Prosper Ishimwe published his book entitled Neither Tutsi, nor Hutu: A Rwandan Memoir; My Search for Healing, Meaning, and Identity after Witnessing Genocide and Surviving Civil War with Modern Memoirs in 2020. This Assisted Memoir took seven months from the day he first contacted us to the day books arrived on Prosper’s doorstep and eBook conversion was completed. We asked Prosper to reflect on what the publication process was like for him, and what it’s meant to share his books with others.
—Liz Sonnenberg
1. There were other ways for you to convey your story—podcast, documentary, public speaking. Why was it important to you to write your story in a book?
Prosper Ishimwe: I love books, and I love writing, so I naturally gravitate towards books and writing. I never considered other ways I could share my story. I wrote so I could make sense of my past traumas, heal, and also exhume the stories of the people I cared for who died in the genocide and civil war. In hindsight, writing down my thoughts and feelings allowed me to see myself. Reading my thoughts and feelings on paper allowed me to be self-aware, as if I was looking at myself in the mirror. Sometimes, we say things in ways that we do not mean them. Writing allows one a chance to go back and convey what they said in a way they really meant.
2. Some people wait until their senior years to write a memoir, but you wrote yours in your early thirties. How does that make this book different from the one you might have written later?
Prosper Ishimwe: Survival comes with a responsibility. Ironically, tragedy often gives us purpose. I felt a responsibility to heal myself and hopefully inspire other people who have experienced similar traumas to also heal themselves. I did not want to wait until I was older to live my purpose. I strangely felt like—I imagine—a woman who’s pregnant. One way or the other the baby has to come out. As much as writing my memoir was intentional, when I started writing I just couldn’t stop. And after finishing the manuscript, I knew I had to publish it.
3. You say that writing your book was the most rewarding experience of those three decades of your life. Why is that so?
Prosper Ishimwe: Living traumatic experiences often makes us feel trapped in the past. Writing was the only way I knew how to liberate myself and make peace with the past.
Prosper Ishimwe
4. What was the greatest struggle you encountered while writing your memoir?
Prosper Ishimwe: Writing was not challenging at all. Navigating the publishing world was the most challenging part because it was my first book.
5. You explored publishing your book commercially. Why did you choose to self-publish in the end?
Prosper Ishimwe: I chose self-publishing because I realized it was the only way I could write my memoir the way I wanted it to be written, and not in a way it would sell best.
6. In several places in the book, you discuss the idea of “interpreting” life events. In one chapter you write, “I reclaimed the power to decide how to react and interpret the traumatic experiences I had gone through.” What is the role of memoir writing in the interpretation process?
Prosper Ishimwe: Writing a memoir was a very therapeutic experience for me, and I suspect it is for many people. Writing allowed me to look at the thoughts and feelings that came from within me, and gave me the opportunity to find a healthier and more truthful way to interpret them. In hindsight, it was a form of self-cognitive behavioral therapy. It’s easier to organize and make sense of one’s thoughts and feelings once they can see them written down. That’s what made writing my memoir a therapeutic experience.
Interested in reading more? Readers can purchase Prosper’s book at the link below: