Uuganaa, two months old in rural Mongolia, wearing a handmade hat and a deel by her mother.
Uuganaa Ramsay was born in Mongolia and grew up in a yurt, living a nomadic life eating marmot meat and distilling vodka from yoghurt. After winning a place on a teacher-training course she came to the UK, and now lives in Scotland. Uuganaa won the Scottish Asian Women’s Award For Achievement Against All Odds presented by Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland. This award recognises the achievements of a Scottish Asian woman in the face of adversity and challenging circumstances – a true modern day heroine.
Mongol won the Janetta Bowie Chalice Non-Fiction Book Award from the Scottish Association of Writers. Mongol is her first book.
You can find her on Twitter as @Guuye in English, @GuuyeMongol in Mongolian or contact here.
TALKS AND APPEARANCES (please see Events page)
Radio and Podcast
UNITED NATIONS – WORLD DOWN SYNDROME CONFERENCE – UN RADIO/ WEBTV
“Changing stereotypes against people with Down syndrome: THE MEANING OF MONGOL”
BBC World Service News Hour – Reclaiming Mongol
Since the 1860s, Mongolians have had to live with a racist legacy that also insults people with Down Syndrome. Now a liberal Swedish provocateur film-maker is feeling the heat, and a group of activist Mongolians around the world, are determined to reclaim the words that mean the most to their proud nation.
BBC WORLD SERVICE & Radio 4 The Meaning of Mongol documentary presented by Uuganaa
Uuganaa Ramsay questions how her ethnicity became the official term for Down’s Syndrome, then a slang word for stupid, and reconnects with its true meaning in Mongolia.
BBC Radio Scotland – Good Morning Scotland
How easy is it to change the meaning of a word?
Radio Gorgeous – Author Uuganaa Ramsay: Mongol, A mother’s memoir
Author of the Week: Uuganaa Ramsay
TV interviews and videos
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK – Changing stereotypes against people with Down’s syndrome
Star TV Mongolia – Mongols around the globe
Star Television, Mongolia – Talk With Me
Mongol TVHD, Mongolia – Orgil Tsag
Ayrshire Film Company – Uuganaa Ramsay – Mongol Book Launch
Khulan Jugder – Mongol Book Launch in London
Articles and interviews
STV – Slur word ‘mongol’ to be removed from Oxford dictionary
Scotsman – Let’s commit to ending the historical misuse of the term ‘Mongol’
STV News – Why we need to end the historical misuse of the word ‘Mongol’
Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland
BBC News Ouch blog – The Meaning of Mongol
STUFF.NZ – When the two meanings of the word ‘Mongol’ collide
The Herald – I realised what it was like to be a Mongol
The UB Post – A Life Redefined
The Word on the Streets – Uuganaa Ramsay, author and campaigning mum
Saraband Publishing – Mongol – Q & A with Uuganaa Ramsay
The Panoramic Journeys Blog – A Traditional Tsagaan Sar
Reading and Writing Blog – Author Spotlight: Uuganaa Ramsay
It(Mongol) has since become a bestseller…
Words in The Treehouse Blog – Interview: Uuganaa Ramsay author
“… I laughed …, I shivered reading Mongol…”
Books with Wine and Chocolate Blog – Mongol by Uuganaa Ramsay
“… she is someone to watch, both as an artist and as an activist”
Mongol by Uuganaa Ramsay – Bookslut
An evening of Mongolian meanings
theedinburghreporter.co.uk
THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS: Bad luck to cry when you say goodbye
BOOKSFROMSCOTLAND.COM
Mother of Mongols
msmagazine.com
International platforms
IN SPANISH:
Uuganaa Ramsay fue criada en Mongolia, pero ahora vive en Escocia. Recientemente ha estado explorando por qué su etnia está vinculada con el síndrome de Down, que además es la condición genética de su hijo.
BBC MUNDO Por qué mongol se usa despectivamente como sinónimo de síndrome de Down
Mongoles y el Síndrome de Down, la ignorancia colectiva en el mal uso de un término
“No me gusta esa palabra”, dice una mujer sentada frente a mí en el tren, que señala el título del libro que tengo en la mano: “Palabra horrible”, dice. Es mi libro de memorias, pero ella no lo sabe. Fui yo quien le dio el título de una sola palabra, “Mongol”.
LA OPINION
¿Utilizas la palabra mongol para ofender?
CENTRAL INFORMATIVA CHILE
proyectopuente.com.mx – MEXICO
Hoy Digital, Santo Domingo, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
IN MONGOLIAN:
PERMANENT MISSION OF MONGOLIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS
NEWS.MN
MONGOLIAN NATIONAL BROADCASTER
AND OTHERS…
IN THAI:
MONGOL MEMOIR IS OUT IN THAI มองโกล
IN RUSSIAN:
