WIN LITERARY NEWSLETTER, VOL 2, ISSUE NO 29

EDITORIAL 

WIN director Beaven Tapureta presenting acceptance speech after receiving the ‘Good Works Promotion Award’ on behalf of WIN

Group photo of guests at the L. Ron Hubbard Landmark Site 1st Anniversary celebration on July 31, 2026 [Photo by L. Ron Hubbard Media Team]

Organisational friendships thrive where there is appreciation of one another’s efforts, visions. This is what the one-year old partnerships between the L. Ron Hubbard Landmark Site in Alexandra Park and local organizations have shown. 

Writers International Network Zimbabwe (WIN) was one of the organizations invited to celebrate the Site’s first anniversary on July 31, 2026, at its location in Harare. The organization was represented by two of its board members Rumbidzai Mubirira, Tinashe Muchuri and its director.

From left: WIN board members Rumbidzai Mubirira and Tinashe Muchuri, and director Beaven Tapureta holding the award

As a show of gratitude to ‘friends of L. Ron Hubbard’ for their support in the last 12 months, the Site awarded volunteers certificates in different categories. WIN was recipient of the ‘Good Works Promotion Award’ for its free work to familiarize Zimbabwean authors with L. Ron Hubbard large body of internationally celebrated literary works. 

Since its official launch last year, the Site has made many friends with various local organizations and personalities that volunteered to promote L. Ron Hubbard’s legacy in Zimbabwe. These friends have been inviting more other friends to tour the Site and get to understand who L. Ron Hubbard was and what legacy he left for Zimbabwe and beyond.  

WIN would like to thank Dr Ignitius Mabasa for the love and warm guidance he blessed WIN with in the past years. His resignation from the WIN Board few months ago due to pressure of work will leave an indelible mark. Yet it is indeed comforting that Dr Mabasa has promised to always be there for WIN.

Please enjoy our newsletter!     

WIN ONLINE WORKSHOPS UPDATE

The monthly online workshops (on the Whatsapp platform) which started April this year are a virtual space for growth which WIN members need to add to their creative writing learning schedules. The inaugural workshop was facilitated by respected American poet Dr Suzanne Ondrus under the theme ‘How to Put Your Poem in Different Containers’. 

In May members enjoyed a great moment with renowned writers Memory Chirere and Chirikure Chirikure who co-facilitated a workshop under the topic ‘Writing and Performing Poetry and Managing the Process’.  

WIN hopes to resume this online workshops program this August after taking a June-July break. Do you want to take part? Join and subscribe now! For more information, feel free to contact +263 77 651 8653.  

SOME NEW BOOKS, MORE READING FUN! BUY THE ORIGINAL!

Destined for Stardom (autobiography) by Dr Simon Lennox Mkondo

Contact: +263 77 330 3188

Makunun’unu Maodzamoyo (re-print) by Dr Charles Mungoshi

E-copies to be available soon 

Contact: +447930886603 or +263784427525

Author Hosea Tokwe (above) with his new short story collection The Khule Tokwe Diaries

Contact: +263 77 374 7814

Mukoma Mutsemhure Negitare by Simbarashe C Kavenga

Contact: +263 77 507 1268 (publisher)

 Unstoppable March of the Human Condition: Essays on Politics and Literature by Andrew Chatora

To be released soon

Contact: +44 7733 383834

Whispers and Screams (a poetry anthology)

Contact: +263 73 380 4947

L. RON HUBBARD WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS OF THE FUTURE CONTEST 2nd QUARTER WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Second-quarter Writers of the Future:

First Place – Richard Kirby from Thailand

Second Place – Scott R. Dantzler from Florida

Third Place – C. M. Andrews from Utah

Second-quarter Illustrators of the Future:

Gilbert Rodriguez from Florida

Rowan Salah from Egypt

Josh Viera from Connecticut

Congratulations to the winners! You can also enter the Writer Contest.

Visit the website: www.writersofthefuture.com

SOME SCENES L. RON HUBBARD LANDMARK SITE 1ST ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION IN HARARE

ZWA HOLDS SECOND HARARE WRITERS’ MEET-UP

On Saturday, August 1, 2026, Zimbabwe Writers Association held its second writers’ meet-up at Theatre in the Park, Harare Gardens. Below are few images from the meeting. 

