WINZ Newsletter, Issue No 3

WIN-ZIMBABWE ON THE MOVE

Writers International Network Zimbabwe (Win-Zimbabwe) made a valiant step when it set up a voluntary Harare/Chitungwiza Cluster Committee to properly structure the growing association on Saturday 2 October 2010.

The meeting, attended by students from Vimbai High (Norton), Glen View 2 High, and some members from different parts of Harare, took place in the afternoon at the Theatre in the Park, Harare Gardens.

Gracing the occasion were Win-Zimbabwe Board Chairperson Josephine Muganiwa, Ms M Mumanyi who accompanied students from Glen View 2 High, and Noah Mangwarara, a renowned motivational speaker, author and owner of Veriest Solutions International. Mangwarara made a life changing speech at the meeting.

The students and poets Tinashe Muchuri and Samuel Mahuntse, spiced up the meeting with gripping, enlightening and entertaining performances.

Large part of the committee is composed of students, reflecting Win-Zimbabwe’s character to make the youths have ownership of the association and all its programmes.

In her speech, Win-Zimbabwe Board Chairperson Josephine Muganiwa thanked Heads of the two schools and urged the students not only to read for examinations but for enjoyment and general purposes as well.

“In order to grow in your writing, read other writers’ works also,” she said.

Muganiwa is one of the editors of the 2010 Cover to Cover magazine published by the Standard to promote young authors in Zimbabwe. An author as well as lecturer, she encouraged the budding writers to be strong and work towards achieving their goals.

Mangwarara, author of twenty five motivational booklets, inspired the young writers with his ‘abnormality mentality’ speech.

“The difference makers of this world were all abnormal thinkers. We need the ‘abnormality mentality’ if we are to change the world around us,” he said to an attentive audience.

Giving examples of great women and men such as William Shakespeare, Nelson Mandela, and many others who are known for their outstanding different achievements, Mangwarara said life was full of challenges but one only needed not be too normal to be bogged down by failure.

“If you ever want to be a great writer, you must be prepared to spend sleepless nights reading, inventing, finding the right words. In other words, be ‘abnormal’,” he said.

On another note, Mangwarara said his publishing company is in the process of scouting for talent with the view of publishing an anthology. He also announced that Veriest Solutions International has come up with a new branch called Veriest Multimedia which is designed to record literary works such as poetry on audio and video CD’s.

THE WRITE HUMOR

Policeman: Where was the novelist when you ran over him?

Motorist: The write side.

TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS

Expand your writing ability

If you only write fiction, and only try to publish fiction, it may be long time before you see your name in print. Editors like to see clips, even if they are only peripherally related to what you will do for them…they are able to see that someone has taken a chance on you before, and that you have delivered.

Take yourself seriously

This doesn’t mean be arrogant about your skill. Rather, work as if your goal will be achieved, and do everything within your power to achieve it, setting regular work hours, loving to learn as you go.

Don’t depend on friends or family to edit your work

Someone who does nothing more than pat you on the back and give you an ego boost is not of any help to you. It may be a good idea to form a loose reciprocal arrangement with another writer whom you trust, working on each other’s writing, honestly

Aspire to write book reviews

This is a great way to get clips. Get the name of the person who is responsible for book reviews on a particular publication. Find out if it uses freelance work. Ask questions about format, length, style and so on and try to understand the editor’s preferences.

Your way is not always the right way

Editors have a particular task in the writing process and need to know that you will co-operate with them. This doesn’t mean that you should not be vested in your work, but you should realize that others can sometimes see your work more clearly than yourself and that you need to listen to them.

WINZ Newsletter, Issue No 2

WIN-ZIMBABWE will hold its monthly writers’ meeting on Saturday, 2 October 2010 at its traditional venue Theatre in The Park (Harare Gardens). The meeting will be running from 12 to 3:30 pm. WIN-ZIMBABWE’s meetings are open to all those who wish to be part of the writing gusto gathering momentum in Zimbabwe. Later on in our issues, we will publish an exclusive interview with one of our Board Members highlighting the history, cause, activities, among other issues, of the organisation. In this issue, we publish a poem by our late hero Dambudzo Charles Marechera as we pledge our homage to him and other great literary voices ever to emerge from our country.

