MANYIKA’S "BETWEEN STARSHINE AND CLAY" CELEBRATES ARICAN DIASPORANS

 Beaven Tapureta - for Winzim Online

 

 

               Front cover of Between Starshine and Clay

 

Renowned US-based writer Sarah Ladipo Manyika’s non-fiction volume Between Starshine and Clay: Conversations from the African Diaspora (2022, Footnote Press) is a celebration of twelve black global celebrities in different fields. Among these great men and women is Zimbabwean civil rights activist Pastor Evan Mawarire of the unforgettable #ThisFlag movement.

As multi-layered as the book is, it is however the author’s continued search for what home really means to the Africans in Africa and in the diaspora.

Between Starshine and Clay’s portrayal of these much sought-after, high-profile people carries its own historical exclusivity enhanced by the author’s patient observation and research, resulting in these detailed, enlightening conversations.

Poet Claudia Rankine, documentary film-maker Xoliswa Sithole, Nobel Laureates Toni Morrison and Wole Soyinka, feature in the first section ‘The Creators’ while the second section, tagged ‘The Curators’, features  historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr, publisher Margaret Busby, Mrs Willard Harris, and actor and playwright Anna Deavere. They are ‘the curators’ who somehow have been on a mission “to find and gather our stories and histories, record them and make them accessible”.  These individuals have, in their different capacities, archived and told the usually under-told story of Africa and its diaspora, of women and children.

The third and last section, ‘The Changemakers’, features Michelle Obama who was the first Black American First Lady and an author too, parliamentarian Lord Michael Hastings, who has done great work in the United Kingdom to address the plight of the poor, the disadvantaged, and those in prison, civil rights activist Pastor Evan Mawarire who became a voice for the voiceless Zimbabweans during the late former president Robert Mugabe’s reign, and US Senator Cory Booker, a champion of equality and justice.

Manyika’s detailed personal story ‘Notes of a Native Daughter’ which follows  the insightful Foreword by Bernardine Evaristo makes  a testament of its own, an exploration  of what being an African means when looked  from different windows.

Having had the unusual opportunity to talk to her and review her books in the past few years, I am sure others agree she is a very passionate author devoted to probing the multi-dimensional meaning of home especially with regard to those of African descent wherever they may be. 

The twelve greats in the new book have their life experiences, ideas and convictions, whether political or literary or artistic, captured with liveliness which has now become the mark of the author.

In my past review of her debut novel In-Dependence (Weaver Press, 2014), I noted how the main character Tayo, a university African student in Britain,  falls in love and subsequently falls into a different kind of ‘home’ where he learns to explore his emotions more deeply.  The aspect of ‘home’ is very interesting. Reading Manyika’s non-fiction book is the same as viewing different dimensions which the meaning of ‘home’ has in the minds of black people scattered across the world. The magnitude of her inquiry into how it feels to be black or of African descent in a different society is heart-deep. No wonder Between Starshine and Clay starts out with this Hurston quote:

 

‘Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me

angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the

pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.’

– Zora Neale Hurston, How it Feels to be Colored Me

 

Some of the conversations are sub-divided into two parts, ‘On Meeting’ and ‘In Conversation’, others are singularly ‘In Conversation’ which are one-on-one interviews but still one gets enamoured by the openness, depth of emotion, the knowledge exchange between the interviewer and interviewee. The ‘On Meeting’ pieces show us Manyika at pleasure to observe, relate and describe outdoor and indoor particulars of her subject.

In fact, she acknowledges, “This book has emerged from multiple interactions with its twelve main subjects. Some pieces are essays, others are conversations. ‘On Meetings’ grew from encounters with the person featured, and their works, over time. ‘In Conversations’, as captured here, represent a single conversation, lightly edited for flow – a snapshot, in most cases, of many more conversations we have had over the years.”

With the ‘On Meeting’ essays, Manyika walks you into Toni Morrison’s house and into the great writer’s restroom where there are writers’ photos and literary letters pasted on the walls, she lets you hear the humor echoing from Toni’s study and you wish you could stay just a few more hours in the house. Through her expert descriptive writing, she takes you closer to the endeared Obamas, into the People’s House (White House), to the San Jose’s SAP arena where Michelle Obama and Michele Norris are having an illuminating open talk. Oh I am one of those who did not know that Michelle Obama is the author of the family memoir Becoming which Manyika also analyzes. And if you want more, Manyika is with you on the pages when she gets to a book launch inside the Paul Webley Wing of London University’s School of Oriental Studies (SOAS) where you meet various great and inspiring women, including Margaret Busby, to whose house in Clerkenwell you are later transported. Margaret is the celebrated ‘doyenne of Black British publishing’. 

I once described Manyika’s second novel Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream To The Sun in my review as ‘…a courageous investigation into the joys and vagaries of age, and at the same time, a subtle unveiling of the racial battle running beneath multi-cultural American society’.

Thus the three books carry the author’s tireless clamour for a free and happy world in which people are not judged on the basis of skin colour, a world in which different political views are permitted, a world free from poverty and hunger. This may sound too generalised an overall embrace of the three books but it serves well to understand the author. 

Manyika’s latest book no doubt bursts from this deep source inside her, a powerful spring that never runs dry, always giving out the divine water, the words for a global garden of togetherness. To celebrate the courage and achievement of black people in the global village is to celebrate universal legacy. However, the conversations in the book turn personal each time the author puts across a question about race or being black. This is a very sensitive issue.