Do you want to be part of the monthly writers’ meet-ups? Contact ZWA official +263 77 293 9136 

SHORT STORY

THE TRAP THAT ATE FUTURE

By Black Mampara – Edwin Msipa (2026)

Future was 15 years old and in Form 3 at Broomfield High. He was a bright student. Teachers liked him because he asked questions and his hand was always up during Maths lessons. At home in Chitungwiza, he lived with his mother Mai Future and his younger sister Tino. His father had passed away two years before.

Life was hard. Mai Future worked as a vendor at Makoni Shopping Centre. Every morning, she would leave the house at five to set up her tomatoes and onions at a vending stall. She told Future, "My son, school is your bus to take you out of poverty. Do not play with it."

Everything was fine until the second term when a new boy came to their class. His name was Tino. Not his sister. This Tino wore expensive sneakers and had airtime every day. He drove a second-hand Honda on weekends and told stories about clubs in town.

"Future, why are you always broke?" Tino asked one day after school. "Come with me. I know how to make quick money."

Future said no at first but the pressure grew. Tino started giving him free lunch. He gave him 5 dollars for transport. Slowly, Future began to follow him after school.

The first time they met behind the netball courts. Tino and two older boys were smoking something that smelled sweet and sharp. 

"Try it," Tino said. "It makes you forget problems. It makes you brave."

Future coughed and said no. The second time, he took one pull. The third time, he bought his own.

Within a month, the drug had him. He started missing school lessons. He became rude to teachers. At home he stole Mai Future’s vending money. When she asked him, he shouted and slammed the door. 

At school he changed. He and Tino would break into lockers and take phones and tuck-shop money. They would bully Form 1 boys and take their lunches. Teachers called his mother. Mai Future cried at the headmaster’s office. 

"Please help my child," she begged. "This is not the boy I raised."

Future did not listen. The drug told him he was a king. He needed more money for the next fix. One Friday, he and Tino went to a house in Zengeza to steal a television. A neighbour saw them and called the police.

The police came fast. Future tried to run but he fell. The handcuffs were cold on his wrists. That night he slept on a concrete floor at Zengeza Police Station. The cell smelled of urine and fear. Older men cursed and coughed. 

The next morning Mai Future came. She did not shout. She just looked at him through the bars. Her eyes were red. 

"Future," she said softly, "is this the future we prayed for?"

In court he was given community service and a warning because he was a first offender. But the record stayed. His place at Seke High was taken. His friends from class crossed the road when they saw him.

Today Future is 17. He sweeps the yard at the police station every Saturday. He attends drug counselling sessions on Wednesdays. He is trying to go back to school through night classes. 

He speaks to Form 1 and Form 2 learners now. He stands in front of them with his head down. 

"I thought drugs would make me big," he says. "They made me small. I lost my mother’s trust, my school, and my name. One bad friend can push you into a trap. Say no while you still can. Your future is in your hands, not in a bottle or a wrap."

Mai Future still sells tomatoes. But now Future helps her after class. He has not touched drugs for eight months. He tells himself every day, "Bhora mberi. The trap is behind me."

(Story published from BLACK MAMPARA BOOKS AND ARTS PLATFORM Whatsapp channel)

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THANK YOU

WANDAYI'S “THE CRUX” IS A REMARKABLE ROMANCE NOVEL

By Beaven Tapureta

Front cover of the novel 'The Crux'

So far with two novels in Shona (Ndaiti Ndinotewo and Joti Nekatani) and one in English (The Crux), Fanuel Wandayi’s marvellous storytelling gift is already visible, and it positively sets a place for him among the new Zimbabwean novel writers. 

His three thrilling novels, published in a short period between 2020 and 2023, indicate his untiring writing energy. Readers are at ease with writers such as Wandayi because they keep producing thoughtful stories reflecting a broad range of themes in human life, themes usually taken for granted.    

Previous reviews of his two Shona novels have theoretically tried to compare him with his contemporaries such as Oscar Gwiriri, because of their handling of the traditional anti-hero technique, citing the eventual misfortunes that befall his protagonists. His second novel Joti Nekatani, the main character Martin gives the impression he would be celebrated at the end, but no. The same thing happens with Hatiponi in Gwiriri’s Hatipone.

Wandayi’s English novel The Crux (2023) offers an experimental romantic tale which is set in a village, township, farm, where the characters are battling different obstacles such as disapproval, cultural belief, superstition, politico-economic challenges, and unsolved issues from the past. 

Miriro, a brilliant sixteen year old Form 4 student, is obviously under-age according to law, but this fact is ignored as she is catapulted into a whirlwind of infatuated emotions which other characters, except his boyfriend, do not understand. An orphan living with her maternal grandmother, Miriro is too young to see the difference between love and infatuation. She admits in her narrator’s voice, “I was just sixteen and therefore too young to understand love, maybe it was infatuation.” 

This is an attention-grabbing opening to the story by the author. It’s what everyone see happening today, under-age girls being surreptitiously welcome in the marriage institution and the girls’ relatives showing no interest to report statutory rape cases for fear of shame in society. 

Later in the ninth chapter when Miriro reveals she’s pregnant, Granny mentions, ‘I am going to see that he gets locked up for statutory rape’. But no action happens.  

Should the blame for early marriages be placed on the adults, or the young girls themselves or the teachers? 

It is shown in the story that Miriro’s Maths teacher has secret feelings for his students. 

However, Miriro’s situation allows the unravelling of some hidden truth about the other characters and their different situations also. Through the author’s gripping plotting, the story becomes not only the narrator’s (that is, Miriro’s), but also a story of her deceased mother, of domestic disputes which orphaned her, of cultural and modern views about love, of her her boyfriend Gabriel the widower, of the land reform, of hope for a better future.     

Gabriel, the stranger who appears to her in the village while she’s watching the ‘southern star’, assumes the Biblical angelic character in Miriro’s imagination. A few days after meeting him, she tells us, ‘I began to believe that maybe he was an angel that had sojourned the village from heaven…” 

Though it is a romantic relationship, the author’s wariness with language is worth applause. Not only love does come alive through controlled, vivid description, but the landscape also. One can visualize it when an affectionate kiss is described. Yet also anger, bitterness, sympathy, other emotions are captured with intensity. The reader is invited to sit with Miriro at sunset and marvel at the ‘southern star’ and the “crescent-shaped moon that was over to the west looking like a golden nail stuck onto the heavens by some extra-terrestrial giant.” As the story begins, a romantic worship of the ‘southern star’ which is traditionally believed to foretell lovers’ future launches the reader into a suspenseful search for what happens next as the star becomes a real person in Miriro's life.

Wandayi’s descriptive powers are enviably immense. Later, when the two lovers attempt a customary marriage at which ceremony the hidden dirt in Miriro’s past rebounds and disagreements occur, one senses Miriro’s (and Gabriel’s) disappointment and sudden loss of appetite through the disdainful description of the served food: “sadza cooked of sorghum meal and black meat of indeterminate source that needed a lot of chewing, and a wash-down of husband’s tea with a few stalks floating, stuck onto the lips of the cups .../ …each bite producing contortions upon his face”. 

A large segment of Africa’s new generation has been ignorant to consequences of rushing into marriage. 

A character named Robert stirs up the customary marriage ceremony because he feels betrayed over a 'contract' made in the past between Miriro’s family and himself following a murder between relations. On the other hand, Gabriel and Miriro, with their madly-in-love attitude, do not take time to heed the elders’ advice, especially her loving grandmother, about certain complications in their relationship. 

The Crux will contribute so much to Zimbabwean literature insofar as it experiments with the concept of love, its emotions amidst a storm seemingly beyond control.

Fanuel Wandayi, the author, was born in Chirumhanzu. He holds a degree in Marketing Management from Midlands State University. The Crux is his first English work. 

Writer Fanuel Wandayi

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MORE IN OUR FORTHCOMING 

WIN LITERARY NEWSLETTER

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WRITERS MEET FOR LITERARY MOTIVATION

Senior writer Shimmer Chinodya (centre) seen here with some of the writers who attended ZWA Saturday event at Theatre in the Park

On Saturday July 4, a group of writers invited by Zimbabwe Writers Association (ZWA) spent the afternoon at Theatre in the Park, ‘far from the maddening crowd', refreshing and engaging in book talk and exchanges.

True that nowadays the ultra-busy day-to-day life often interferes with the occupation of writing, thus the Saturday event was a significant outing for writers to call forth new positive energy.

For accomplished author Shimmer Chinodya, writers’ mixers such as this have always been significant platforms of inspiration.   

“It was great to meet with old and new writers and friends over a chat and a drink. It felt like the times we used to meet as ZIWU back in the 80s,” he said.

In the 80’s (and 90’s), just as Chinodya reminisced, ZIWU or Zimbabwe Writers’ Union brought a sense of community among local writers some of whom are the legends we remember, honour and celebrate today. 

