Moses Isegawa, also known as Sey Wava (born 10 August 1963), is a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n author. He has written novels set against the political turmoil of Uganda, which he left in 1990 for the Netherlands. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, ''Abyssinian Chronicles'', was first published in Amsterdam in 1998, selling more than 100,000 copies and gaining him widespread national attention. It was also very well reviewed when published in English in the United Kingdom and United States, in 2001. Isegawa became a naturalized Dutch citizen, but he returned to live in Uganda in 2006.

Early life and education

Sey Wava was born to a middle-class Catholic family in

Kampala, Uganda Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala, Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa, and Rubaga. Kampala's metropolitan area consi ...

. His parents sent him to good schools, and he attended a Catholic seminary and the University of Makerere.Jacqui Jones, "Traversing the Abyss: Moses Isegawa - An Interview and Commentary"
''English in Africa'' 27 No. 2 (October 2000), accessed 28 Oct 2010

Career

Wava worked as a history teacher before leaving for the Netherlands in 1990 at the age of 27. When he began publishing his writing formally, he used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Moses Isegawa. His first novel, ''Abyssinian Chronicles'', a ''

Bildungsroman In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...

'' set during the 1970s and 1980s, was written in English but first published in

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

in the Netherlands in 1998. It sold more than 100,000 copies in a nation of 16 million people, creating a stir that earned him an invitation to Parliament and a profile on television. When published in English in 2001 in the UK, Australia and North America, the novel was also generally well received, although its faults were also noted by critics. For instance,

Michiko Kakutani is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Early life and family Kakutani, a Japanese Americ ...

of ''The New York Times'' wrote: "His story has a strange amoral power, an immediacy and raw energy that capture the chaotic move of his times." His second novel, ''Snakepit'' (1999), was set directly in the years of the dictatorship of

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...

. It is an examination of evil and corruption.Norman Rush, "The Last Word on Evil"
''New York Review of Books'', 7 October 2004, accessed 28 October 2010 Isegawa resided for more than 15 years in

Beverwijk Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast. A ...

, a small town near

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, and became a naturalized Dutch citizen. He regularly visited

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, and moved back to Uganda in 2006.

Works

*''Abyssinian Chronicles'' (as ''Abessijnse kronieken'', Amsterdam: 1998; in English, United States: Vintage, 2001; UK: Picador, 2001) *''Snakepit'' (1999, Netherlands, as ''Slangenkuil''; New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004, in English)

References

External links

Author spotlight: "Moses Isegawa"
Random House Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Isegawa, Moses 1963 births Living people Ugandan novelists Ugandan male novelists Makerere University alumni