In her recent interview with Open Country Magazine, she describes her book Between Starshine and Clay as ‘…conversations that speak to what we endlessly aspire or strive towards — the idea of progress, of a fairer more equitable society, of a better world for future generations. They are conversations that touch on stories that are a reflection of all of us (any of us) and speak to certain truths and universal human experiences.’ 

In the book, through attentive description, some things speak for themselves. For Toni (she told Manyika she prefers ‘Toni’), Africa lives in her house. Her ‘home’s furnishings… with accents from Africa’ and ‘a small Shona sculpture’ tell of the pride she takes in being African (American). Manyika rightfully writes about the house that it embodies ‘Harare, Lagos, Accra, Kingston’. Truly, a home of cultural pride.

Mario Kaiser, who is accompanying Manyika when she meets Toni Morrison, asks: …Why can skin color still make or break people in this country?

In Kaiser’s question, ‘this country’ refers to America. And Toni’s response is rooted in history. She openly denounces white-skin supremacy or such labels as ‘I am a white Swede’ in America.

‘On Meeting’ Michelle Obama from a distance, Manyika is curious to ask the former First Lady certain questions she had always wanted to ask, including “Did the White House felt like a home, a fortress, or a prison?”

Home, what did Manyika want to know?

However, she never gets to ask this question when the two finally meet.

 Michael Hastings, parliamentarian and also a wide reader with pan-African roots stretching from India to in Angola. He now lives in the UK. He talks about ‘changing the narrative’ when he is asked what he thinks about the African Diaspora.

Hastings understanding is that Africans in the Diaspora must not be viewed simply as just “great cultural bearers of heritage from another continent, but actually as phenomenally intelligent academics, economists, medical experts, people who are innovators, technicians, creators, drivers of wealth, supporters of community and hospital workers.” He calls for “the wider world out there to give us the time and the dignity to be heard.”

It all echoes the fact that the African Diaspora is no stranger in the world but a human community deserving respect. And respect is what Hastings wishes could be given to any member of society without the biases of gender, race, etc.

At some point in time, when home becomes a place of strife, not actually of racial disaster but a place of extreme economic and political disaster, the patriot feels the need for change.  Manyika vividly captures the evening when in his church office, weighed down by the prevailing economic stress, Pastor Evan Mawarire started what would become the #ThisFlag movement that inspired positive action and touched many a heart in Zimbabwe and the world.

Manyika’s ‘On Meeting’ with Mawarire outlines how much this change-maker suffered – the arrests, the imprisonment, the threats – but also she celebrates the courage he had/has in his fight for  a better Zimbabwe, a better home.

Apart from clarifying his friendship with fellow Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison and many other issues in his conversation with Manyika, the guru Wole Soyinka passionately views Africa as “not just a continent”. Soyinka displays his deep love for African culture, and this love led him to be part of a team that travelled to Brazil and London in a bid to recover a piece of art ‘stolen’ by the colonialists from a Nigerian museum. 

In the conversations with Soyinka and Mawarire, albeit these two having different backgrounds, there is a shared lesson that Africa should promptly recover the missing dimensions which once identified it originally as a thriving, peaceful continent, that Africans must rise to defend the motherland against looters of its cultural art and freedom.

Soyinka says, “I grew up with this history. These are the precipitates of a people’s spirituality. In the process, that meant that even the spiritual network that bound the Black people together was just being shredded to pieces. So, this was beyond just a piece of work to be admired. This piece of work, incidentally, was the image on one of the Nigerian stamps for a long while. And to see this being advertised around the whole world as what the African genius had produced, it hurt. I’m explaining why there was no hesitation about my going on that recovery mission.”

Claudia Rankine, a multi-award winning poet and playwright also talks about anti-blackness, about the right to vote as an American citizen. Rankine says among her influences is Fanon: “Fanon…for me, being maybe the most crucial in the way his work addresses the psychological ramifications of anti-Blackness within a society.”

Award-winning film-maker Xoliswa Sithole’s story of the difficulties faced by women in the film industry echo those of Zimbabwean film-maker and writer Tsitsi Dangarembga and others. In the conversation, Sithole says she loves making documentaries that tell the untold stories of women and children especially, as Manyika puts it, “in the context of pandemics, war and poverty”.

Yet, much to Sithole’s disappointment, funding is difficult to source because she is a woman. She outlines the need to fight against the “erasure of women out of history”.

The closing chapter ‘A White Continent’ is Manyika’s recollection of her exciting, informative and yet a little dangerous expedition to Antarctica’s South Pole in January 2022. However, through this journey she makes new discoveries which she shares in this chapter, like climate change, women explorers, and interestingly about how thoughts of skin colour diminish in Antarctica, an extremely cold continent almost entirely below the Antarctic Circle; covered by an ice cap up to 13,000 feet deep. To survive the cold, you have to be dressed up in layers and layers of clothing.

“One of the things about being bundled up in layers of polar clothing and gear is that when outside you rarely see a person’s skin color. The body is so covered up it’s hard to recognize who’s who. All that is clear is that a figure is human – not Black, not white, just human.”

All the black people featured in Between Starshine and Clay are heroes and heroines whose experiences have important lessons for the world. They are but only a segment and Manyika admits that “from such a vast continent and its diaspora, there are many inspiring voices that could be included in a book like this”.

This book is of great relevance to everyone, for it carries real-life stories from the African diaspora, stories which the media had seemingly been parsimonious about. It is a classic that will break boundaries.