Writer, veteran journalist and communications expert Ray Mawerera, who also attended the event, said it was an afternoon well spent. He expressed why such writers’ informal get-togethers are essential.

“The writers’ fellowship was awesome. It wasn’t a meeting as such, just an afternoon of informal chats and sharing. What we didn’t get in numbers was made up for by the quality of the intelligent conversations which were fun and useful. People who only knew each other by name got to put faces to names, new friendships were formed and the overall impression I got was that this was one long overdue interaction. Speaking for the venue hosts, Daves Guzha spoke of the clear connection between theatre practitioners and writers. I’m sure as word spreads of this first such fellowship, we will see more people at the next one but, all in all, it was for me an afternoon well spent!” said Mawerera.

The afternoon gathering was attended by writers and poets from Harare. 

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Don’t miss the next WIN LITERARY NEWSLETTER!

BOOK PIRATES POUNCE ON "THE POLYGAMIST"

 

We learn with sadness that while we're celebrating Sue Nyathi's rise to stardom, some book pirates are draining the author's joy, not only in Kenya as reported, but all over, even in her home country Zimbabwe where soft copies of the book are wildly circulating on social media. We join voices against BOOK PIRACY, the evil must stop now. The author deserves DIGNITY.

ARTISTS AGAINST PIRACY!

CONGRATULATIONS PETINA GAPPAH AND SUE NYATHI

 

Two celebrated Zimbabwean writers, Petina Gappah and Sue Nyathi, were recently honoured for the value their literary works carry for humanity. Gappah received the international 2026 Flora Nwapa Literary Society Award while Nyathi made us proud as her 2012 masterpiece The Polygamist  is now adapted into television series, courtesy of Netflix.

Makorokoto, Amphlope!

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NEXT ISSUE OF THE WIN LITERARY NEWSLETTER IS COMING SOON

 

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WIN Literary Newsletter, VOL 2, ISSUE NO 28

EDITORIAL

Dr Suzanne Ondrus, an American poet, who facilitated first WIN online poetry workshop with WIN members 

We welcome you all to an inspiring world of writers and writing!

Only four months into 2026 and Zimbabwean writers continue to inspire at home and abroad. Awesome, isn’t it? 

Meanwhile, WIN has begun small to run some activities for its members this year. The aim is to empower members in various ways, and publishing and promoting their works.  

Planned events include monthly online workshops/sessions with a selected facilitator on the Whatsapp platform. Out of these, we hope something tangible will come. On April 25, the first hour-long session focusing on poetry in English had the honour of being facilitated by Dr Suzanne Ondrus, an American poet and scholar.

While much will happen online, WIN hopes to hold some physical get-togethers during the year. Wishing to become a member? You can now subscribe and benefit knowledge, wisdom, skills and new opportunities. We do not promise much, but we will be a helpful friend along your writing journey. The annual subscription is only $5.00. To subscribe, contact +263 776 518 653, WIN executive board member and interim treasurer.

DR SUZANNE AMAZES POETS WITH THE ‘CONTAINER’ IDEA

A group of 26 poets who took part in the inaugural WIN online writing session with Dr Suzanne Ondrus learnt of a new exciting idea of putting their poems in different containers. The workshop, running under the theme ‘Putting Your Poems in Containers’, happened late afternoon on April 25, 2026, on the Whatsapp platform.

Although some poets couldn’t make it due to different circumstances, this indeed was  stepping on new ground for the poets as they had re-tune the mind to think seriously about ‘containers’ they may have been taking for granted, such as a tool box, an empty cigarette container, for-sale ads, doctor’s orders, speed limit signs, clothing labels, etc.

“Containers are like the frames on pictures. When you change the frame of a picture, you change how the picture looks. Maybe you change the frame’s color, size, shape, type of wood, age…” said Dr Suzanne.

The exercises she gave participants included choosing a subject or topic to write on and then make a list of containers to put the poems in. There were beautiful poems shared. 

The ‘container’ concept worked wonders in her 2022 poetry book Death of an Unvirtuous Woman.

“For my work the containers brought forth ways for different people to speak- from the sheriff to children. Also, since some containers are easily recognized by readers, these forms make your poems more accessible, as well as bring a dimension of reality,” she said.

