LOUISE UMUTONI
OkayAfrica's 100 Women celebrates African women who are making waves, shattering ceilings, and uplifting their communities.
Louise Umutoni is a Rwandan publisher, communications expert and writer. The Oxford University alum is the founder of Huza Press, a groundbreaking Rwandan-based publishing press devoted to supporting African literary craftsmanship. The organizations sells fiction, non-fiction and academic books on the website in an effort to develop Rwanda's reading culture. Umutoni started her career as a journalist for one of Canada’s largest newspapers, Ottowa Citizen, and worked in the legal field before returning to Rwanda to create the country’s first women’s writing group, Andika Ma.
The Huza Prize for Fiction launched in 2016 and aims to acknowledge Rwanda's rising stars. Both English and French works are considered in an effort to show a the modern and complex people, whose experiences cover an array of subjects - not just the 1994 genocide.
She’s dedicated her career to championing African literature—providing a collaborative platform for writers from various African nations to share perspectives and connect with global audiences.
