WINZ Newsletter, Issue No 20

It  was in May last year when Win-Zimbabwe held its inaugural writers' meeting at the Theatre in the Park, Harare. This year, this same month of May, we will be launching our 2011 Events Calendar but at a different venue, that is, the Book Cafe. This is a time for us to reflect on what we have done and what we want to do. We believe in the actual writing and actual publishing and not just 'dreams' that are only nine-day wonders. So much have happened that we, as Win-Zimbabwe, are proud of. But we also would like to make  up for  what we missed. Our events last year, few as they may be, were un-sponsored, and still this year, we haven't secured funding but the partnership with Global Arts Trust has brought new hope in our hearts. Partnerships are the way to accomplish our objectives, especially at this time when Win-Zimbabwe is but a small kid (with big brains). All in all, we owe it all to the support and deep love we get from established  and new writers in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, it is motivating to note that local journalists are making use of our exclusive articles from this blog. While we  so much appreciate this, we clamor for acknowledgment. Arts journalists are welcome to all our public events. Together, we can make a difference and change the writing landscape.

WRITERS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ZIMBABWE
in partnership with 
GLOBAL ARTS TRUST

kindly invites you

to the combined launch of its 2011 Events Programme

and celebration of Culture Week.

Date: Saturday, 14 May 2011

Time: 10 am – 1 pm

Venue: Book Café (Fife Avenue Shopping Mall)

Literature is our culture, be there!

CULTURE MATTERS

By

Beaven Tapureta

 
Mr. Nicholas Moyo, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe Deputy Director
(Photo: Zimbojam)

The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe announced this year’s Culture Week will be running from May 14 – 21 under the theme ‘Towards Professionalising the Arts’.

The commemorations will be spread across the country, with various arts associations, including Writers International Network Zimbabwe, expected to conduct exciting cultural events at different venues.

In a statement sent to various arts associations, NACZ Harare province program officer, Sylvia Muwoni, said Shona Arts Centre is hosting the Harare launch of Culture Week this year.

‘These celebrations enable us as Zimbabweans to reflect on our culture and remind ourselves of the need to preserve our rich cultural heritage. The week is an opportune time to promote the uniqueness of our different cultures. Arts and Culture practitioners and consumers alike should come together to celebrate and harness our cultural diversities for economic development. Therefore we encourage hotels, restaurants, retailers, schools to come up with activities as a way of celebrating our culture,” she said.

Muwoni also urged arts organisations to work together to make the 2011 Culture Week a memorable one.

Culture Week is a localised version of UNESCO’s World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development which is observed on May 21 annually.

However, some time ago, artists and other cultural workers in Zimbabwe felt that a single day alone is not adequate to celebrate culture and therefore asked the NACZ to make it a weeklong event so that all aspects of culture are celebrated. NACZ is the main coordinator of this weeklong event.

THE REGULAR WRITER

With

Tinashe “Mutumwapavi” Muchuri

                                                                   BOOK REVIEW

Title:                Go Higher

Author:            James T Nyamajiwa

Year:                2011

Publisher:         Veriest Solutions International

ISBN:               079744372-X

Category:         Motivational/Self-Development

On reading this 20-page motivational book, my memories were thrown back to my school days when my teachers would write on my end-of-term report (to my parents), “He needs to pull up his socks”.

There was a time I understood why the teachers sounded ‘rough’ then. They were encouraging me to take my studies to a higher level. I began working hard and the comments shifted from ‘poor’ to ‘good’, ‘better’, ‘best’, ‘excellent’, and ‘well done’. 

Go Higher kind of reminds the reader of the old days when our ancestors used to solve disputes through storytelling.  In the book, the author managed to use the story of the snakes effectively in telling this motivational story of going higher despite challenges. He took the Prophet Nathan’s style of conveying a message. Those who read the bible are aware of the story of David after taking Bathsheba the wife of Uriah. It was effective to Prophet Nathan.

This is good use of allegory by Nyamajiwa (pictured).

The other appealing thing about this book is the clear message that it conveys to every one of us, regardless of who we are or what we do. We all need to have a listening ear. We need to consult

others when the going gets tough. A plane in Going Higher takes off but among the passengers there are also other poisonous passengers, snakes. The loaders at the airport forgot to lock the box of snakes and as the plane gained altitude, the snakes began to pop out one by one and slid onto the aisle. Panic struck all except one pilot who called the boss back at the airport. “Go Higher,” advised the boss. And the plane flew upwards, much to the fear of the pilot who again asked his boss for advice.

“I said go higher captain,” advised the boss.

The captain listened, only to learn later that the snakes would be rendered weak and harmless at an altitude of 1200! At this altitude, the boss advised the captain that they can just pick the snakes up since they are now harmless and they can put them back in their box.

Had the captain not listened, he would have caused disaster. The pilot had the courage to go higher, at whatever cost, because, for him, that meant saving lives.

When faced with challenges, you should go on in order to accomplish your vision. Even if, ‘a few have been bitten and have instantly died’ (page 7), the Pilot went higher and higher and saved many lives.

Nyamajiwa also makes use of quotes of famous thinkers to augment his ideas.

I find the book a must read but I don’t know why many typos were overlooked. Also, I feel that one of the quotes (“A man without ambitions is like a woman without beauty.”) is questionable in this day and age of gender sensitivity.

I feel the simile used ‘woman without beauty’ is a bit discriminating. Being the first attempt by the author to inspire his readers to go higher in whatever they are doing, I respect the pen that spilt the ink in giving such exceptional advice to many of us.

Keep writing!