Writers International Network Zimbabwe: WIN Newsletter, Issue No 93

EDITORIAL

The return of poet Sympathy Sibanda (above): She is captured here while performing a soulful poem at the 'Literary Treats' function hosted by WIN at the ZIBF Live Literature in 2010. Read more in this newsletter about her latest collaboration with another gifted poet Catherine Magodo Mutukwa.

Welcome, welcome to our 93^rd newsletter and we hope you are reading and writing. We are in our own season of gratitude and like we said in our post before this newsletter, your patience has been motivating & valuable. We are glad of life and we would like to make the best out of it. We owe you (our membership, our friends, our supporters, our readers) and we are cocksure we will not let you down. Time alone, time will tell. WIN is bringing the concept of the serialised novel to you and we start with Nomsa Ngwenya's Ndebele novel. We also are expecting to publish our own two small poetry magazines featuring our Whatsapp group members before the end of the year and hopefully it is going to be possible for us to this year hold our Writers’ End of Year Get-Together at whatever scale. We will keep you posted. Please enjoy!

ENTER AUTHORPAD PUBLISHING

(Report by Win-Zimbabwe)

As the local book industry reels under the scourge of book piracy, various attempts are being made by concerned stakeholders (law enforcement agents, writers, publishers, and copyright organisations) to curb this onslaught.

Authorpad Publishing, a local online publishing house under the leadership of Founder & CEO McMilton Chikwenengere, has joined in the fight against piracy. Chikwenengere and team hope to win the fight on behalf of authors through its concept of digital publishing.

In its latest October 2015 newsletter, Authorpad Publishing said in order to stamp down piracy, its digital publishing services ensure that the author’s work cannot be downloaded or is not ‘downloadable’ and therefore an author’s full royalties are guaranteed.

Thus AuthorPad acknowledges, “Piracy has become a huge problem in Zimbabwe and Africa at large hence authors are not enjoying the benefits of their creative God-given talents. Materials are being sold on street corners, reproduced by means of photocopying at the expense of author’s royalties. Authors have no control over the market because they cannot keep track of materials being sold and distributed. In addition to that, authors have limited rights over their materials therefore they cannot be fully marketed locally and internationally.”

It further argues, “Books being produced in Africa meet international standards but they are lacking exposure on the global market. Materials that make it to sites like Amazon have little opportunity of be-coming the best sellers. Moreover the reading culture has deteriorated immensely over the past years. Materials being published have little chance of being read.”

Among other objectives, the new online publishing house aims to promote an author’s online presence through creating authors’ forums, pages, profiles so that the authors can connect and share with their followers.

Today, Tuesday, October 20, 2015, Authorpad Publishing is holding a free writers’ workshop at the Chitungwiza Publicity Centre in Chitungwiza. The workshop, starting from 9am to 12pm, is expected to discuss the topics ‘Writing in the Digital Age’ and ‘Being an Author with Impact’.

Formed last year, AuthorPad is “an online publishing website which is a niche that will help Africans to easily write, publish, distribute and sell e-books/audio-books to the world”. The company also describes its mandate as “a platform for established and upcoming African authors to reach out to the world with their unique works, giving the world a new taste of writing, themes, settings, characters, plots and general genres, at the same time providing readers with affordable, high quality, informing, entertaining, educating eBooks and printed books with a unique African savor”.

For more details, authors can contact Joselene Tsekwende, a consultant at AuthorPad Publishing, on her email joselene@authorpad.co

CONGRATULATIONS TO MUCHURI

All smiles: Tinashe Muchuri (left) receiving his award from the Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Dr Gandawa who was Guest of Honour at the CCOSA graduation ceremony

WIN-Zimbabwe is thrilled to hear that Tinashe Muchuri, also known as Mutumwapavi in poetry circles, has won the Best Student Award (Intensive Class) at the Christian College of Southern Africa (CCOSA). He was presented with the prize at the 2015 CCOSA graduation ceremony held over the weekend in Harare.

Muchuri is one of the pioneering columnists for the WIN award-winning blog; if you remember well, Muchuri added glamour to our blog’s WIN Newsletter when he responded to call for a columnist and he came up with the column ‘The Regular Writer’ in 2012.

The following year (2013), Muchuri, writing from the popular Parade Magazine sable, won the Best Arts and Entertainment Journalist of the Year Award for 2012-2013 at the National Journalism and Media Awards (NJAMA). This major award proved the man is made of it!

The ‘whistling’ poet is set to soon publish his debut Shona novel titled Chibarabada with a local publisher Bhabhu Books.

It’s congratulations indeed to one who blessed our blog with the power of his gift. Keep rising our friend!

THE YOUTH PERSPECTIVE

With

Mimi Machakaire

Competitions: What purpose do they serve?

First of all we must ask ourselves what we mean when we talk about a competition. The Oxford Dictionary describes it as an activity or condition of striving to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others.

It is therefore safe to say that as youths we are always looking for ways to expose our work, especially within the arts sector. Sometimes we get into writing contests (no matter which country/state/city/continent is hosting the contest) because it is about the experience not the prizes. Of course, winning a prize would be amazing for most kids depending on what the competition is offering. This means that the people hosting the competition will possibly give them the opportunity to develop their career that much more through workshops or offer them an opportunity to publish. It is plausible that they will be given either contracts or contacts to people within the same industry who can help further their career in the future.

Then there are times when people don’t always give prizes or contracts or gifts. It is just solely for the fun of being on stage or having your work displayed somewhere. It is simply to give your talents a chance to outshine the others and have your turn under that spotlight.

However there are competitions to avoid such as those which ask for non-refundable entry fees. The sad thing is that the competition organisers do not explain what the entry fee is for. They will tell you that it is simply just to enter your name and if you don’t hear from them within a certain amount of time it means you have not been successful. It is never easy to know which competition is legitimate and which one is not due to the complexity of the internet. Better be careful from the beginning because you wouldn’t want to put all your money into something that turns out to be a scam. I advise that you intensively research the advertisements about writing contests because these alone speak volumes. Not all writing contests that have an entry fee as a rule of submission are scams though! Some are genuine ones, for instance, a writing contest in your community could be engaged in fund-raising for its projects which you are aware of.

All over the world writing competitions flood online and print newspapers and magazines. The ones you need to be careful of are usually posted online because they are generally hard to verify. Keep an eye for the main subscribers or the sponsors of the competitions because those could help you. Contact the sponsors whose logos are on the ad or flyer in case someone could be using their trade name to lure victims.

My advice at the same time is that: be very wary when you are dealing with online submissions. I can’t stress this enough.

Competitions are a way to tell people that you are good at what you do and that reason alone is reason enough to enter but at the same time just how much are you willing to risk? That is the question you must always ask yourself before each submission.

(Mimi Machakaire is the author of the novel ‘Princess Gangster’ (BookLove Publishers, Gweru). She has since transferred to Lesotho, South Africa, where she is studying Journalism.)

POETRY FROM INDIA

A tourist attraction in South India

Last month WIN-Zimbabwe received a surprise present in the form of batch of poems from a poet named Sunil Bairagi who lives in West Bengal in India. We are still trying to communicate with Sunil to get his/her a proper biography and more details. To thank our Indian friends and particularly Sunil for reading our blog and also to celebrate the internet’s power of creating networks of people from different continents, we hereby publish Sunil’s poem titled Facebook and the other one titled At Moonlit Night. Would it not be culturally uplifting to one day in the future read about a ‘Zimbabwe-India’ poetry collection? Hear this:

At Moonlit Night

In the sky-

My heart is blooming.

The silver moon is rising.

Look,

The sight-

What a charm!

Lonely,

At moonlit night,

I am walking-

On the bank of river.

And above my head –

The silver shower is falling.

And the silver current of water is flowing.

My mind is saying-

Look,

The sight-

What a charm!

Suddenly,

You came into my heart.

I went back to you.

You gave me love.

We felt each other.

Then,

As if-

The heart,

The nature are saying-

Look, you.

The silver flower of love is blooming.

And by the silver light,

It is bathing.

As if,

That is Amaranth.

That is blooming always.

It is true.

Love is eternal true.

It is divine true.

As if,

It seems-

In the moonlit night,

The love of heaven has come down on the world.

Look,

The sight-

What a charm!

-Sunil Bairagi

Facebook

The biggest book-
Facebook

All over the world-
Facebook have many faces.
Wood faces
Metal faces
Fire faces
Water faces
Earth faces

Many many faces
Many many books
Those have made Facebook.

The biggest book of the world is Facebook.
The mirror of the world is Facebook.
That is giving us
knowledge, amity, mercy,
unity, sympathy, empathy,
and the most, the most…

From continent to continent
The flow of Facebook is running on.
So we are floating in the ocean of joy
That has made us cosmopolitan

lo! my friend,
The world is the worshipper of the Facebook
The Facebook is the pride of the world
at every moment
at the same time
uncountable readers,
uncountable viewers,
They are searching the Facebook.
You are living and lively.
Facebook -
You have got the benediction of God.
Facebook, Facebook,
You are the companion of the infinite.

-Sunil Bairagi

NEW POETRY ANTHOLOGIES PUBLISHED

(Report by WIN-Zimbabwe)

Our desk this month received two new books showcasing young Zimbabwean poets who have a dream to change society through poetry. The first is an anthology titled Life (edited by Tatenda C Munyuki) which is basically a collaboration of two rising female poets Catherine Magodo-Mutukwa (left insert) and Awande Ngwenya (right insert) and the second one is titled Flowers of a Dry Season (co-edited by Brian Penny and Beaven Tapureta). One interesting thing about South Africa-based Catherine Magodo is that she is prolific and that she declares she will never stop writing. The energy with which she writes and publishes confirms it! She recently published a book titled Silent Cries: The Violated Speak which chronicles tales about young rape survivors. In the past, Magodo has appeared in various poetry anthologies such as We Are One (2014, Diaspora Publishers). True, Zimbabwe needs such spirited young female poets. What pearls await us in her latest poetry in the collection Life?

Awande, real name Sympathy Sibanda Mazuruse, is not new to poetry readers. In 2009, under her real name, she published a poetry anthology of her own called Matters of Life (Veriest Solutions International) and this newly released anthology Life certainly marks the return of the lyrical poet who is also referred to as 'poetess extraordinaire’.

In the same spirit of determination as her friend, Sympathy once said in 2009, that, “Nothing will stop me from writing.” True to her word, today we are seeing the fruits of her pen.

Announcing the release of Life, Magodo told friends on Facebook that “this particular compilation has to do with everything that is life, everything that affects it and also makes it whole, the laughter, love, sharing, caring, strife, struggles and loss all part of an everyday cycle”.

Flowers of a Dry Season feature a number of new poets and it was recently published by Forteworx Press. This is Forteworx’s one of many books published this year alone at very close intervals from their stable. Previously, this emerging publishing company gave us anthologies Tsuro Ndisunge, Zviri Mugapu, and True Lies.

Here is a brief description of the poetry in the latest Flowers of a Dry Season: “There is a new wave of poetry cascading fast into the mainstream arena, a wave that had been blocked from reaching out. Now that the arena seems to be accepting them, slowly the new poets are singing on top of their voices, like flowers wrestling against the dry wind blowing towards them. We are living in a stressful era, socio-culturally and economically speaking. Many have lost their routes or roots. This poetry eases the mind while challenging perceptions.” (Foreword)

Congratulations to the poets shining in the two poetry anthologies. It is left to the readers to taste what lies inside the books!

PETINA GAPPAH’S TOP TEN BOOKS ABOUT ZIMBABWE

Petina Gappah

Writer Petina Gappah is an incredible and inspirational individual who freely voices whatever she believes in. She is a lively woman!

Gappah has just published her novel The Book of Memory (Faber) and in Zimbabwe, the book is available from Weaver Press. In 2009, she won the Guardian First Book Prize for her collection of short stories An Elegy for Easterly.

Last week, we got interested when we read about Gappah’s top ten books ABOUT Zimbabwe. We thought you too would be interested and can find out why Gappah loves these ten books. Here is the link: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/14/petina-gappahs-top-10-books-about-zimbabwe

SERIALISED NOVEL

IZINYAWO ZAYIZOLO

Lulotshwe

nguTsitsi Nomsa Ngwenya

Isahluko 1

UZanele Iemicabango esindayo, buyathonwa

UZanele wazama ukulala ngomhlubulo lakho kwaba nzima, walala okwemizuzwana wabuya wavuka wahlala ebambelele phansi. Emini wayedle inkobe zendlubu kwathi ntambama wazidela edobini likamvundla waphinda wathi amasi phezulu. Isisu sakhe sasiwome nka sesize simhlaba lasemhlubulweni. Enye ingqondo yakhe yayimtshela ukuba usengumfazi wakoDube ngempela ikakhulu angehluleka ukuloba imihloliso yakhe yogwalo lwesithupha esikolweni esiphezulu. Imicabango yayimtshela ukuba okuseleyo yikutheza inkuni, agudule izindlu abophe inkomo ayelima koDube aze akhokhobe. Wayephinde esabe ngalowo mcabango ngoba wawumemza aphuphe edidizela khona koDube ngakibo kaSipho unina loyise bengasamvumeli ngitsho lokuthi abavakatshele langa linye kodwa lokhu. Laye uSipho wayengabuye amgeqele amagula uma esebona kunzima. Athini ke ngakho? Ukuthi uSipho lo wayemthanda kwakungebuzwa loba nje yayiyimfihlo kubangane labentanga yakhe namhlanje wayezibonela ukuba wazithandela isichitho, wayemele azibonele kambe ukuxwayiswa okungaka! Kambe lwalulugqozi lwemfuqumfuqu ayezaluthini ke?

Wayedidana ingqondo uma ecabanga ngokujabula kukamphathisikolo mhla wokuphuma kwempumelo zemihloliso yakhe yebanga lesine, wayebanqobe bonke ummango weMaNdebeleni aseningizimu wesizwe sonke seZimbabwe. Ababalisi bakhe bonke labo babejabule bemanzi, abanye baze bamthengela izipho ezihambelana lokufunda kwakhe. Kwakuzikhanyela ngitsho lakubani ukuqhakazeka kwekusasa lakhe. Wayethokozelelwa njalo loba ngubani esikolo lapho. Wayedlala dlala umdlalo webhola lezandla uzwe igceke lonke limbiza, Za… thatha Za ungadelelwa wena Zanele, uma ephethe ibhola. Wayephume labonkamisa ‘A’ abalitshumi ezifundweni zakhe zonke. Uyise wayephose wamhlabela inkomo wasemiswa ngunina owathi abamyeke babone lapho ayezafika khona ngezifundo zakhe. Unina wayemazi ukuba uzimisele kangakanani ngokuyafika eNyuvesithi njengomnewabo labazawakhe. Usibanga sesine wayengasibali uZanele. Wayethe ebona ngena isibanga sesithupha wazitshela ukuba ulwazi, lona olungumahlomisa lwaselulunguze emnyango wekusasa lakhe. Isimo sasimlahla ke eze acabange ukuthi babuyachitheka bugayiwe empilweni yakhe.

Imfihlo yakhe akula ngitsho owayeyazi ngakibo ngitsho kanye logogo wakhe uMaNcube. Kwakumele abone icebo. USipho wayethe engambona edlulela eduze lakoSibanda uSekaKhethiwe wayezambulala ngezandla. Wabalisa ngalokhu lakhuya waze wajumeka elokhu ehlezi, lakho okwangaphi izinja zabuya zakhonkotha wavuka njalo. Lwametha uvalo ecabanga ukuthi uSipho wayethe uzambona ngamabili, nangu loNonceba umzawakhe kambe wayengasoze amuzwe yini uma evula isivalo. Kwakuzamele anyenye ukuze angakhathazeki esebona ethe nya. Wathula walalelisisa, wezwa ilitshe lihlala phezu kwendlu yabo. Waphuma kancanekancane wanyonyoba wayamthola ecathame ngemva kwesihlahla esikhulu ababegigela kiso.

Bahamba benyenya besiyakatshana lomuzi kayise ukuze bathole inkululeko yokukhuluma ezabo. Wayezimisele umtakaHadebe ngoSipho lo kodwa uvalo njalo ayengalwazi luphinde lumtshaye uma ecabanga ngaye langengxabangxoza ayekuyo. Baxoxaxoxa uZanele ebalisa ngezalukazi ezazizavukela ukuthona utshwala bedakeni ngakibo. EsinguMaSikhosana sasingafihlelwa lutho silamehlo angumtshina enjengaloyo ebona amathambo omuntu ngaphansi kwenyama yakhe. USipho wamxwaya ukuthi engatshoni lezalukazi lezo adinge okokwenza phandle komuzi, angathatha impahla ayezigeza kumbe ayetheza inkuni. Laye uSipho wayengafuni zimhambele kubi, wayefisa kakhulu ukuba alobe imihloliso yakhe ngoba intombi yakhe le yayilekhanda elivuthayo njalo ezimisele ngayo loba nje yena labakibo bengohwayibhetshu. Wayemkhuthaza ngalokhu ayekufisa yena.

Lathi lisithi chatha emahlangeni akoHadebe ayengemva komuzi intombi zayizolo seziqedisa ukuthona utshwala bedaka. UMaSibindi, isalukazi esasiqine okwesambane sihlanganisa inhlama embizeni yokucina eyayembelwe njengezinye phansi emsamo womkulu wotshwala. Imbiza zikaMaNcube unina womlisa uHadebe zasezileminyaka emithathu zembelwe lapho. Utshwala bedaka babuphekwa yizalukazi akade zalahla imbeleko, esezilezizukulwana. UMaMlotshwa owayengumakhelwana wayefike kuqala ephelekezelwa ngumzukulu wakhe uZamani awayephange wabuyela engutsheni njengoba kwasebusika nje. Kwalandela uMaDube ehambisana loMaSibanda. Bona ababevelela entshonalanga phetsheya kwesifudlana esasithatha inkukhu ngesikhathi zezulu, bucwadlana nje. UMaNdlovu owayengudadewabo wepholisa lenduna wazofika ehaluzela isishweshwe ayesiqgokile sinanyathiselwe yizinama. Umuzi wakhe wawunganeno kwentatshana zakoKwanike ngezansi womuzi womlisa uHadebe lekhosikazi lakhe uMaMoyo unakaMoyawezwe. UMaSikhosana wazofikela ekucineni phandle sokuthe nwe. Indlela yayigudla amanxiwa akoSithwala lapho abasiki bebunda ababethi akudlulwa khona ebusuku kumbe sokunqunda amehlo. Umuzi kaSithwala wawudilizwe yizakhamizi emva kokwala kwakhe ukuthutha esexotshwe yinduna uHlomani Mlotshwa. Kwakukunengi okwakubaliswa yilabo abazi konke okwenzakalayo ungeke wakulanda wakuqeda.