 

 

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ZIM POETS CONCERNED WITH MENTAL HEALTH

Winzim Online

 

Every year October 10 is observed as World Mental Health Day which aims ‘to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health’. This year, the theme was ‘Mental Health is a Universal Human Right’. As the world recognized this day through various events, World Health Organization’s 2022 World Mental Health Report rebounds with a sad note that mental health conditions are increasing worldwide.

The pressure of daily modern life has plunged men, women, teenagers and youths, into a dungeon of depression, drug abuse, suicide, anxiety, in fact all the filthiness usurping the human mind.  There’s hardly a family that has not been affected by any of the mental health issues topping the agendas at world medical and health conferences. Governments and NGOs have woken up to the call of addressing mental health in an attempt to save the future generations.

Dictionaries define mental health as a ‘psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment’ and mental disorder as ‘a psychological disorder of thought or emotion.’

Mental disorder is a more neutral term than mental illness. There are many a different meaning and cause, some rational and others irrational, attached to the words ‘mental health’ or ‘mental disorder’ or ‘mental illness’.

Psychologists or psychiatrists have their take while personal development coaches, traditionalists (spiritual and cultural), and others, have their own viewpoints (and biases) too.

Yet even as threatening as it is, mental health awareness can be raised through the literary arts also; hence we have poets or writers vigorously writing about the subject.

Seven  Zimbabwean poets concerned with the rising statistics of problems to do with mental health came together and hatched ten poems each to produce a wonderful anthology called Not Forgotten: Remembered with Love (2023, Ruvarashe Creative Writes).

The anthology editor, Morset Billie, notes that the poets’ aim ‘to dispel the stigma associated with mental health challenges….’

If you read the anthology quietly, listening with mind (not ears) to the voices of the personae, you realize mental health is not something to take for granted. You witness a sad realm of individuals burdened by pain, suicide ideation, regret, self-pity, drug addiction, guilt and loneliness.

It is a relief that the book is not totally sad but it comforts. You rejoice when victims become victors. The poems are a conglomeration of survivors’ voices and the witnesses’ voices, a poetic choir of hope.

  There is a time when even the sufferer discovers the root cause of his/her suffering as depicted in Ruth Mutana’s poems. A homeless grown man in ‘An Image of a Street Man’ sees his childhood reflected in a nearby poor, wailing boy who’s being ignored by his busy parents.  Like the boy, the man ‘always waited to be loved and cared for…’ but he was cast out of home because he ‘started talking and laughing’ to himself’.

In marriage, some partners scarcely accept their weaknesses; the result is marital friction as in another of Mutana’s poems ‘The Gas Lighter’. The woman cries:

 

…When I expressed my feelings honestly

He called me a liar

When I explained his shortcomings to me

He called me delusional

Until I began to question my sanity

 

 

Courage E Karuma pleads with the busy world, especially family members, to give an ear to those trapped in drugs or suicide thoughts, those crying out for help. His poems often address the brother, sister, mother. For example, in ‘Welcome to my World’ a voice pleads:

 

Why won’t you listen?

I called last week; you were busy

At that time, I went searching for death

 

In the poem ‘Mother, I am Scared’, you wish you could attend to the voice of possibly a youth who is under the influence of drugs, alone in his room seeing awkward visions, calling out to his mother who is not there for him.

Tabeth Manyonga, the anthology publisher, also contributed pieces that largely touch on the worker’s plight. She shows how the workplace can inflict worst wounds in the mind. When one fails to live up to the bosses’ expectations, is segregated and gets treated like a slave, the mind is easily pressured to give in to depression.

For example, the persona is her poem ‘The Stairs’ has feelings of regret and after failing to be like the others, says:

 

I lost my sanity trying to keep up

 

The poets Onward Mutapurwa and Ruvimbo Martha Jeche are voices of comfort, echoing the anthology’s mantra that ‘it’s ok not to be okay’. 

It is mentioned in his brief biography that 23-year old poet Alison Tinashe Muzite is ‘an author also notable for distinctively writing, drawing and painting using both hands simultaneously’.

When reading his poems, especially the first two titled ‘Alone’ and ‘Lonely’ set side by side, something suspiciously exciting moves between your eyes: the poems are like a painter’s brief, quick strokes made by both hands at the same time, yet capturing different meanings.

     Tanaka Mercy Murwira, an aspiring poet, also echoes the psychological wailings of people in different storms of life. 

Not Forgotten carries poems in simple but inherently soulful language; that is the good of it.  It’s a timeless, helpful book.  Reading Not Forgotten is therapeutic. This anthology surely must be made part of rehabilitation or treatment programs for people with mental health problems. 

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MEMORIES OF A BOOK LAUNCH

Winzim Online

 

Some book launches are unforgettable.

It’s afternoon, April 15, 2023. Mallvine T Mutize aka Mall the Vine, a motivational writer, is launching his book Corridors of Leadership at the International Coaching and Mentoring Foundation, Karigamombe Centre in Harare.

Guests entering the ICMF board room are welcomed by cool Afrojazz music oozing from a corner. The sound is not intrusive. Victor Masara, an Afrofusion musical artist, performs with gift, performs with passion, and entertains them. Near a window is an eye-catching large table upon which copies of Corridors of Leadership stand or lie around a white decorated birthday cake.

Among the arriving guests is the guest speaker, Noah Mangwarara, an accomplished motivational author and coach. The panellists Sympathy Sibanda, Tabeth Manyonga, Geraldine Eve, and Beaven Tapureta, have arrived, together with the author who is in the company of his supportive parents and other relatives.

In a moment, the MC walks to the front, and Masara music fades into silence. The introductions, followed by panel discussion and speeches begin.

The panel discussion dissects the book from exciting different perspectives. Passages from Corridors of Leadership are brought up to justify a point, a comment or criticism.

Afterwards, guest speaker Mangwarara lays out in alphabetical order first letters of what he says are the six major themes Mutize tackles in his book – Action, Believe (self-belief), Create ( a legacy), Develop (other leaders), Excellency and Focus. He goes on to explicate each of the themes.

Mangwarara emphasizes everyone is a leader but the choices people make can reflect whether they are effective or ineffective leaders.

He applauds Mutize’s approach in the book, especially his use of the parable style such as the Parable of the Pencil, lessons drawn from great world leaders, Bible verses, references to authors who have tackled same subject, and stories from his everyday life experiences. All these strategies, Mangwarara says, urge the reader to continue reading, inspired.

The launch is double-fold, being also a belated celebration of the author’s birthday which occurs on April 14.

    Mallvine Mutize is an award-wining certified Life Coach, mentor, a leadership practitioner and author of Stepping Stones to Self-Discovery and Self Help to Growth. He also co-authored Growth Recipe. He is the director of The Vine Consultancy whose mandate is to develop children and young people, build and strengthen teams for better performance. Mutize sits on several boards of youth-based organizations.

Mallvine T Mutize

‘Everyone is a leader’

 

 

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MUCHURI'S BOOK INSPIRES CHILDREN

Winzim Online

 

Tinashe Muchuri reading at the Book Cafe some years ago

 

Tinashe Muchuri’s Auntie Mazvita (2021, Essential Books Publishing Company), a children’s book shortlisted for the NAMA award last year, offers children the cultural wisdom necessary to uproot moral poverty reeking in modern day society, African society in particular.

Before ICT somehow chopped away the role of the traditional aunt, an adviser and storyteller, the children were protected and the home was their first school. Parents, aunts and uncles, were the basic teachers who, through storytelling, they would mentor a child to understand the spirit of Ubuntu.

Nowadays, the children hardly sit around the fire to listen to grandma or auntie who usually has lots of exciting stories and games. Actually, there are no aunts to make them laugh as tsuro makes a fool of gudo, to make them ask questions to understand the moral lesson.

Books like Auntie Mazvita will always be important in capturing the kids young so that they grow up understanding life and the Ubuntu spirit. 

Auntie Mazvita is not an action or fictional narration but a real-life inspirational story told by the storyteller Auntie Mazvita herself. She tells the story of her life and her role in the village. She reminds the children and adults alike of how storytellers were highly regarded because of their gift of knowledge.

‘I was taught that a storyteller builds the future. It is through the stories told to children that a strong foundation is laid. Without proper stories, the future is dull,” she says in the book.

The colour illustrations add some liveliness.

Auntie Mazvita is at ease with the inquisitive boys and girls; she shares with them her knowledge through song and dance. Yet she does not forget the realities of social evils haunting the children; such evil as child abuse, hence she protects the kids by educating them.

Although she is wheel-chair bound because of polio, she is an achiever, a Paralympic champion. After reading this book, children will love to associate with fellow pupils or friends who live with disability. They will understand that disability is not witchcraft – or some superstitious punishment, but it is usually a medical condition or a result of accident.  

Children are good observers but they are happy when they find someone to ask questions about what they see. For example, in Muchuri’s book, it’s clear the children have seen disabled people always begging in the streets and wonder why Auntie Mazvita is as independent as any other ‘abled’ person.

‘I am not a charity case or a special one. I work for myself. Telling stories is a career. I am working,” she tells the children. Her independence inspires the children to aim higher despite challenges life may present.

As a counsellor, she has earned the confidence of villagers who are having marital problems. It means she is not there for the kids only, but for the whole village.

In this little but sagacious book, Tinashe Muchuri proves that we cannot do without the storyteller. Muchuri is an award-winning journalist, writer, poet, translator, and actor. He is the author of the Shona novel Chibarabada (2015, Bhabhu Books)

 

 

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AUTHOR WELLINGTON MUDHLURI VISITS WIN LIBRARY

 Win Online

 

Beaven Tapureta (left) and Wellington Mudhluri inside the WIN library

 

In the blistering afternoon of September 19, 2023, the WIN community library in Epworth had the pleasure of hosting Wellington Mudhluri, author of Sinister Motive.

Mudhluri appreciated the library vision and promised to donate a few copies of his novel.

WIN said such visits by authors make the library special and many thanks to Wellington, and those who have visited before and those who shall visit one day.

The library is still developing but it has proved worthwhile to book lovers, including the school kids.

 

Sharp!

Welly at the official launch of his novel in South Africa last year

 

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“I think some readers are looking to have their views confirmed or consoled and that doesn’t always happen […] That’s not what novels do that’s what fairy tales do. In adult fiction, it’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing, to have your views challenged, to have things happen that you didn’t wish or expect to happen.”

