EDITORIAL
We
welcome you all to this month's edition of our newsletter, hoping that you are
all in good shape. The month has been filled with real business for the local
writing industry. Events are taking place which any writer should make time to
attend. We are ever so happy with the progress which NoViolet Bulawayo is
making with her debut book We Need New Names. Really, this makes us feel proud
as Zimbabweans. We have been so tied up with preps for our Epworth Community
Outreach Programme but this doesn't mean we have shelved other
programmes/activities. The WIN/GAT Short Story Writing Competition is now
closed but plans are in place for the competition to be extended to Epworth
new writers only under the outreach. We encourage new poets writing in Tonga and
Ndebele to submit their poems for the poetry anthology. Thank you so much for the support. Enjoy!
‘WE NEED NEW NAMES’ AN
UNSTOPPABLE NOVEL
By Beaven Tapureta (WIN)
(Picture taken from www.telegraph.co.uk)
NoViolet Bulawayo’s debut novel
We Need New Names has made Zimbabwe
proud as the brilliantly crafted Zimbabwean tale recently got shortlisted for the
prestigious award in world literature, the Man Booker Prize 2013.
She is the first Zimbabwean writer
to ever get this close to such a coveted award.
Published by Chatto &
Windus in June this year, We Need New
Names has received highly rated credit from book fans all over the world. Other
shortlisted works are A Tale for the Time
Being by Ruth Ozeki, Harvest by
Jim Crace, The Lowland by Jhupa
Lahiri, The Luminaries by Eleanor
Catton and The Testament of Mary by
Colm Toibin.
Launched in 1969, the Man
Booker Prize main objective is to ‘promote the finest in fiction by rewarding
the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the United Kingdom, the
Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland’.
It is good to note that the Zimbabwean
reader has not been left out of the wave of excitement. Until recently, some books about Zimbabwe by
Zimbabwean writers living in the diaspora had not been available to Zimbabweans
while they (the books) made recognizable strides outside.
Speaking at the official launch
of We Need New Names in Harare early
this month, Caine Prize winner NoViolet also made it clear how important it is
to make works by Zimbabwean writers in the diaspora be available to their own
people.
“You find cases where you are
being read in the USA and all over the world but your book is not available for
your own people. So I am really thankful to Weaver Press for facilitating the
re-publication of books by Zimbabweans living outside,” she said.
We
Need New Names has been re-published by a local publisher
Weaver Press which also facilitated its official launch in Harare.
The first chapter of We Need New Names is a short story that
won the 2011 Caine Prize with the title Hitting
Budapest. The short story has been
part of the novel We Need New Names
which NoViolet began working on in 2008. With the short story making headlines
and seemingly setting the pace for the novel, many readers have begun to think
the novel was born out the short story.
NoViolet will be launching We Need New Names in her hometown
Bulawayo on September 17, 2013, at the
National Gallery where she will engage in a conversation with Prof Dr. Drew
Shaw and read from her book as well. The Bulawayo launch is taking place
courtesy of British Council, Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo, Bulawayo Agenda and amaBooks Publishers.
Below
are photos from the Harare launch of We
Need New Names:
NoViolet (right) in conversation with Rumbi Katedza (left)
Murray McCartney (left) chaired the question and answer session
Some of the guests
This book, on sale at the launch, is now available from Weaver Press
DAVID MUNGOSHI INVITED TO
CHINUA ACHEBE CONFERENCE
By Beaven Tapureta (WIN)
David Mungoshi
Author of a NAMA award-winning
novel The Fading Sun (2009) and
various other published works David Mungoshi has been invited to attend an
international conference on ‘Celebrating the Life and Works of Chinua Achebe:
The Coming of Age of African Literature” scheduled to take place in November this
year in Accra, Ghana.
Mungoshi is the Vice President for
Southern Africa of the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA), a continental
body of African writers which is organizing the conference. More than 300
participants are expected from within and outside Africa.
In an invitation letter to David
Mungoshi, PAWA Secretary General Prof Atukwei Okai said the conference ‘will
bring together connoisseurs of Achebe’s works in particular and of African
literature in general from across the world’.
Contacted for comment, Mungoshi
said he is glad that Africa is honoring its own son and this, he said, is a
show of appreciation of our literature. Mungoshi said he is glad the conference on Achebe (inserted picture) has
finally come.
PAWA says it has dedicated its
November 2013 conference to celebrating the late great writer Chinua Achebe
(1930-2013).
ZIBF 2013 IS READY TO ROLL
MAIN BOOK FAIR 2013
THEME : “ZIBF@30: Enabling
Creativity, Writing, Publishing and Reading for Africa’s Growth”
ZIBFA invites all interested parties to participate in the
special six-day event as follows:
“EXHIBITION” Venue: Harare Gardens, Julius
Nyerere Way
ADMISSION FREE!!! to the Exhibition
Dates:
2 October 2013: Open to Traders Only
3
October – 5 October 2013: Open to Students and The Public
Time:
1000 – 1700hrs
“INDABA CONFERENCE” Venue:
Crowne Plaza Hotel : By Registration
Day 1: 30 September 2013 0815 - 1700hrs
Ø
Indigenous Languages
Ø
Digitization
Ø
Literature,
Media and Society
Day 2: 1 October 2013 0830 - 1700hrs
Ø
Health
and Environment
Ø
Dialogue
and Tolerance in African Communities
Ø
Copyright,
Intellectual Property and Piracy
Ø
Children,
Literature and Reading
‘‘YOUNG PERSONS’ INDABA’’: Enhancing Writing Skills with Digital Tools
Date:
2 October
2013 By Registration
0830
- 1630hrs at Crowne Plaza Hotel
‘‘WRITERS’ WORKSHOP’’: Writing for Children Now
Date: 5
October 2013 By Invitation
If you wish to participate please register for the
workshops by 19 September 2013 to avoid disappointment!!
LIVE LITERATURE, MEET THE AUTHOR &
CHILDREN’S READING TENT
1000 - 1600hrs 3 October – 5
October 2013 ADMISSION FREE!!!
IT’S SOMETHING WORTH YOUR WHILE!
DON’T MISS OUT!
For
further details contact us at ZIBFA on: 04 702104, 704112, 702108, 702129
Email : events@zibfa.org.zw
|
CREATIVE WRITING TIPS
With
Christopher Mlalazi
RESEARCHER
WANTED
Research Position in Shona
Linguistics and Literature
The Department of African Studies at the Humboldt
University, Berlin, is offering a part-time research position (26 hours/week for a 65%
appointment) in the research project, “Changing Patterns in the Shona Novel from Zimbabwe – A
Linguistic Literary Analysis“,
under the directorship of Prof. Dr. Flora Veit-Wild. The
position will start at March 1st 2014 and last until April 30th 2016. (For more
information on the project please click here
or go to http://www.iaaw.hu-berlin.de/afrika/literatur-und-kultur/projekte/)
The appointment is associated with high-quality
research and entails the following
responsibilities:
linguistic annotation of Shona literary texts with the
linguistic software Toolbox
to conduct literature and database searches
to carry out research and produce publications
to present research findings at conferences and
workshops
Conditions for
successful applications are as follows:
first-language Shona proficiency
Master Degree in African Linguistics and/or Literature
advanced computer skills
preferably, experience with linguistic computer
programs, such as Toolbox, PRAAT,
ELAN, or FLEX
Familiarity with linguistic and literary analysis
ability to work independently
commitment to high quality research
interest in the development of new trans-disciplinary
methodologies
Please send your applications, including CV, cover
letter and a photograph, via email
attachment to flora.veit-wild@rz.hu-berlin.de by 31. October 2013
INVITATION TO A LECTURE
Next week is good one for literary discussion. On the day after NoViolet
Bulawayo's book launch, come along again to the National-Gallery
Bulawayo for my Lecture/Slide Show titled 'Looking Back / Looking forward:
Zimbabwean literature of the GNU period, 2009-2013'. It's a survey of literary
output over the last four years and an attempt to discern trends.
Date: Wednesday, September 18
Time: 5.30pm
Venue: John Knight Cinema, National Gallery, Bulawayo.'
(Invitation courtesy of Dr. Drew Shaw)
POETRY
Final
prayers
By Tendai Maduwa
A mask of sorrow
With two golden streams running
Was everybody’s share but the reasons were still raw
With nobody aware of another’s grief
But all facing one problem, as if same fate
With fraud in their mist
Unaware of the world’s reaction
Surely this was a great loss
A disgrace to any person
In one way or the other
Indeed, poverty is a curse, a disability
A catalyst to destroy relationships
Create and root hatred in humanity
It seemed a joke or a reckless act of lips
A grievous prayer, deserving a laugh though
So unworthy…
Maduwa participated at the just ended Kistrech Poetry Festival in Kenya from August 1 to 6. Read more
about his adventures in Kenya here
***
WIN-ZIMBABWE would like
to thank the Mungoshi family for the strength that they have shown in
publishing our great writer Charles Mungoshi's latest book called Branching
Streams Flow In The Dark (2013).
****
Thank
you for reading our Newsletter.
Keep
writing!
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