Zaqunga zagoqoza lezizalukazi zaze zacina ngokusibekela imbiza zotshwala ngezingcebethu. Ngobuthupha bazo lezizalukazi esasilexhegu nguMaMlotshwa, ixhegu laso uHlabangana wayelilunga lalabo ababonisana lenduna endabeni ezisindayo ezifuna ubuchopho lonanzelela ekwethuleni umlawulo wazo. UHlabangana lo wayesebenzisana loMahlangu kanye loNxumalo abakuleso sigaba.

“Zihamba njani imbiza zami zamanzi abondwayo ntombi zami?” watsho uSikhwehle ejikela induku yakhe emnyango eceleni komkulu kaMaNcube ehlala esitubhini eseyama isigodo esebambe uphahla lwendlu.

“Hawu mtaka Jiyane uvela ngaphi ekuseni kangaka?” wabuza uMaSibanda egezisa inkezo embizeni ayayilesihluzo esivuthukileyo.

“Yazi into zobutshapha angizifuni mina, ngifunga uLobhengula wamawaba, yisihluzo bani esingathelela abantu umkhuhlane wofuba? Watsho elabhula izandla ekhuluma njengomntwana ofundela ukukhuluma.

“Bela baba lobu buyahluzwa ngezihluzo ezintsha uyaqeda nje namhlanje umkakho uMaNdlovu kade ezeluka” watsho uMaSibanda ngelipholileyo.

“Hatshi ngamala kudala lowo umfazi ongakwazi ukupheka idobi lenkelu ngizamthini?” wabuza ngombuzo ongadingi mpendulo.

“Hawu sengaliwa ngilapha nje, mtaka Gatsheni buya phela namhlanje ngikuphekele isikhukhukazi esikekezayo!”

“Sikhwehle ulele ngaphi imbala yakho ilomdlopha kangaka?” wabuza uMaNcube ephuma emkulwini ngenyovane bephathisane isitsha loMaSikhosana esasilemithombo yokuvubela eyayimelele ukucholwa.

“Angithi awunginikezanga amanzi okugeza ntombi yobukhalangeni manje uzabuyela kini kathe - kathesi nje”

“Ubezakunikeza engaphi umtakaMabuza owasala ePhikwe wena ungekho ekhaya!”

“Akuthule we mfazi olomlomo ongagcwalelwa ngumfula!”

“Sengoneni ngokubuza angithi ngifuna ukukuthelela wona ugeze ngisapheka isitshwala esitshisayo!” wayigama indaba emlonyeni kaMaSikhosana uMaNcube owayesesendlala isigcabha ayezachaya kiso imithombo.

“Angigezi mina kusaqanda kangaka! Likhona idobi likamvundla?”

“Lizavela ngaphi wena ungasazingeli, ngizakuphekela elembhida wentanga”

“Angidli mbhida mina!”

“Hamba uyezingela umnike umhwabha akuphekele!”

“Kahle we MaSikhosana uyingena ngaphi? Wena mfazi ndini uyadelela amadoda hayikhona!”

“Alivikwa, hamba uyezingela uMaNcube uzakuphekela idobi likamvundla olihalelayo” watsho uMaSibindi ephuma lezibi emnyango.

“Ngakuyala kudala wena awukwazi ukwenza amasi omcaba!”

“Uzakufa ungcwatshwe legundwane! Uyindoda bani oyala abafazi bonke umhlaba unje!”

“Ha ha ha! Ngizamthola. Ngilaye, ha ha ha!”

USikhwehle Jiyane wayengumuntu nje okuthiwa ngabantu ngumuntu kaMlimu. Wayehlala lomfowabo emakhele idumba phakathi komuzi wakhe. Into eyayiphambaniseke kuye akekho ayengayiqamba. Wayeyindoda epheleleyo elamathambo ajiyileyo njalo eqinile, wayedonsa njengembongolo emsebenzini, ezihlekela engagudli guma. Wayenatha lamanye amadoda kodwa ekwazi ukubuyela ekhaya. Umkamfowabo wayekhathala ngaye emnika konke akuswelayo ayesenelisa njalo ukumnika khona. Inkinga yakhe yayingamanzi emzimbeni wakhe, kodwa kwakuthi mhla ecabangile ayezikhuhla esazikhuhla esizibeni sikaSimphathe duze ledamu lakoMahlasela koBidi.

