WIN Newsletter, Issue No 95

EDITORIAL

 We do not forget where we come from: The late great actor, theatre director and playwright Walter L Muparutsa (1941-2012), pictured above, mentored WIN-Zim during a partnership with Global Arts Trust from 2011 until his death

Welcome to our 95^th issue of the WIN Newsletter, the first for this year which by divine providence, comes at a time when our blog, this blog, has been nominated for Outstanding Online Media award at the 15^th edition of the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA).  What’s more? Our Founder & Director Beaven Tapureta’s Herald column called Bookshelf (every Wednesday in the Herald) has also earned him a nomination for the Outstanding Journalist (Print Media) award. We say congratulations to all the 15^th NAMA nominees in different arts and culture disciplines. Somewhere in this newsletter there is a full list of this year’s nominees. Please enjoy the newsletter to the last line!. 

THE YOUTH PERSPECTIVE

With

Mimi Machakaire

2016: The Year of Progress

Happy New year everyone! Hope you got a good rest and a lovely holiday but now, a month into the year, it’s already back to work and school for some!

Let’s get ourselves ready for 2016 and beyond. Life is about growth and with age comes intellectual maturity or wisdom. It’s important that we must realize sooner that time is rolling by - the sooner we realize this, the better. It’s time we start writing out our goals and actually taking action to accomplish them.  Here are some guidelines I gleaned for fellow young people out there, especially writers:

"We aim above the mark to hit the mark." - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Yes it’s hard to make a move but keep the future in mind and you will go places. One suggests creating a vision board, that is, you look for a clear piece of cardboard, search for pictures that represent the goals you have in mind, turn it into a collage and stick it onto your wall to act as a reminder of what you’re working for. Place it somewhere where you know you can’t miss it and every day think and say to yourself: “I MUST GET THERE”.

 

“People with goals succeed because they know where they're going." -  Earl Nightingale

 
Someone also said that that the key for you to define your career goals is to establish a plan, strategy for your achievement, including a timeline, and follow up with this plan. You need to put these thoughts in writing and keep a journal of your observations regarding  what "things" appear to be working for you, what things are not working, so that you can build a good foundation for making changes, corrections to your plan as you go. In this process you will use the vacation planning as an example: you need to go from point A to point B. You can jump in the car, without a map and go for it. You may or may not reach your destination but lack of planning will lead to disappointment. So, draw a timeline for your job expanding for the next 3 years (or more or less depending on your speed) and walk  in time to identify the steps you need to take today, tomorrow, the next week, month and year that will put in position to achieve these goals. Pick that unfinished manuscript and start planning now!

"Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination." - Fitzhugh Dodson

So let’s make this the year of progress as youths we need to be there for each other and encourage each other in whatever we may do because if we don’t then who will?  Keep writing and oh don’t let that book on your table gather dust!

(Mimi Machakaire is the author of the novel Princess Gangster. She now resides in Lesotho)

HARARE OPEN BOOK CLUB INVITES YOU

Flashback: Some members of the Club enjoying the novel ‘In Dependence’ by Sarah Ladipo Manyika

The Harare Open Book Club will be held on February 11 at a venue to be announced soon. The club meets in the evening at 6pm.

According to Dr. Sunanda Ray, who one of the brains behind the regular reading meetings, the club this time is reading The Palm Wine Drinkard  by Amos Tutuola. Dr. Sunanda also said all are welcome even those who haven’t read the book. This is exciting moment indeed for bookworms who want to enjoy the evening drifting along a story by one of Africa’s best writers.

"When Amos Tutuola's first novel, The Palm-Wine Drinkard, appeared in 1952, it aroused exceptional worldwide interest. Drawing on the West African (Nigeria) Yoruba oral folktale tradition, Tutuola described the odyssey of a devoted palm-wine drinker through a nightmare of fantastic adventure. Since then, The Palm-Wine Drinkard has been translated into more than 15 languages and has come to be regarded as a masterwork of one of Africa's most influential writers....Amos Tutuola (20 June 1920 – 8 June 1997) was a Nigerian writer famous for his books based in part on Yoruba folk-tales. Despite his short formal education, Tutuola wrote his novels in English. His writing's grammar often relies more on Yoruba orality than on standard English." ( http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/32265.Amos_Tutuola)

Previous book club session 

(Photos courtesy of Dr. Sunanda and for more information about how and when the club meets, please email: sunanda28@hotmail.com)

A SHONA POEM

By

Yeukai Mapingure

Nhamo

Nhumbu yazvarwa Rufaro rwakavaputira amai
Zuva nezuva vachiteura kuMusiki
Kuti Nhamo uyu aizorarama upenyu hweuchi nemukaka

Ikava mhiko naNyadenga

Nhamo achikura Rudo rwakati unondizivirepi?
Baba pakichini ndokukanda mumwe mudiwa
Nhamo ndokuzoguta musi wafa Amai

Nyika nemwoyo ye vanhu zvakava gwenga
Ko yeumwe nhamo ingaregererwe sadza?
Senhunzi yapinda musvutugadzike Nhamo aidzingwa

Nhamo akava bhanditi ramainini
Imbwa inodya zvaraswa pataundishipi

Izwi raamai vake

Zuva nezuva    airiteerera

Mwari vakati ndinokuda Nhamo

Kuvavengi, nyadzi dzikakunda rufu

Nemudiwa wake Nhamo ndokupinda mutsvitsa.

Musi we muchato

Waingonzwa vachiti, “Mwana wangu iyeye!”

“Mwana wedu iyeye, tinomuziva akakurira muno.”

Manyepo ayo!

 

(Mrs. Yeukai Mapingure was born in Gweru in 1985. She attended Wadzanai Primary School in Kambuzuma, Harare and proceeded to Queen Elizabeth High for her lower and upper six. She is a member of WIN-Zimbabwe and her poetry appears in the anthology Flowers of a Dry Season (Forteworx Press). She is interested in writing about challenges faced by teenagers and married people. Mrs. Mapingure is mother to a promising budding writer, her daughter Nyasha Miranda (insert) aged 5 years, who always makes sure she accompanies mother to literary events. At a writers’ workshop on curriculum review held in Harare, young Nyasha perfectly sang the national anthem. )

NEW WRITER TACKLES HOMOSEXUALITY

The blurb of Not in Zimbabwe goes like this:

“Tongai Bindu is determined to tie the knot with a man yet his mother is a government minister and his father is a pastor. The recipe for disaster unsettles his parents who now fear for their leadership positions. Apart from plunging his sister and girlfriend into heartbreaks, his abominable behavior finally jeopardize the ZIM-ASSET Presidential Input Scheme benefiting small scale farmers. The cat has to be let out of the bag for the law to take its course but minister Mavis’s political muscle is a threat even to the cops. Pastor Bindu has to make sure his church is kept in the dark or else…. At the same time, minister Mavis has to ensure by all means the beans is not spilled to the President and government, otherwise….”

Author’s Biography

Born in Zaka in 1988, Chitsime J Milton holds a bachelor of Social Work honors degree from the University of Zimbabwe. Apart from fiction, he writes poetry, nonfiction and quotes. Not in Zimbabwe is his debut novel. Visit the following link to read a review of Chitsime’s book: When Cupid's Arrow Strikes An Abomination

Get your copy,taste it and have your say!

 

IT’S NAMA FEVER AGAIN!

Press Release

(Published on February 1, 2016, by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe)

15TH EDITION NAMA NOMINEES

The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) is pleased to announce the list of the nominees for the 15th Edition National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) to be held in Harare on 13th February 2016 at the 7 Arts Theatre in Avondale.

In a bid to enhance entries, NACZ appointed a team of both individual and institutional Monitors who kept an eye on excelling artists throughout the year. These monitors submitted reports to NACZ, which reports were used by adjudicators together with the submitted entries. A panel of independent Adjudicators, guided by a set selection criteria, was appointed to preside over all the submissions. Nominees and winners were selected for each award category. For the 15th Edition of NAMA, 1 104 entries were submitted, from which the nominees were selected from.
Monitors were appointed on the basis of their knowledge of specific arts disciplines and that they were in constant touch with arts products from the genre of their expertise. Their role was to see to it that deserving and excelling work was considered by the adjudicators.

After the closing date, (30th November of each year) NACZ appointed independent team of adjudicators who assessed all entries. The general observation by adjudicators was that there was an increase of entries hence adjudicators had a wide range of product selection. Adjudicators also acknowledged the rise in entries from across the country which they applauded as very encouraging as it gave another dimension to the quality and style.

In addition, adjudicators said there was a tremendous improvement in the quality of music videos, a marked improvement in entries of exhibitions as both public and private galleries actively participated in NAMA for the purpose of promoting the artists that exhibited in their galleries as well as a general improvement in the quality of submitted entries. The college of adjudicators however, appealed to the arts sector to ensure the NAMA entries must be in formats that are compatible with current technology and also challenged the dance sector to be more creative and come up with new, exciting and unique works in dance. The eight NAMA categories that were adjudged are,

• Dance
• Film and Television
• Literary Arts
• Media
• Music
• Spoken Word
• Theatre
• Visual Arts
• Promoters

NACZ therefore would like to thank all those that entered for the 15th Edition of NAMA for making it a success. It is the participation of the artists and stakeholders that make NAMA and indeed the whole arts activities a success.

NACZ launched the inaugural National Arts Merit Awards in 2002. NAMA is the forum where NACZ recognizes outstanding achievements within the arts sector. By rewarding excelling artists, NAMA stimulates more interest in the arts and raises the profile of the same. The awards are a means of encouraging creativity and excellence in the quality of the arts, making Zimbabwe a force to reckon with on the region and international arena.
In addition, the awards aim to inspire artists to strive for higher and original forms of creativity and provide an opportunity for arts disciplines to jointly market and publicize the arts locally, regionally and internationally.

15th NAMA NOMINEES

1. LITERARY ARTS AWARDS

Outstanding First Creative Published Works
Shower of Poetic Vistas by Shumirai Nhanhanga [Zimbabwe Women Writers]
Chaotic by Samantha Chihuri [Ess Tee Publications]
Who will Feed my Birds by Tshengina Ndlovu [Multi-Media Box] 

Outstanding Children’s Book
 

Tsuro naGudo: Misi yese Haifanani by Daniel Mutendi and Wilbur Kandiero [DanTs Media]
The Mystery of the Waterfalls Thief by Tatenda C Munyuki [Darling Kind]

Outstanding Fiction

Dzinonyandura by Rabson Shumba [263 Nhetembo]
Textures by John Eppel & Togara Muzanenhamo [AmaBooks]
Ties that Bind by Phillip K. Chidavaenzi [New Heritage Press]
The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah [Faber and Faber] 

2. DANCE AWARDS

Outstanding Male Dancer

Sean Mambwere M & M Dance Factory
Mehluli Dube Umkhathi Theatre Works
Mclntosh Jerahuni Tumbuka Dance Company

Outstanding Female Dancer
 

Timikha Fisher Breakthrough Productions
Chaleen Chimara Dance Trust of Zimbabwe
Sibonisiwe Sithole IYASA

Outstanding Dance Group
 

Tumbuka Dance Company
IYASA
M & M Dance Factory

Outstanding Choreographer
 

Mclntosh Jerahuni Tumbuka Dance Company
Sean Mambwere M & M Dance Factory
Maylene Chenjerayi Tumbuka Dance Company
Stanley Wasini Tumbuka Dance Company

3. VISUAL ARTS AWARDS

Outstanding 2 Dimensional Work
 

Kunababa Kunedzimba Dzakawanda by Anthony Bumhira
Shadows from the Past by Boarding Dzinotizei
Tears of a Woman by Mavis Tauzen

Outstanding 3 Dimensional Work
 

Vhukonani by Israel Israel
Happy Elephant by Farai T. Tandi
Mother’s Day by Rufaro Murenza

Outstanding Mix Media Work
 

The Dog and the Bone by Johnson Zuze
Kusina mai hakuendwe (Xenophobia Pain) by Forbes Mushipe
In my Grandmother’s Jacket by Israel Israel

Outstanding Exhibition
 

Agostinho Neto Curated by Raphael Chikukwa at National Gallery of Zimbabwe
Between Dreams and Realities Curated by Jimmy Saruchera at Koa-Vah Gallery
Mutations and Permutations: A Situationist Proposal Curated by Raphael Chikukwa at NGZ

4. SPOKEN WORD AWARDS
 

Outstanding Poet
 

Philani Nyoni
Barbra Anderson
Freedom Nyamubaya

Outstanding Comedian
 

Sam Farai Monro aka Comrade Fasto
Victor T Mpofu aka Doc Vikela
Michael Kudakwashe

5. THEATRE AWARDS
 

Outstanding Actress
 

Nyaradzo Nhongonhema in Chimbwido the Girl of War
Priviledge Mutendera in Where There is a Will
Musa Sibanda in The Taking
Chiedza Mlingo in Ananias and Sapphira

Outstanding Actor
 

Gift Chakuvinga in The Taking
Tafadzwa Hananda in Chimbwido the Girl of War

Outstanding Theatrical Production
 

The Taking by Homegrown Arts
Ananias and Sapphira by Charles Munganasa
Chimbwido the Girl of War by Stanley Mukuwe

Outstanding Director
 

Memory Kumbota for The Taking
Charles Munganisa for Ananias and Sapphira
Stanley Makuwe for Chimbwido the Girl of War

6. FILM AND TELEVISION AWARDS

Outstanding Actor
Anthony Tongani in Ngozi
Nick Zemura in My Lady
Tinashe Nhukarume in Through the Night 2

Outstanding Actress
 

Paula Ndlovu in Journey Home
Chipo Mbizvo in Mwanasikana
Fortune Perezu in My Lady

Outstanding Music Video

Breaking Through by Kudzai Chikomo ft. Admire Kudita
Jerusarema by Willard ‘Slimaz’ Makombedze ft. Jah Prayzah
Huyai Tinamate by Charles Mawungwa ft. Hope Masike
Ndomira Pamuri by Andy ‘Cutta’ Sobhuza ft. Janet Manyowa

Outstanding Screen Production - Full Length Film
 

My Lady directed by Michael Zemura
Mwanasikana directed by Beauty Nakai Tsuro
Far from Yesterday directed by Blessing Chinanga et al.

Outstanding Screen Production - Short Film

The Christening directed by Tswatswa I. Mutasa
Jane the Ghost directed by Learnmore Sibanda

Outstanding Screen Production (TV)
 

Tonight with Zororo directed by Nqobizitha Mlilo & Zororo Makamba
Wenera directed by Eddie Ndlovu
Zambezi News directed by Kevin Hansen
The Maid directed by Shupai Kamunyaru

7. MEDIA AWARDS

Outstanding Journalist Print

Beaven Tapureta - The Herald
Vasco Chaya - Daily News
Mbongeni Msimanga - Sunday News
Tony Mhonda - The Patriot

Outstanding Journalist TV
 

Sifiso Mpofu - ZBC
Josephine Mugiyo - ZBC
Andrew Neshamba - ZBC

Outstanding Journalist Radio
 

Sifiso Mpofu - ZBC
Josephine Mugiyo - ZBC
Tichaona Meza - ZBC

Outstanding Online
 

Zimbojam
Writers International Network (WIN)
Panorama
Three Men on a Boat

8. MUSIC AWARDS
 

Outstanding Female Musician
 

Hope Masike
Selmor Mtukudzi
Tariro ‘negitare’ Chaniwa
Agatha Murudzwa

Outstanding Male Musician
 

Wallace Chirimuko aka Winky D
Mathias Mhere
Mukudzei Mukombe aka Jah Prayzah
Kelvin Kusikwenyu aka Killer T

Outstanding Album

 
Gafa Life by Wallace Chirimuko aka Winky D
Jerusarema by Mukudzei Mukombe aka Jah Prayzah
Glory to Glory by Mathias Mhere
Ngoma Ndaimba by Kelvin Kusikwenyu aka Killer T

Outstanding Song
 

Ebenezer from Ebenezer - Tirimunyasha by Rev. Togarepi Chivaviro
Eriza - from Jerusarema by Mukudzei Mukombe aka Jah Prayzah
Tirikuda Kumbofarawo by Kelvin Kusikwenyu aka Killer T
Disappear from Gafa Life by Wallace Chirimuko aka Winky D

1. SPECIAL AWARD

Outstanding Promoter

Danchip Investments t/a Legends Sports Bar
X-MO SQUAD
CHIPAZ Promotions
SIMMAD Entertainment

LISBON CHIGWENJERE’S POETIC MUSINGS

(Report by WIN-Zimbabwe)

 Lisbon Chigwenjere

A few years ago we used to know him by his stage name ‘Babamukuru’. Whenever he performed his popular poem which has the repetition “Ndini ndamubata’, he would send the audience in frenzied ululation.

Lisbon Tawanda Chigwenjere has now assumed another stage name and this time he has dedicated his all to his Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in his new name, The Lord’s Poet, that his passion is explained.

Last month, the Lord’s Poet has been busy finalizing publication of his new Christian poetry anthology titled Days of My Youth. As we speak now, the anthology could be close to reaching its readers. The anthology was  co-edited by his twin brother Liberty Chigwenjere and prolific novelist and recently NAMA nominated Phillip K Chidavaenzi.