-LAILA LALAMI (novelist, short story writer, journalist) - Morocco

Greetings From The Founder & Director

 

                                                                     

DEAR FRIENDS,

How are you and the reading, writing, publishing, book marketing and promotion, all the literary stuff? We are reading so much about new books by Zimbabwean authors; this really makes us happy. It’s the reading element that we will keep pushing into the whole process. WIN is moving on, no matter the bumps and holes on the road. Although we have not been feeding our blog for about four months now, a voice great within us is alive, faithful, goading us forward.  Many thanks for the patience. You inspire us to believe in our 'calling' through your undying support.

We hope to resume publishing the online WIN Newsletter soon. No retreat, no surrender. Keep on writing, reading.

Best wishes,

Beaven Tapureta

‘LECTURE CORNER’ DEDICATED TO DEPARTED FAMOUS AUTHOR

 WIN Online

 

Dr Charles Mungoshi (1947-2019)

 

The late great writer Dr Charles Mungoshi’s legacy will live on as his family has now set up a Lecture Corner named after him at the Harare City Library.  

According to son Farayi Mungoshi, an author in his own right, the lecture corner will showcase literary works by Dr. Mungoshi as well as other African writers’ publications.

A call is being made to writers who want to submit their works to the Charles Mungoshi Lecture Corner which, Farayi said, will not necessarily host real lectures but the ‘lectures’ are figuratively the voices of/from the books.

Published writers in Zimbabwe, and Africa at large, can join this forever celebration of the literary icon and the promotion of literature and culture.  Get in touch with Farayi on +263 77 263 4918 or email fgmungoshi@gmail.com.

 

MORE NEWS….

  

Tsitsi Nomsa Ngwenya’s new novel Portrait of Emlanjeni (Carnelian Heart Publishing Ltd, 2023) now available @ Noble & Barnes or Amazon. In Zimbabwe, it will be available @ Book Fantastics.

 

 

AND MORE IN

 

THE WIN LITERARY NEWSLETTER

 VOL 2 NO 22

 

COMING SOON …

 

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SPECIAL ISSUE THE WIN LITERARY NEWSLETTER VOL 2, ISSUE 21

 

EDITORIAL

A member of the WIN Children’s Reading Club (Epworth) reading a book Baba VaRudo written by Memory Chirere

 

W

elcome to our first and special edition of the WIN Literary Newsletter, an inspiring package of news for the writer.

We know you have been wondering why we have been offline for such a long time, the best answer, if truth be told, would be that we allowed ourselves to withdraw, observe, and learn. And surely, we have learnt.

Interesting how the writing and publishing space in Zimbabwe has undergone rapid change mostly due to technology. While few decades ago it would take a long and intensive process to see one’s book published, today it is a matter of hours, if not minutes!

There is great work being done by some writers and publishers (emerging or established) who are committed to creative quality and exploring new trends; we applaud their efforts.

2022 was a blessed year for WIN as we established a small but promising community library at our new base in Epworth. The library is already running a vibrant reading club for children living in the surrounding area. There’s more about it in this newsletter. Great many thanks to authors who have been supporting this idea.

In this our special issue, we have left out book reviews, columns such as The Youth Perspective, Ngatinyoreyi, The Source, Children’s Literature In Zimbabwe as we want to give these sections special space & treatment in our next issue.

We would like to thank our resilient members, the WIN Board, and literary friends around the world, for the support.  You were and you remain bright stars shining upon our path. We love you all. Keep reading and writing. Enjoy!  

HAPPY WOMEN’S MONTH!

The following is a Ndau poem by one of our members, Farai Mlambo, celebrating women’s uniqueness and embodiment of Ubuntu. Mothers of Africa, we send our love to you all!

 

Ndini Tsangaichuma

 

Ndini Tsangaichuma.

Ndinotsumba ganda rangu;

Ganda rangu rakaqithwa ngemufokozana.

Ganda rangu rakaenda nechinyamamphezi,

Cheindisiya neracho rinonyenyesa.

 

Rangu ganda rainga rakatsvukira zvinoyemudza,

Rakasvipira inga deko renzviru.

Risainga nemathothomba.

Rangu ganda rainga nepika,

Haikhona iriri rakati penu mbare,

Rangu ganda risainga rakaonyana,

Irona raitedzerera zvinodakadza.

 

Ndini inini Tsangaichuma,

Ndombi yekanyi, yakaseja kamale.

Yayeyai muzwe kana izwi rangu.

Rangu zwi rakadepferera,

Rinokekeya inga nzvirya.

Rinosheka zvinoaraidza.

 

Ndini ndemene Tsangaichuma,

Kubanze kwangu akuna unthani.

Ndipei usanga hwangu ndisimire.

Ndipei chikhisa changu ndigqoke

Mudzionerewo mwega kusisira kwazvo.

 

Unthu hwangu munohuziya wani;

Andito kuhehuka inga bungumupee.

Ndinodziehla pamberi peasharuka.

Kuhamba kwangu andiiti ekubhabhauka.

Ndihinei chipfuko ndichidengezere muone.

Ndiashidzei tsani ndimukhombidze chibatirwe chayo

Ndeimucherere ubhudhu.

 

Farai Chinaa Mlambo

 

THE WIN READING CLUB

Establishing the Missing Link at Community Level

WIN Online

 

A club member Shantel Mutarisi

 Since opening its doors to the public in May, 2022, the WIN mini-library in Epworth has made best friends mainly with children. Parents in the neighbourhood and some friends in the book industry have also responded to this idea with open arms.

It started as a one room. A neighbour helped with the roofing, another provided a door frame, another a curtain and a youth named Courage Mlambo, an avid reader, volunteered to assist in the library.