“Ngihlangene loMaNtini ejikweni lakoNkiwane ehamba ehlabela ingoma elosizi esesula lenyembezi”

Zama izalukazi zalalela indaba ethelela ukukhathala eyayisiza lomngane wabo. Ebona lokho waqhubeka ngelomuntu ozilwelayo, esesukume wathi jiliba.

“Ngithe uma ngimkhulumisa ngibona engangizwa lami ngathula ngamyekela wadlula”

“Kungabe kutheni koSibanda bantu, wahlupheka lumtwana ngendoda engelakhanda!”

“Hayi MaSibindi ungabotshonjalo usuzwe ngobani ukuba ngumkakhe odale usizi, mhlawumbe ufelwe ngabakibo!” satsho esinguMaSibanda sibeka iqhaga esasiliphethe phansi. Kwakusobala ukuba silwela isihlobo saso segazi uKhulumani Sibanda umka MaNtini.

“Kalakhanda umtwana womnewenu loba nje umlwela akulandaba lizathi lisiyatshona kuzabe kuzwakele obekukhalisa umtakaNtini” watsho uMaMlotshwa engena lesitsha esasilemithombo endlini. UMaSibindi welekelela wathi;

“UmfokaSibanda uzasenzela okunye lapha ezweni likaMlotshwa, umkhuba wakhe lo wokuzenza inyanganyana uzamdalela okunye ngelinye ilanga”

“Asazi uma kukhona kuzazwakala” wagcizelela uMaNcube edobha umthanyelo kadodlana.

“Abasiki bebunda bazasazisa” watsho uSikhwehle ngokungakhathali.

Umuzi womlisa uHadede wawuthe qekelele wodwana emqansweni wesifudlana esansingemva kwawo uSabathombe. Emva kwawo kwakulesivande lapho unina ayeselima khona. Esendlani sokudla kwakuliganga lamadlelo enkomo utsholobele uze uyebamba umhlaba wenduna uBidi. Ngesokunxele kwakuyinsimu yakibo eyayisingumlimela, belima ndawonye labafowabo. Phambi komuzi kwakulesihlahlakazi esikhulu sombondo lapho uMaMoyo ayegigela khona kuthi laye uHadebe abazele imiphini yamahloka lezancele lokunye okunjalo. Phambi kwaso kwakumi isiza siyakhiwe ngamahlahla. Esandleni sokudla sesiza kwakulezibaya zenkomo, ezembuzi kanye lesamazinyane, amathole ayelala esibayeni sembuzi. Bucwadlana phambi komuzi kaHadebe kwakulesinye isifudlana esasithatha amatsiyane esasingalabizo phetsheya kwaso kulemizana engambalwa. TO BE CONTINUED...

(This novel will be published by Radiant Publishing House which is run by celebrated writer Barbara Nkala. You can further enjoy Nomsa Ngwenya’s deliberations on her website www.tsitsinomsa.co.zw.)

POETRY/NHETEMBO

Did you know that veteran journalist Ray Mawerera (pictured above) gets poetical when the inspiration spurs him on? He recently surprised writers when he posted a poem on the newly created ZWA Whatsapp platform. Here is the poem:

Nokuti Hapana

Mumwe anoti: Dai wadai

Mumwe oti: sei wadaro?

Uya oti: mafungiro anguwo kuti zvakangonakawo

Kuti dai wadai.

Mumwe oti: sei wadaro?

Uya oti: ndinoona sekunge uri kuita nziramasanga

Mumwe oti: sei wadaro?

Uya oti: aah, hatingaivhiyi pakadai

Mumwe oti: sei wadaro?

Uya oti: handei kuseri tinovhiirako

Mumwe oti: Bva handei hedu