Fiston Mudacumura was born in 1990 in Rwanda, a small landlocked country in East Africa. Before joining the publishing industry, he was a sales person for Hippo Rwanda, a Chinese herbal toothpaste company. In his free time, he has been an active part of the local artistic scene: as a performing artist in slams and as a volunteer and part time worker for several music and dance festivals and competitions in Rwanda.
Fiston majored in Modern Languages and Publishing in the former National University of Rwanda.
Through his academic training, Fiston Mudacumura grew awareness of the Rwandan publishing industry weakness—lack of books, especially children’s books, few publishing houses with little knowledge on the industry. As he felt he a growing sense of responsibility to his community, he decided to contribute actively to the Rwandan transition towards a knowledge-based economy aimed by the government for 2020—and is there a better source of knowledge than books? He decided to start his own publishing company to contribute to enhancing literacy and reading culture in Rwanda.
In addition to his publishing business, Fiston Mudacumura has set a corporate social responsibility programme called “Well of Knowledge and Fun”, which organises book donations and runs free reading camps for children every Saturday and in holidays.
Fiston Mudacumura is also a writer. He has authored five books. In his free time, he loves reading, swimming and travelling.
Mudacumura Publishing House Ltd was registered in 2013 and published their first book Ubucuti bwa Mpyisi na Ntama in 2015. Mudacumura Publishing House is an author-to-reader-centred business which strives to create a comfortable creative refuge for authors and a healthy, fantastic well of fun and knowledge to the readers.
Mudacumura publishes mainly books for children aged 0–12, mostly fiction and concept books. It met success with the concept book series Fora ndi nde. Mama niyanduje—a silent book by leading authors Eric Nshimyumukiza and Regis Muhirwa—has also generated a lot of attention in international book fairs.
Mudacumura Publishing participates in book fairs outside Africa, including Bologna Children’s Book Fair (Italy), Frankfurt Book Fair (Germany) and the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d’Angoulême (France). Nationally, the publishing company is among the most promising local publishing houses in Rwanda.
Visit www.mudacumurapublishing.com for more information.