A week after opening doors to the community the number of school kids who subscribed shot to about 20. The one room became too small and later a two-roomed house was sought within the premise.

The first separate visits to the library by WIN officials, Vine Ziwane and Tinashe Muchuri, were in May.  On the day of his visit, Ziwane blessed the library with two copies of his published books, Broken Taboo and Silent Valley. Muchuri donated a few copies of his interesting Shona novel Chibarabada. Another writer who also sits on the WIN Board, Stella Chiweshe donated copies of her motivational Christian book for girls titled The Source.

The book gifts kept coming from authors like Godknows Maremera and Ericah Gwetai who has so far made an outstanding book donation to WIN since the launch of the community-based library. Gwetai’s last book donation which included Shona classics was received in December, 2022, via the kind agency of Mrs Priscilla Sithole.

In the past, WIN received books from individuals and organizations such as Theresa Muchemwa and Zimbabwe Reads.

 Books that have so far been popular with the kids at the reading club include Mabvarura (2012), a collection of Shona poems written by poets aged between 13 and 17 years drawn from different schools and I am A Child, a collection of English poems and stories written by teenage authors. The two books were produced by Centre for the Development of Women and Children (CDWC) in collaboration with WIN in 2012. The other books that have been read often at the club are Baba vaRudo by Memory Chirere, Jenaguru: Moonlight Dances by Edwin Msipa, In Our Own Words published by Steck-Vaughn (2004), There Was A Fly by Aleck Kaposa, Around The Fire: Folktales from Zimbabwe, an Intwasa Arts Festival publication edited by Raisedon Baya and Christopher Mlalazi, Paradise Stories by Eve Z Nyemba-Mazando and various others.

Last year, PEN International in Zimbabwe ran a project named after the book The Invisible Child which the kids at the club found exciting as it made them aware of issues to do with children’s rights, especially the girl child. PEN Zimbabwe managed the project with three selected schools from which some of the club members come.

Writer and WIN Board Member Vine Ziwane browsing a book with one of Epworth avid readers Courage Mlambo, a volunteer at WIN

 

Speaking to WIN Online recently, the WIN director Beaven Tapureta who is also serving as voluntary librarian, said the project still needs everyone’s support as it is in its infancy. He said the library needs books.

“There is a paucity of children’s books at the WIN community library and we hope that with the continued generosity of authors and publishers, the reading material will soon be available to the Epworth young readers,” he said.

Be that as it may, WIN remains strong and is still committed to building a certain bridge for the writers and the readers of all ages and from all backgrounds.     

 

NAMA HONOURS GREAT MENTORS OF MANY A TALENT

Beaven Tapureta

 

Barbara C Nkala

 

From left: Phillip Chidavaenzi, Davison Maruziva and Beaven Tapureta at the 2016 NAMA fete.

 

I am one of those happy for the great mentors, Barbara C Nkala, an author, and Davison Maruziva, media expert, who were honoured at the National Arts Merit Awards held in Harare on February 25, 2023.

Their outstanding contribution in different ways in the field of literary art and in the lives of many artists was recognized much to the joy of those who have had the blessing of being their ‘students’ at some point in life.

Gogo Nkala received the Lifetime Achievement Award and Maruziva the Arts Service Award.

In my life these inspirational personalities have made an indelible mark which always inspires me to never give up. They are examples of true mentors, not only for me but many others from different backgrounds. We salute you! We love you!

 

NAMA RESULTS IN THE LITERARY ARTS SECTION

 

Outstanding Poet - Obert Dube

Outstanding First Creative Work - David Chasumba

Outstanding Children's Book - Sloba and the Chameleon by Costa Chayambuka

Outstanding Fiction Book - The Quality of Mercy by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu

Outstanding Poetry Book - Starfish Blossoms by Samantha Vhazhure

 

EUROPEAN UNION, CULTURE FUND, LAUNCH ‘CREATIVE ACTIONS 2’

WIN Online

 

European Union ambassador to Zimbabwe, Jobst von Kirchmann, speaking at the launch of Creative Actions 2 in Harare

 

The Culture Fund’s new call for grant applications under the Creative Actions2 project was officially launched at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, on Friday, February 24, by European Union ambassador to Zimbabwe HE Jobst von Kirchmann.

Present at the launch were delegates from government and various cultural and civil society organizations and development partners.

The Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation, Hon. Kirsty Coventry, emphasized the importance of national museums in preserving a country’s history for future generations.

She thanked the EU delegation to Zimbabwe for their support to culture and arts sector.

“The government of Zimbabwe is happy to partner the European Union, working with Culture Fund in supporting emerging young creatives. The grants will help create a wide range of quality work, and this will enable our artists to contribute to the local and international creative economy,” she said.

According to a press release, the EU is contributing EUR 2, 060 500 over a period of 36 months (2023-2025) through the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust which is contributing EUR 108 000 and will manage this project.

 The project will ‘allow artists to obtain small grants between EUR 1 000 and EUR 10 000 attributed on a rolling basis’. Larger grants between 10 000 euros and 60000 euros will also be available for organizations working in the creative sector.

The release said that Creative Actions2 project is fully aligned with Government of Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy 1 (NDS-1) and contributes to its implementation by funding innovative artistic and cultural expressions; empowering civil society, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, and by providing training and skills development programmes for arts and culture producers.