JAMAICAN DUB POET MUTABARUKA COMES TO HARARE!

Accomplished Jamaican dub poet Mutabaruka, real name Allan Hope, will be one of the poets set to thrill poetry lovers at the Poetry Africa in Zimbabwe 2010 festival on 28 -29 September at the Book Cafe and Mannenberg in Harare.

Many people will recall Mutabaruka’s echoing, powerful Jamaican voice when he put up a shining performance at the ZIBF some few years ago. This time the dreadlocked dub poet comes to Harare to bless Zimbabwe with the enduring spirit and positive cultural influence of poetry.

Other enchanting ‘voice throwers’ drawn from the African continent who will perform at the two-day function are Frank Chipasula (Malawi), Lebo Mashile (S Africa), Barolong Seboni (Botswana), Concord Nkabinde (South Africa), Erik Paliani (Malawi), Pikita Ntuli (S Africa), Ngwatilo Mawiyoo (Kenya) and Mama C from Tanzania.

Poetry Africa in Zimbabwe 2010 has come up with an assorted bag of young and old poets from Zimbabwe such as Batsirai Chigama, Julius Chingono, Chirikure Chirikure, Freedom Nyamubaya, Musaemura Zimunya, Outspoken and Comrade Fatso and his group Chabvondoka.

“It is a wonderful lifetime opportunity for poetry lovers to be part of this dynamic get-together of poets. The festival is coming to Harare for the first time and therefore poetry lovers should come in large numbers,” said Pamberi Trust Arts Administrator Penny Yon.

She also said there will be a small and friendly cover charge but the whole excitement is in experiencing the influence of poetry from different parts of the world.

On 28 September at 8pm, Mannenberg will host music and poetry by Conrad Nkabinde, Erik Paliani, and Comrade Fatso and his group Chabvondoka, followed by a special appearance by Poetry Africa poets.

A panel discussion dealing with the topic ‘Poetry and Social Transformation’ follows on the next day 29 September at 5:30pm at the Book Cafe. On the same day in the morning at 10am there will be House Hunger Poetry Slam and the Magamba Youth Group Workshop. The 5pm discussion leads to a music and poetry slot starting at 8pm with Nkabinde and Paliani again dishing out different musical flavours before leaving the stage to poetry performance by Zimbabwean and the visiting poets.

The event (Poetry Africa in Zimbabwe 2010), a satellite programme of the Poetry Africa festival, aims to promote development of dialogue and exchange between countries and cultures with particular emphasis on Africa. It is being presented by the Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal) in partnership with Pamberi Trust, Book Cafe, African Synergy, ProHeveltia Arts Council of Switzerland, Mimeta, HIVOS, and the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund who are the principal funder.

Poetry Africa will tour Cape Town and Malawi, building up to the main festival to be held in Durban from 4 to 9 October 2010.

IN JAIL THE ONLY TELEPHONE

IS THEWASHBASIN HOLE

BLOW AND WE’LL HEAR

Write the poem not from classroom lectures

But from the barricade’s shrieking defiance

From the mortuary’s brightly frozen monocle

From day’s gunburst to night’s screaming human torch

From bleeding teeth that informed to underground

Perception of black fire

Write the poem not from the rhyme and reason of England

Nor the Israeli chant that stutters bullets against

Palestinians

Nor (for f*’s sake) from the negritude that negroed us

Write the poem, the song, the anthem, from what within you

Fused goals with guns and created citizens instead of slaves

Do not scream quietly

We want to hear, to know

And forge the breastplate a poet needs against THEM!

By Dambudzo Marechera

(Adapted from the book Dambudzo Marechera 1952 -1987, compiled and edited by Flora Veit-Wild and Ernst Schade, Baobab Books, 2008)

WINZ Newsletter, Issue 1

Writers International Network Zimbabwe is proud to bring the opening issue of its informative and entertaining e-newsletter WINZ Newsletter, which will be posted on a regular basis on this blog. Our hope is that WINZ Newsletter will later on be available in print form, to our local members and literature students who have no access to cyberspace.

NQOBILE JACOBSON MALINGA: MULTI-LINGUAL POET ON THE RISE

Malinga in serious poetic business during WINZ Literary Treats, ZIBF 2010



BRIEF BOOK REVIEW
By Beaven Tapureta


Charlotte Godo

Charlotte Godo’s latest booklet of poems Your Story Must Change [ISBN 978-0-797-4-3968-9] published by Veriest Solutions International this year, conjures up images of humanity in dire need of change, motivation and ultimate happiness.

The booklet is described on the front cover as “inspirational prose” but one would further simply call it ‘Christian Poetry’. It makes sense, however, to respond to any literary work in an intelligent way possible, for this is a literary habit critical to the growth of literature.

Your Story Must Change is a compilation of 16 motivational pieces dealing with various social and spiritual issues.

Godo’s language is simple but the inherent impact lives longer. Jesus used poetry to make sure people understood the gospel.

In the poems, Godo rebukes hypocrisy and greed but she goes ahead to offer words of encouragement for the distressed, the lonely. The poems assert the human will to soldier on despite the contradicting forces in the world.

This is a book to read when you are down, feeling lonely and thinking there is no one caring about your situation.

The publisher, Veriest Solutions International, has more than twenty books of the same form on its stable, including Matters of Life by Sympathy Sibanda.

In a show of solidarity, Veriest Solutions International also took part in Win-Zimbabwe’s Literary Treats, a programme that successfully ran at the 2010 ZIBF Live Literature Centre.

FAT CATS

By Phillip Chidavaenzi

They are nothing

Nothing but fat cats

Too fat to hunt

Too lazy to sweat

Like pompous little gods,

Presiding over their own 'creations'

On the apex of blood-soaked power,

Stolen from the people,
Comfortably they sit

On taxpayers they prey,

The taxpayer whose money,

The stench of blood and power,

Give off strongly,

The impoverished ordinary man,

Whose hard-earned dollar,

Oils their obscene life of luxury.

P. Chidavaenzi, August 21, 2010.

WRITERS TRY AS READERS CRY
By Beaven Tapureta

(First published in The Standard, January 31 –February 6 2010)

As Zimbabwean publishers and writers last year tried their best, readers continue to be burdened under the economics of dollarization.
In 2009, more than 10 titles were issued out from different publishing stables in and outside the country but the high cost of living have affected the reader who is an important stakeholder in the book industry.
Petina Gappah, who won the 2009 Guardian First Book Award for her book An Elegy for Easterly (2009, Faber and Faber), a collection of stories which critics described as “disarmingly funny” and Christopher Mlalazi, author of Dancing with Life: Tales from the Township (Amabooks, Bulawayo) which received Honorable Mention at the NOMA Awards for Publishing in Africa, did their country proud but not much is known about an Elegy for Easterly to the ordinary readers in Zimbabwe. Petina’s book will be translated into seven languages soon. The same could be said of Brian Chikwava’s Harare North (2009, Jonathan Cape), available from Weaver Press.
Lion Press Ltd which is based in the UK and specializes in books written by Southern Africa writers, especially those resident outside Africa, has brought hope and last year the company featured writers such as David Mungoshi (The Fading Sun), Christopher Mlalazi (Many Rivers), Ignatius T Mabasa (The Man, Shaggy Leopard and the Jackal), and others. Again, some of these books and together with a poetry anthology called State of the Nation: Contemporary Zimbabwe Poetry (Conversation Paper Press, UK) are yet to be available in the local bookshops. Many Rivers is now available in Zimbabwe but the author is worried about the dying reading culture.
Generally, the novel competed closely with the short story.
Weaver Press published The Trek and Other Stories by Lawrence Hoba, which deals, among other issues, with the plight of women and children in the “masculinised’ land reform era. Daniel Mandishona also published a short story collection called White Gods Black Demons (Weaver Press, 2009).
As a way of encouraging people, especially writers, to buy books, Weaver Press hosted readings on January 21, 2010 at the Book Café with Hoba and Mandishona reading from their short story collections. There was also a discussion on book buying and book marketing in Zimbabwe led by Murray McCartney and Fanuel Jongwe.
Local women also came on board with important literature. Primrose Dzenga came up with an exceptional biography called Auxillia Chimusoro: The Unsung Hero published by Zimbabwe Women Writers. This book is about the life of one the earliest women in Zimbabwe to divulge their HIV status.
Tendai Kateketa Westerhof, an AIDS activist, of the Unlucky in Love fame, came on with her second book Dear Cousin published by Public Personalities Against Aids Trust last year.
Coming Home, a book which tracks a character’s journey from exile to his home country written by the late Olley Tsino Maruma, was also published last year by Gonamombe Press. The author died during the 2009 festive season.
How many of these titles are circulating in Zimbabwe remains a matter of conjecture. The diminishing reading culture remains a setback. With the snail-paced economic transition the country is going through, many Zimbabweans would rather first seek the dollar before they settle down to read a book.

Kuchikoro


Patrick Rwande

kuchikoro nedzangu tsvaratsvata
pamwe ndomhemhaira nepata pata
pita pata pita pata kuda dzidzo
asika ticha havako, chafambirwa dho-o

ticha vakachata nemari
vave kuida kukunda Mwari
kavo kambo ndi incentive
or else vanove inactive

kuchikoro nemari half
ndinowana ticha vari tough
ndinotoisa yose
kuti vagofara chose

vangu baba vazvimba musoro
yavo mhuri wave mutoro
kubasa vanotambira ya kondo misodzi
uko bepa remitero yemadhora kuuso dzi-i

dai kudenga pari pedo ndaiinda
ndanonamatira pana Mwari senda
dzidzo zvave zviroto
chokwadi ndiri mumoto

Na Hwande Patrick , Gokwe (Nembudziya)

PRESS RELEASE

Writers International Network Zimbabwe (WIN-ZIMBABWE) wishes to congratulate and extend its support and assurance to all those writers who made it by affiliating to us on the two special occasions we have held so far this year. The writing spirit lives on.

Our inaugural writers’ meeting took place on May 8 in Harare and the response from writers was astounding. Monthly literary meetings had to be briefly stopped due to certain factors beyond our control but the organisation went ahead to participate in this year’s ZIBF Live Literature. Our one-hour programme called “Literary Treats” at the Live Literature Centre proved a big step in the right direction as the number of young, aspiring writers who affiliated to us on this day was overwhelming, motivating.

It remains within our faith that in Zimbabwe (as it GENERALLY was in Nigeria during the boom of the Pacesetters series), if you randomly throw a stone in any direction in any public place, the probability of hitting a writer is unbelievably high. Although publishing is normally an uphill task, almost everyone has a story to tell out of his or her creative imaginations. The writers we know are not all the writers of Zimbabwe, there are many others occulted under the bushel, which WIN ZIMBABWE, come high waters, will lift up to expose the talented scribes the country is waiting to be proud of. There is a sparkling group of writers undiscovered, a group within this current generation of our writers, a group that is continually growing towards the making a generation of its own. WIN ZIMBABWE will not leave them as orphans.

On a date soon to be announced, WIN ZIMBABWE, now duly registered as a writers’ organisation in terms of the Zimbabwean law, will conduct another important writers’ meeting that will set up a Harare/ Chitungwiza Cluster Committee, which will run the affairs of the Cluster. Now that a cluster has come into being, this is a proud phenomenal development as the launch of a committee will ensure smooth coordination and running of our writing activities within Harare and Chitungwiza.

WIN ZIMBABWE’s quest for an improved reading and writing culture is inexhaustible. Our will is to befriend forever writers who take writing as “a lifetime apprenticeship”, to support, promote new/young writers attempting NEW forms of fiction, poetry, short story and to bridge the gap among male and female, old and young, published and unpublished, urban and rural-based, locally and internationally based Zimbabwean writers.

The platform is still open to writers wishing to join us and take part in our future activities.

For further information:
winzimbabwe@gmail.com
Beaven Tapureta