Lauri Kubuitsile launches ‘The Scattering’

THE Parliament Restaurant is bubbling with conversation tomorrow evening. Authors and lovers of all things literature have gathered to celebrate Motswana author Lauri Kubuitsile’s debut historical novel ‘The Scattering’. Centred in the early 1900s and detailing the horrors of Shark Island, this book is a story of love and loss, that ties in deeply with the history of Namibia and Botswana.

Before the official announcement, Lauri’s daughter Katini, a singer, rapper and poet who has been a part of rapper Zeus’ live band, soothes the audience with a stunning cover of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Stand By Me’. It’s always fantastic to listen to live entertainment from African artists.

Prince Kamaazengi Marenga, a pan-Afrikan poet, also shared some art from his poetry anthology titled ‘P-O-E-M-S’ also known as (Pieces of Enlightenment Moulding Society). “I learn from the sky to be cloudy sometimes. I learn from horses to leave behind prancing paces of poetry.” Others in the line-up included Charles Kakomee, a multimedia artist who portrays his art in English, Otjiherero and Setswana.

MC’d by ‘Bullies, Beasts and Beauties’ co-author Sylvia Schlettwein who said she felt indebted to Lauri for the knowledge that was imparted to her. Author Ellen Namhila spoke on behalf of Peter Katjavivi. “Lauri has found the words. She has created a living story and poses painful questions that speak to the Namibian experience. How do you trust again? How do you love again?” And the book emphasises some of these questions, which Wame Molefhe, award-winning Motswana writer, briefly touched upon. “Lauri is an inspiration to me.”

The reason why Kubuitsile decided to write this book was out of guilt, she explained. “We didn’t have much money so we would camp at Swakopmund. One year, we went to Lüderitz and then the next year, we went to South Africa where I read Jane Katjavivi’s novel at the Cape Town Book Fair. I learnt about Shark Island and I was disgusted with myself.

That’s how the book came about.”

So far, Kubuitsile has published three children’s books, two detective novellas, and three collections of short stories for children in collaboration with other Batswana writers. She was the 2007 winner of the BTA/Anglo Platinum Short Story Contest and received the Botswana Ministry of Youth and Culture’s Orange Botswerere Award for Creative Writing in the same year. In 2011, she was shortlisted for the Caine Prize.

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