Speaking at the launch, H.E. Jobst von Kirchmann said EU’s support to the Zimbabwe cultural sector in the past decade has helped local cultural workers to tell the story of the country’s rich arts and culture. 

Such support has been granted to local initiatives like, among others, Ignatius Mabasa’s project on promoting the story-telling tradition in Zimbabwe, the production and promotion of the Mbira instrument through Albert Chimedza’s one of a kind Mbira Centre and the rehabilitation of the Great Zimbabwe Shona Village and the preservation and promotion of the Ndebele culture of home paintings.

Culture and art, he said, are not just for entertainment but make important contribution to the economy as “culture creates jobs, makes us aware, makes us understand each other and bring us together.”

The Creative Actions2 project, the ambassador said, will provide a breakthrough to emerging artists.

“Our project will support culture as a goal in itself. It is my sincere hope that this project will provide a breakthrough to emerging artists, especially young women and men as it will stimulate Zimbabwean creations,” said ambassador Kirchmann.

The small grants, which are between EUR 1000 and EUR 10 000, are meant to encourage young artists to start small.

“And projects have not to be big. Great Zimbabwe was started with one stone, you can also start something big with only a few euros,” he said.

Among those who will benefit from the Creative Actions2 project are cultural practitioners, performing artists, literary artists, fashion and culinary artists, fine artists, all drawn from the ten provinces in Zimbabwe.

However, the call for applications emphasizes special attention shall be given to women, youth, people with disabilities (PWD) and marginalized communities in Binga, Matobo and Chiredzi.

For more information, visit https://www.culturefund.org.zw/creative-actions or send an email to info@culturefund.co.zw or call +263 242794617/ +263242794530 for assistance.

 

CONGRATULATIONS

TSITSI NOMSA NGWENYA

Flashback: Tsitsi chatting with students at the 2017 Zimbabwe International Book Fair

 

…And the good news:

 

Enjoy the preview of A Portrait of Emlanjeni by Memory Chirere.

CLICK HERE.

 

‘GREY ANGELS’ AVAILABLE IN SELECTED BOOKSHOPS

 

Zimbabwean author and PEN Zimbabwe executive member Virginia Phiri (left) hands over a gift of her novel 'Grey Angels' to PEN International Head of Africa Region  Nduko o’Matigere from Kenya, at a PEN Zimbabwe meeting held on March 14, 2023 ,in  Harare.

‘Grey Angels’ (2019) is available on Amazon and in selected local bookshops. 

‘DREAMS UNDER THE NOONDAY SUN'

TO BE LAUNCHED

Gifted and young writer Cindy Usayi

 

FILMMAKER AMANDA RANGANAWA ON THE RISE

WIN Online

 

Alisha Machumi (left), a film editor, and Amanda Ranganawa (right) at the launch of the film ‘Depth of Emotions’

Award-winning film producer, director, script writer and actress Amanda Ranganawa sees great progress happening in the local film industry although women filmmakers are yet to be as ‘loud’ as their male counterparts.

Speaking to WIN Online, Ranganawa who hails from Mutare said she is glad the business community is opening its doors to the arts sector.

“The local film industry is definitely growing. More good quality films are being made. The business community has become more open to supporting arts and also the emerging television stations have given film makers more platforms to sell and distribute their work,” said Ranganawa.

Ranganawa believes that it is possible for more women to achieve greatness if only they come up with stimulating content and remain focussed.

“Women film makers make great films. However, they are not as ‘loud’ as male film makers. I encourage the women to continue producing more great content, winning in their achievements and remain focussed. No good things stay hidden forever, the work will always speak for itself,” she said.

Her latest project ‘Depth of Emotions’, a romantic film shot in Mutare and produced by Mclara Multimedia Productions and partners, was officially premiered in January this year at the Golden Villa Hotel, Mutare, to an audience of about 500 people, thus priding itself as a well-attended premiere.

Ranganawa wrote and directed the film and she also is part of the cast. The film tells the story of Grace, a young woman who loses her womb when a fibroids removal surgery goes wrong. Ryan, Grace’s boyfriend, stands by her during this unfortunate phase and he decides to marry her. Ryan’s decision to marry Grace is met with opposition from his family.

A scene in ‘Depth of Emotions’

Ranganawa said that ‘Depth of Emotions’ tackles themes such as the problem of fibroids, love, barrenness, adoption, surrogacy and the African perspective as regards marriage and children in a home.

“The movie questions the depth of love between two lovers but poses the same question ‘How deep is your love?’ to society at large,” said the multi-talented writer. 

Born and bred in Mutare, the multi-talented writer has an inspirational oeuvre which includes being the writer of the award-winning film ‘Kushata kweMoyo’ which was shown on Africa Magic and having worked in different productions such as ‘Amwene’, ‘All She Wants’, ‘Sins of the Father’, ‘Smoking Gun’, and ‘Broken Lives’.

 

VOICE FROM THE MOUNTAINS

Clever Simbarashe Kavenga (Mutare)

 

Star from the east: Morset Billie

 

The city of Mutare is now a hub of artistic events, be it music, films, spoken word, etc.

Some time ago events such as book launches, film shows, poetry and music sessions and theatre had sort of fallen into oblivion due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the cold silence has been broken, Mutare is singing loud and clear. Yes, the mist of silence has cleared off and joy is back in the valley of beauty and flowers. We have film producers such as Amanda Ranganawa and Igi Matope of Picture Africa, among others, now making Mutare proud.                      

