2016 but, it became serious in 2019. I drew most of the inspiration from a Professor friend and my lecturer as well. He had published four poetry collections and two novels. He taught me creative writing at my masters’ degree and, like my secondary school teacher of English language and literature, he told me that I had a hidden talent in creative writing (especially poetry) that I needed to explore. He could read my poems and give me constructive feedback. In 2020 and 2021, I was able to concentrate on my work (thanks to the two years of Covid-19 lockdown).

WA: WHAT WAS THE FIRST PIECE YOU EVER HAD PUBLISHED?
EVARISTO: The first piece that I ever published is “The Return”, a poem published in Where Broken Hearts Go and Other Poems (edited by Egara Kabagi Etal). My first poetry collection titled The Boiling Point and Other Poems was my first book published by Generis Publishing.

WA: DO YOU ADDRESS PARTICULAR THEMES OR ISSUES IN YOUR WRITING?
EVARISTO: Yeah! I address quite a number of themes in my work. As already said, I am fascinated by nature and the environment-the destruction of which irks me. The global issues that man grapples with also inform my writing. I wouldn’t love to delve deep into elaborations lest some readers begin to read my work subjectively (basing on what I say about the work). A piece of work ought to be analysed and interpreted by readers for its own merit.

WA: HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SENDING YOUR WRITING OUT INTO THE WORLD?
EVARISTO: The first time I published my work or rather had my work published, I was very excited! I was literary on cloud nine! I got motivated and encouraged to write more! I was happy that at least, I would not leave this world without leaving it a copy of my creativity (as William Shakespeare would put it).

WA: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS FROM?
EVARISTO: I get ideas from the wealth of nature (wonders of God’s creation) as well as different happenings, events and phenomena in life. I also draw inspiration from a wealth of other works that I read (not re-writing the very ideas necessary! It could even be rethinking some ideas thereof).

WA: HOW DID YOU GET YOUR PUBLISHER?
EVARISTO: Some publishers are well known. Browsing and surfing the internet for the publishers’ addresses, emails and the like comes in handy. Being a staff member at Kabale University, I am on various academic platforms. This way, I meet many academics (some of whom are writers themselves).Then, on these platforms also, members share calls for publications and eventually, I respond to them. This is how I got to hear about The International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM).

WA: TELL US WHAT KIND OF RESPONSES YOU GET FROM AUDIENCES.
EVARISTO: Having taught for close to twelve years, my readership includes High School and university students and fellow teachers. My readers   tell me that my writing is very satirical. They also say that the imagery I use therein is apt. Here is one of the comments on my first poetry collection from an emeritus professor of literature (name withheld):  “Evaristo Arineitwe …. brings to the craft of his own poetry all the essentials of poetic economy, poetic image, poetic musicality, and the nitty-gritties of poetic form, such as what constitutes and binds together the elements of a single line of verse and a grouping of a number of verse lines. This is in addition to his conscious alignment of words to create or suggest atmosphere, attitude, mood…..”

WA: HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOU?
EVARISTO: I can be reached through my watsapp number (+256781403134), personal email (arineitweevaristo@gmail.com) or institutional email (evarineitwe@kab.ac.ug).  I am also on research platforms like Google scholar, academia and research gate.

WA: TIPS, TRICKS, THINGS TO PASS TO DEDICATED WRITERS?
EVARISTO: The best way to write is to start.
Read widely.
Always visit your manuscript.
Keep your heart set on your dreams.
Share ideas with in a circle of friends and family members.
It is better to keep a kind of journal (or so to say, a kind of book where you note ideas as they come through real life, dreams and forms).Ideas have a tendency “to play hide and seek” when you need them most. Therefore, they ought to be recorded as they come.

WA: ANY TYPICAL/COMMON MISTAKES THAT NEW WRITERS TEND TO MAKE?
EVARISTO: Whereas it is good to be ambitious, sometimes being excessively ambitious is very dangerous. Beginners should not get obsessed with money thinking that their work has to turn out as a blockbuster or a best seller! Their expectations may not be the reality.
Also, sometimes, were are bent on having nothing but the book (at all cost). This may affect quality of the final output. One has got to take their time to edit or/and prove their   work.

WA: WHICH OF YOUR BOOKS WAS THE MOST ENJOYABLE TO WRITE?
EVARISTO: My first poetry collection titled The Boiling Point and Other Poems was the most enjoyable to write. Being the first complete book I ever wrote, I was very happy to publish it and though it took me somewhat a long time, I loved the experience all the step of the way.

WA: TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK? WHAT WAS THE JOURNEY LIKE?
EVARISTO: My first published book was The Boiling Point and Other Poems. The journey was long. True, I had the poems but, they were in raw form. I had two complete years of the Coivd-19 lockdown to myself. In this time, my otherwise haphazard ideas began to take a regular shape. I edited my poems every time and again (especially after getting comments from my reviewers/editors).There was a smooth flow of communication between the publisher and I. However, at a certain point, the publishing director thought I was over correcting the work. None the less, with relentlessness, the publication project was put through in the end.
 I should hasten to add that self-publishing can be challenging and costly. New writers ought to beware of some publishers who may ask exorbitant fares under the pretext that the writer is doing self-publishing (and so has to meet all costs –even unnecessary ones!)That was my greatest disappointment. A contribution to scholarship ought not to be exorbitantly charged. If the quality of the work is very poor, the publisher ought not to even enter a bargain! The monetary element of publishing made me raise eyebrows over the legitimacy of some publishers. New writers ought to be prepared for such unprofessional scammers of publishers!

WA: WHAT IS THE KEY THEME AND/OR MESSAGE IN THE BOOK?
EVARISTO: The key theme is the indispensability of love in human nature. I consider this to be very key (albeit the fact that there are other themes like wars/violence in post-independent Africa and the rest of the world, environmental degradation, and its vindictive nature, despair, and the absurdity of life) because, it is good news that love still wins amidst all these tempests of life!

WA: WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE?
EVARISTO: I can be reached through my watsapp number (+256781403134), personal
Email (arineitweevaristo@gmail.com) or institutional email (evarineitwe@kab.ac.ug).  I am also on research platforms like Google scholar, academia and research gate.

Evaristo Arineitwe hails from Kabale District in South Western Uganda. He went to St. Mary’s Boys Primary School for his primary education, Kabale Trinity College for his Ordinary and Advanced level education. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Arts with Education (B.A.Ed.) from Kabale University (with English and Literature as his teaching subjects) and a Master’s degree of Arts in Literature and Communication (MALC) from Bishop Stuart University. Since 2013, he has been teaching English Language, Literature in English and General Paper in Ugandan schools like Kabale Trinity College, St. Mary’s College Rushoroza, Nyabikoni Secondary School and Bishop Kivengere Girl’s School Muyebe. Besides, he has also taught Literature at Kabale University at undergraduate level for nine years (since 2014). His three poems; “Loud Silence”, “The War Mongers” and “Boiling Point” were published in Thorns Tears and Treachery, a Collection of Poems, Essays and Artwork on the Sudanese Civil War by The International Human Rights Arts Movement (IHRAM) in 2023. His poetry collection titled The Boiling Point and Other Poems was also published by Generis Publishing in 2024. In this interview with Wole Adedoyin, he talks about his passion for writing and his works.