Recently, performing and visual artists were serenaded by President Ian Khama himself as he awarded them with dozens of prizes on Heritage Day while writers were relegated to a comparatively low-key award ceremony at the National Museum. Even more recently, it was announced that the President is going to honour musicians on Independence Day and soon after, Mascom Botswana unveiled a P 750, 000 sponsorship for the annual Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) awards. Showbiz spoke to two of the leading figures in the literary world in the country, Lauri Kubuitsile, an award-winning author and the chairperson of Writers' Association of Botswana (WABO) and Tom Holzinger of the Bessie Head Heritage Trust (BHHT) about the status quo. The two authors are particularly disappointed that government has not bothered to honour anyone in the literary world in the forthcoming Independence Day celebration.
"Writers are being ignored, especially considering that writers don't appear in the awards in July (Heritage Day) at all. I think the problem starts at the outset, when culture is defined in such a limited way. Culture is not historical; sort of an event pulled up to present day and preserved, though that is part of it, it's dynamic and growing. As I speak, Botswana culture is being redefined, by the time this is printed it will have shifted yet again. We need to crack open our heads and let some fresh air in," said the outspoken Kubuitsile.