Dr Suzanne’s second book is called Passion Seeds (2014) and it won the 3rd Vernice Quebodeaux ‘Pathways’ Poetry Prize. She has opened doors for the poets who want to share their works with her for critical feedback. Contact:  suzanne.ondrus@gmail.com  or visit her website www.suzanneondrus.com  

The second WIN online workshop is expected in May and will tackle Shona poetry writing. 

75TH ANNIVERSARY OF “DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH”

In commemoration of the 75th Anniversary year of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, the all-time bestselling book on the human mind written by L. Ron Hubbard, WIN commemorated the anniversary of the book with a special Letter of Appreciation to the author, Mr. L. Ron Hubbard. Dianetics explains exactly how the mind works and identifies the source of these unwanted reactions and emotions. It outlines a clear, step-by-step method for reducing the emotional charge behind past stress, helping you feel happier, more certain and naturally confident. The hidden, negative influences will no longer control your responses or your life.

“That mind which understands itself is the mind of a free man.”

—L. Ron Hubbard, Author

When we speak of what L. Ron Hubbard has brought to the field of education, we are speaking of a very special commitment. For quite in addition to the founding of Dianetics and Scientology, he is also among the most widely read authors of all time.

https://www.dianetics.org/

https://www.lronhubbard.org/

NYONI SHORTLISTED FOR AN AUSTRALIAN WRITING PRIZE

Philani Nyoni speaking at a LitFest event some time ago

“Hello!

It is our great pleasure and honour to share ‘Sunday’, a piece by Philani A. Nyoni that was shortlisted for the Varnish Short Story Prize (Australia).

Enjoy and share!”

https://www.varnishlit.com/online/sunday

AFRICAN STORYTELLER IN LOVE WITH CULTURE AND FREEDOM

Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Nomsa Ngwenya

Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Nomsa Ngwenya’s mastery of the short story form has now consolidated alongside her novel writing. 

Ngwenya has naturally handled the short story and novel with an illuminating syncing of lively characters in different places, cultures and different times, and the reader is enamoured by the mystery of the ‘unsaid’ that runs through the stories. 

For the full article, CLICK HERE

SOUTH AFRICAN AUTHOR WINS WRITERS OF THE FUTURE PRIZE

FEAR OF FALSE COPYRIGHT PROPHETS GRIPS ZIM WRITERS 

ZWA Chairperson, Monica Cheru

On March 17 the Zimbabwe Writers Association (ZWA) met at Aftercare Trust College in Harare to discuss ‘the role of writers in protecting and managing their rights’.

The meeting had particular focus on the collective management system in the country, and was attended by writers from ZWA and other organizations.

Long published writers in attendance said they were now done with the palaver about someone collecting their royalties on their behalf. While they acknowledged the importance of a collective management system, their past experience with similar CMOs which could not solve piracy was something still haunting them.  

No wonder the presence of the new RROZ at the ZWA meeting stimulated an emotional debate about the newly introduced Reprographic Rights Organization of Zimbabwe.

Opinions are still divided in the writers’ community about the new RROZ. While, according to the organization’s CEO, Mr A Rimau, there already are some local writers who have registered with the RROZ, ZWA has recently issued out its statement on ‘Reprographic Rights Governance Concerns’ in which, among other things, it is calling for RROZ “to publicly clarify the basis of its representation, including publication of writers whose rights it claims to manage, the terms of that representation, and the governance framework under which those rights are administered”.       

It is clear there’s a lot of ‘convincing’ and unity of purpose that needs to be done in the book sector if the collective management system is to completely work in Zimbabwe.

The accelerating rate of illegal photocopying of books in Zimbabwe has become a nightmare that has dimmed prospects of better economic returns for writers.   

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THANK YOU FOR READING

CONGRATULATIONS 2026 NAMA WINNERS

 

We would like to congratulate writers who grabbed the gongs at the recently held 2026 National Arts Merit Awards ceremony in Harare. We're truly happy for you. May you continue to shine even beyond the applause. Keep writing!

Here's the list of winners (Literary Arts Category):

LITERARY AWARDS

Outstanding Fiction Book

My Affair with Misfortune by Sipho Mpofu, published by Elane Publishing Consultancy

Outstanding Non-Fiction Book

Gonan’ombe Retsika Nemarairo eChivanhu by Morden Tavarwisa, published by Miamuty

Outstanding Children’s Book

Mukanyawashe’s Big Adventure by Gerald Shorayi, published by Essential Books Publishing Company 

Outstanding First Published Work

The Killer Pastor by Entourade Usayi, published by Soar Publishers

KEEP WRITING!