TAKE 5 with Innocent Immaculate

Innocent Immaculate Acan describes herself as a Ugandan from the West Nile region.

She is currently studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery. “I’ll be 21 later this month. I was raised by my mom, and have two sisters. I’d say I’ve been writing since I was nine, although my earlier writing is nothing to brag about,” she says.

She is the winner of the Writivism Short Story Prize for 2016. 

1. Does your studying medicine in any way affect your writing?

Yes, it does - positively and negatively. For me, medicine is a bottomless mine of potential stories waiting to be told, and a form of unwitting research. There are many things I can now write about with authority because I learnt about them in class. The course is demanding though. I barely have the time I need to write; studying eats up most of it. 

2. What is your favourite topic to write about?

I love writing about the surreal. Fantasy is definitely my favourite genre. I think it’s because my earliest memories of literature are of fairy tales about dragons and trolls, markedly fantastic writing. Once in a while, though, I sit down and write a mushy love story with emotions and clichés seeping through its pores. 

3. Why did you submit a piece to Writivism, and how did it feel to win?

I was nudged into submitting by a friend. Winning was actually a little anticlimactic. By the end of the Writivism festival week, I felt as if I had used up all of my excitement. When I heard I’d been shortlisted, that was the peak of my excitement. I felt validated; someone had read the product of the chaos in my mind and responded to it!

When I met the other writers and read their stories, I was content to bask in their brilliance. At that point, I felt that it was enough that my story would be shared with the world together with these four masterpieces. When I won therefore, I was in a state of shock. Then I was terrified. It was a big deal. It is a big deal. I was going to have to write something better than Sundown, and many people would be waiting.

I didn’t want to let anyone down and make them feel like my win had been a fluke. I still don’t. It’s all in my mind’s hands now.

4. What is the hardest part, in your opinion, of being 20?

The world sees you as an adult, but you don’t see yourself as one. The jump from child to adult is so abrupt, it’s jarring. I’m still trying to adjust to the weight of the expectations I can feel. 

5. What do you want to do next year?

I want to write more and better. I’ve been focusing a lot on short stories, but I’d like to try my hand at a novel. I also want, need, to read more than I’m doing right now, and I hope to have a lovely shelf filled with literature by African writers.