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Outlook: The letter that brought my grandmother back to life

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The letter that brought my grandmother back to life

20/09/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - Outlook, The letter that brought my grandmother back to life

The Rwandan playwright whose search for her lost grandmother helped a nation heal

Rwandan playwright Kiki Katese never knew her grandmother. When she was killed in the Rwandan genocide, Kiki needed a way to heal — so she wrote her a letter.

Kiki Katese is a Rwandan playwright whose extended family were all killed in the 1994 genocide. She didn't have a chance to even meet her grandparents. Unable to mourn a grandmother she never knew, Kiki wrote her a letter to find some connection. It helped, so she encouraged others to do the same in a bid to breathe life into those who were lost and overcome the trauma that still hangs over the living. It's now a hit play: The Book of Life.

Wim Kruiswijk is a Dutch beachcomber who collects messages in bottles. He replies to every letter on his typewriter creating friendships with people all over the world. He spoke to Outlook's Katy Sheriff in 2018. 

Annie Spence is a Michigan based librarian whose only friends as a child were the characters in books. She has now compiled a book of letters she has written to them, from love letters to Bilbo Baggins and letters of support to Matilda. This interview was first broadcast in 2018.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar

(Photo: Kiki Katese. Credit: Dahlia Katz)

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