In this instalment I bring you Morset Billie, one of the emerging artists who call Mutare home and now claiming his own space in the arts sector.

I first met Morset some years back at Mutare National Gallery during the Shaurai Poetry and Music Session. This guy hardly missed the subsequent monthly events. Surely, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Shaurai Poetry and Music Session at the Gallery could be the place where Morset took his first baby steps into the wild world of the arts.

I recall watching him reading his poems written on pieces of papers but the other days he would be reciting his poems. Here and there he would apologize to the audience when he stammered or missed a word or two. Then he would start all over again. Morset was at this time fighting his struggles and he never gave up.

With patience and hard work, the poet developed into one of the audience’s favourite poets at the Shaurai events alongside the ever green Shingirai Manyengavana, Maraire and Dean Murinda to mention but a few. Shingirai and Dean are now published poets and Morset Billie has joined these guys on the published poets’ podium with his collection of love poems titled When We Loved.

Born and raised in Mutare, he attended Chisamba Primary School and St Dominics Mutare for his secondary education. Towards the end of his high school days, he lost his dear father. As a grieving son with nothing to do, he found solace in writing.

Morset never looked back. After St Dominics he proceeded to Chinhoyi University of Technology where he studied International Marketing.

Today, he is in the arts sector full time. He is now a creative enterprise consultant. He works with individual artists and art organizations. Some of the artists he has worked with include poets Chirikure Chirikure, Batsirai Chigama and the musician Tariro Negitare, and others. As a poet, Morset has attended festivals and conferences locally and in the region in countries such as Malawi and Zambia.               

His new book When We Loved, beautifully illustrated by a Kenyan mixed-media artist Gemini Vaghela, is available directly from the author and it is also found as an eBook.  

When asked about his views regarding the book sector in Africa and Zimbabwe in particular, he had this to say, “Yes there is hope, and great opportunity. I think it's just a matter of realigning ourselves as writers with new media forms because the book as we knew it 20 years ago is continuously moving into the digital world.”

And to Morset, I say, “Rise, and keep rising like a real star from the east.”

 

SHORT STORY

Marcilline Badza, author of the short story The Bride

 

THE BRIDE

The rainy season had passed and the most tiresome work in the fields had been lightened. There was no more weeding under the burning sun. At least one could now manage to sneak to the growth point where you would hear the daily top stories of what was transpiring in the country.

A lot of men loved this moment though some would end up in useless fights over English football teams. Those who supported Manchester United seemed very hostile whenever they lost a match. I recall how badly uncle would beat us for mispronouncing his team at heart - Manchester United.

However, at home, it was ever busy because mother would barely let you sigh.

 “A normal person should always be a busy body,” she would say.

She said these words almost every day when we thought that work with no play makes Jack a dull boy. The work at home intensified after the news reached us that babamunini Panganai (father’s younger brother) had successfully paid lobola (bride price) for the woman he so much loved. He was to bring his bride home and everyone waited to see the beauty they had heard of. The preparations began the first week of April, many crops and fruits had ripened then, including maize, pumpkins, ipwa, nyii, among others.

Mother took one of the pumpkins and reserved it for makoti.

 “This one is so ripen she will love it, make sure you don’t put your hands on that pumpkin,” she said to us.

The other crew made sure the rocks near the gate were painted and decorated. After some days, we finished cutting collecting the firewood for the special day. Everyone was in jovial mood except aunt Senzeni who had been let down in love by one of the crooks in the city. I had only heard of the wicked love but now I could see how it had ravaged and malnourished tete. If I had known the lover surely I would beg him to come back and save her broken heart.

The big day came. Everybody wore their best clothes; even Elvis, who hardly changed clothes, wore something new though it had some patches at the back.

Finally, the awaited guest arrived. She was as beautiful as the sunset we had never seen; such glowing skin. The old village women tried to embrace her but she stepped back. She greeted us with the tips of her nails, then I saw how detested we were in her eyes. The three-legged pot with goat meat specially prepared for her was brought. They served her with great love but their cracked, work-dyed hands just killed her appetite. The elders noticed her ungratefulness and the ululations just died gradually….              

 

POET CALLS FOR UNITY

Vongai Hillary Masuka, stage name Lareey

Young poet Vongai Hillary Masuka, popularly known as Lareey, has said that unity promotes success in the arts industry.

In an interview, Lareey said that she founded the Chitungwiza Poetry and Art Convergence in February, 2022, with the aim to promote togetherness among poets.

The organization has so far held arts events at her place in Chitungwiza, thus promoting artistic social interactions.

"The aim of the events is to promote social interactions, by so doing, we not only create friendships among each other, but we also call for unity and teamwork," she said.

The Chitungwiza Poetry and Art Convergence has so far seen about 29 poets and artists coming to either read or perform their poetry at Lareey’s house on different occasions.

Asked how she feels about her poetry events, she said, "It's a great relief, it's not such an easy task having your friends coming to your place.”

The get-togethers have attracted fellow poets and writers in Harare.

Lareey has managed to hold these events through the support of her family and fellow poets. Her home has complemented the poetry industry by providing a cheap venue to poets.

"I host these events right here because we can't afford any other venue but because we have the urge to grow the industry, we utilize the resources we have," she said.

Lareey is looking forward to publishing her debut anthology soon.

 

***

 

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(This is an official newsletter of Writers International Network Zimbabwe, published by the WIN Publishing Unit – winzimbabwe@gmail.com)