Freedom Nyamubaya (above), a performance poet,
short story writer, development worker, peace activist and farmer died
on Sunday July 5, 2015 at Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital. She was 57. WIN-Zim joins the rest of Zimbabweans in mourning the legendary poet who inspired many with her sincere poetry and work.
To her family, her
son, Naishe, we say as you grieve know that we are remembering you and honouring the memory of Nyamubaya.
A writer and academic Musaemura Zimunya in 2009 described Nyamubaya as follows: "Freedom Nyamubaya belongs to an elite group of former guerilla fighters
who are also talented poets in their own right, among them being Dukas
Chifamba and Carlos Chombo. For these writers, the liberation war was
not a bloodthirsty venture but a necessary suffering for the cause of
freedom and justice, requiring immense sacrifice on the part of the
combatant. In the year 1975, as a teenager fresh from school, Nyamubaya
crossed into Mozambique to train as a fighter for freedom in order to
join ZANLA forces in the war to liberate Zimbabwe from settler
colonialism. Because she left for the war front when the mind and the
heart are ready and susceptible to adventure, Nyamubaya’s work is full
of vitality". (Poetry International Web)
Nyamubaya had a heart for young poets, especially female poets whom she interacted with at arts and culture centres such as the Book Cafe. One of the performance poets, Barbra Anderson, aka Breeze, has posted on her Facebook wall how saddened she is on hearing the news about Nyamubaya's death.
"I just found out that this beautiful woman passed away. My heart is so
saddened and heavy. I am grateful that I had the chance to host her on
the Poetry And Project platform last March at World Poetry Day Concert. I had always been in awe of her after I first read her poetry. Freedom Nyamubaya will live through her words and her poetry. Rest in Peace," Breeze said.
Another poet Tinashe Muchuri commented on the post saying he remembers well how Nyamubaya together with fellow poet Albert Nyathi danced and sung together on stage.
The writing industry will surely miss Nyamubaya. True, writers never die. Her works embody her spirit forever.
Her works include a poetry anthology On the Road Again was published
by Zimbabwe Publishing House in 1985, and another titled Dusk of Dawn published
by College Press in 1995. She has a short story titled That Special Place in the anthology Writing Still (Weaver Press, 2003).
REST IN PEACE LEGENDARY POET
(from WIN-Zimbabwe)
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Somehow this sad news eluded me until now. Freedom and I at one time worked together in ZIWU of which she was a sometime Vice Chairperson. I also reviewed her works for MOTO around 1994. I have always found her to be an unforgettable person with her tobacco pipe and her laid-back self-assurance that also exuded an unmistakable charm and warmth. Freedom had an acute sense of humour, perhaps borne out of the many adverse situations she must have encountered in the war. Try the story in which an old woman chooses death rather than save her ebbing life by eating a sausage whose shape she found uncomfortable! RIP Freedom, my friend. You will always have a place in our national annals as well as in our Literature.
ReplyDeleteRest in Peace MUM and ROLE MODEL-
ReplyDeleteOur wish is for your soul to rest in peace with the hope that in this life you had given your life to Christ and now you sleep to await the crowning of saints... lots of love and we will miss you
ReplyDelete