Days of my Youth resounds with Lisbon’s spiritually powered poetic musings. His eye is alert, his heart profound and full with wisdom.  As a young person, he seeks to inspire his fellows and thus dedicates his message to “every young person/who is yet to discover his/her purpose/to those young people who/like Paul of Tarsus/ are not ashamed of the Lord Jesus”.

The book is divided into three sections, that is, Faith, Love and Patriotism. Each poem is guided by a Bible verse that aptly captures and accompanies the spiritual idea in the poem. Exciting are the different perspectives which the theme of youth is looked at.

In the poem My Triumphant Life, you hear the voice of an older person reflecting on the well-utilized days of youth, celebrating his/her faith-based victory.  Every young person wishes to live longer and to one day declare, as the personae in the poem, that:

I have conquered, I have defeated, I have subdued

I have overcome challenges and them I have chewed. (My Triumphant Life)

The poems give hope, encouragement and guidance to young persons who may be bogged down by different conditions in their lives. Not only youths will enjoy the poems in this anthology but children as well. How sweet it will be for a parent to recite Lisbon’s poem Little Nicole to a child. The poem, in very friendly and loving words, encourages a child to obey his/her parents so that faith and happiness will be theirs in the future.

Lisbon gets meditative, deeply meditative in the poem Still Small Voice. As said before, Lisbon’s mind’s eye is alert and aware of the times. The issue of gender-based violence has affected every aspect of life.  In the poem For Tanya, a woman is being praised and advised to stand strong because

Out of your belly flow rivers of living waters

You are the greatest woman that ever been born

They will celebrate you when you are gone

Tanya, let no man despise thee because a woman thou art…

The love poems are controlled, and every boy and girl who reads these poems is likely to become suddenly aware of the temporary nature of uncontrolled desires which many a time have led to the fall of youths. Although Lisbon inspires true love, he wants the love to not only be earthly but to go beyond and assume no earthly qualities, thus he reminds young people and adults as well:

In heaven we will be single

We will not mix and mingle…

There will be no husband and wife (Single in Heaven)

No doubt Lisbon’s gift of poetry has risen to another level in quality and theme. This collection testifies how deep his belief in the emancipation of humanity through Jesus Christ is.

Born a twin in 1983, Lisbon is currently at the Midlands State University where he is studying for a degree in Politics and Public Management. His Christian poems have appeared in various international journals and anthologies. A passionate youth leader, Lisbon’s vision is to “inspire young people to remember their Creator in the days of their youth”.

Indeed, no country can survive without conscious youths!

AUTHOR SELF-PUBLISHES SECOND BOOK

Cover of ‘Wakanonoka Kuipingudza’, a self-published book by Onias Murambidzi whose first book was a Shona play titled ‘Makadenha Rukato’ which is about the liberation struggle.

Onias Murambidzi has a second book and it is titled Wakanonoka Kuipingudza. WIN caught up with Murambidzi and from the brief chat, we bring you two important questions which WIN asked the author:

WIN: What is the plot of your second novel?

Murambidzi: It is a story about a poor family that lacks cohesion with the extended family. Tapesana has one and only daughter Tambudzai. Tambudzai grows up isolated from other close relatives. Her father Tapesana who could not get any advice from relatives, does not explore and address weaknesses of his daughter until she became mature enough to be married. Having noticed that it is not proper to let her without proper marriage guidance, he instructs his wife to Mai Tapesana to brief the daughter a few hours before the marriage but it was too late. This results in a weak marriage between Tambu and Shayamano her husband. Their marriage breaks. The daughter later reforms but the damage is already done. In short, children need proper guidance in their lives.

WIN: How have readers received your first book, a play Makadenha Rukato?

Murambidzi: From the day Makadenha Rukato was read/serialized on Radio Zimbabwe, the book has made certain progress. It was also reviewed in the Herald’s Bookshelf column and many people came to know about my book. The book increasingly became popular when I was interviewed on ZBC TV by presenter Terrence Mapurisana. I have sold a number of copies now to local readers. The Congress Library of America also bought a few copies. I can say the response has been overwhelming for a debut.

Get your copy,taste it and have your say!

HOUSE OF HUNGER POETRY SLAM

Energetic performance poet Odreck Nyika (above in red shirt), who is also a member of Win-Zimbabwe, will be taking part in the House of Hunger poetry slam on Saturday February 6, 2016. 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR READING!