PATRICK
02
Chapter 02

The story so far

Patrick Nzabonimpa portrait
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01 — Beginnings

I started writing when I was twelve, filling pages with essays nobody asked me to write. In 2018, I met Marayika, a poet who pushed me further toward writing. Writing became a calling rather than a habit.

A year later, I won a spot at the Pen Pen African Writers Residency in Nairobi, honing my craft alongside writers from Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia. From there, I moved into short stories and children's literature, the one genre where I knew I wouldn't have to suffer for my art.

Patrick Nzabonimpa
02 — On the page

I've had literary pieces published in Brittle Paper, WSA Magazine, and Africa in Dialogue, as well as various anthologies, including Beans Without Korkor? And Other Stories, Twaweza, Threads and Faces: Stories on Identity and Belonging, and Love's Eternal Tale. I'm an editor of Writers Space Africa (WSA) magazine and have served as a judge for the African Writers Awards (AWA) in the short story category in 2024, 2025, and 2026. I also won the Empower Africa Now award for short fiction in 2020.

I'm the founder of the Writers Space Africa – Rwanda chapter and the pioneer of Umukarago, a literary magazine featuring Rwandan and Rwanda-based writers, started mostly because I got tired of asking where to even publish my own work. I've since published my first comic book, Mutoni: The Innovator of Kiruku, in March 2025, and my first short story collection, A Thread of Silent Echoes, in April 2026, through Imagine We Rwanda and Vine Leaves Press (Greece) respectively.

Patrick Nzabonimpa
03 — In the newsroom

My journalism has featured in local and international media such as The New Times (Rwanda), Gospel Times (Rwanda), The Star (Kenya), Bird (across Africa), and The Mirror (Uganda). I was awarded Best Science, Technology and Innovation Communicator by the Rwanda National Council for Science and Technology in October 2023, and recognised as Best Story Writer for mental health by GAERG and Rwanda's Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion the same year. In March 2024, I won the AI Reporting Challenge, organised by GIZ Rwanda and UNESCO East Africa.

Patrick Nzabonimpa
04 — Today

My work is a mix of storytelling, editing other people's stories and poems, serving at Writers Space Africa's Rwanda chapter (a community of Rwandan writers), and copy and content writing. I never decided what I wanted to be when I was a kid, so I'm just doing it all.

Outside of the pages, I'm the second of four kids, a curious type of guy, a home chef to the people I love, a tea connoisseur for days, and someone who loves a good conversation that ends up somewhere meaningful.

Patrick Nzabonimpa
01

Editing

Independent development and copy editor for book-length manuscripts, including memoirs, novels, and anthologies. Editor at WSA Magazine and Umukarago.

02

Community

Country coordinator of Writers Space Africa–Rwanda since 2020 and pioneer of Umukarago literary magazine. Judge, African Writers Awards, 2024, 2025, and 2026.

03

Journalism

Reported on science, technology, innovation, and the arts since 2019. Best STI Communicator 2023; AI Reporting Challenge winner 2024.

See the full list of milestones →
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Writing is my craft and my fire. It's how I question the world, shape meaning, and give voice to what would otherwise stay silent.