In a quiet villa in Kiyovu, 12 women gather every Saturday. There’s tea. There’s laughter. And there’s a heated debate about whether Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower could work in post-genocide Rwanda—with solar co-ops and drone-delivered seeds.
This is Rwandan feminist book clubs 2025—a quiet revolution happening in living rooms, cafes, and even WhatsApp voice notes. These groups don’t just read; they reimagine. They take African and diaspora sci-fi, fantasy, and political fiction and ask: “What if we built this world—here?”
Led by collectives like Umutoni Reads and Imboneza Circle, members swap novels by Nnedi Okorafor, Namwali Serpell, and debut Rwandan author Clarisse Uwase, whose “The Algorithm of Forgiveness” explores AI-mediated reconciliation.
What makes them unique?
- No men allowed (not out of exclusion—but to create space where women speak first)
- Action-oriented: After reading “The Deep” by Rivers Solomon, one club launched a floating library on Lake Kivu
- Multilingual: Discussions flow between Kinyarwanda, English, and French
“In Rwanda, we’re told to ‘move on,’” says founder Marie Claire Uwimana. “But fiction lets us dream forward—not just recover.”
As publishers send advance copies and embassies fund “literary salons,” these clubs prove that the most radical act in 2025 might just be a woman with a book—and a vision.
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