Pamberi Trust, the Budding Writers Association of Zimbabwe and the British Council have brought relief to writers in Harare by organizing literary discussions which bring together, on a monthly basis, not only established writers but also those who are starting to come to grips with the passion to write, to think and talk about literature. Literary evenings organized by Pamberi Trust are normally held at the Book Caf in Harare while BWAZ recently adopted monthly afternoon literary discussions with its first one held last month at its offices in collaboration with StoryTime, a literary blog that weekly publishes new African fiction. These get-togethers have proved influential upon writers especially those who are yet to break into print.
On November 22, 2009 BWAZ held its second literary discussion to tackle the issue of spoken word and its impact on the public as well as how to develop an idea into a novel. The main speakers were seasoned author and poet Julius Chingono, spoken word artist Nqobile Malinga and NAMA award winning author Phillip Chidavaenzi.
Poet Tinashe Muchuri chaired the discussion which was attended by many upcoming authors and poets from various corners of the city.
Spoken word
Chingono and Malinga agreed on that spoken word poetry has not been met with an encouraging attitude in Zimbabwe. Chingono said there are no more caretakers of spoken word nowadays as was the custom long ago when every homestead had a place called dandaro where young people were told stories by elderly people.
Young people received their advice through stories told at such places. The stories had direct impact upon the listeners who would remember lessons learnt from those stories very well. He said spoken word carries a peoples culture but said the art form is still under developed in modern Zimbabwe and blamed it partly on the artists who hold back their potential.
Malinga echoed the same feeling saying the impact of spoken word poetry can also be influenced by certain factors which hamper freedom to speak out. With regards to the Ndebele cultural history, he said spoken word art was originally used to express the peoples fears, wishes and hopes.
An imbongi (a peoples poet) performed at public gatherings before the King or Chief gave his speech, communicating the peoples grievances to the King through poetry and dance. During the liberation struggle the poem Nehanda Nyakasikana found in the novel Feso by Solomon Mutsvairo, influenced the struggle against the colonial masters, hence proving the power of poetry.
There was concern among the spoken word poets on why the National Arts Council does not have a spoken word category in the NAMA Awards. Unanimously, the participants felt artists need to come together and speak with one voice and advocate for the introduction of that category.
Explaining his experience when he wrote the NAMA award winning novel The Haunted Trail (2006, Longman Zimbabwe) Chidavaenzi said sources of ideas can be newspaper cuttings from which a writer can develop fiction. In The Haunted Trail he tackled financial corruption the days of high rate – and AIDS among other issues which the media frequently reported.
Myths and Legends
Christopher Mlalazis letter of encouragement to budding authors on how he felt when his book Dancing With Life; Tales from the Township (2008, amaBooks, Bulawayo) got the 2009 NOMA Award for Publishing in Africa Honorable Mention.
On the following day after the BWAZ discussion, November 23 2009, the British Council hosted a literary evening at the Book Cafe on Myths and Legends with UK poet and author Owen Sheers as guest writer and Augustine Tirivangana, who is lecturer and PhD candidate in the area of Africa-centered metaphysics at the University of Zimbabwe, as fellow panelist.
Despite the rains that pounded on Harare that evening, the event was attended by several local authors such as Julius Chingono, David Mungoshi, Ethel Kabwato, Virginia Phiri, Phillip Chidavaenzi and publisher Jane Morris of AmaBooks Bulawayo.
Sheers, an author of several books, talked about how he fuses myth and reality in his works. He also read his published poems and sections from his books Resistance and Dust Diaries. Myth, he said, provided some historical and metaphorical background to his stories.
Tirivangana explained the differences between African and Western perspectives on myth. He also said Zimbabwean authors such as Charles Mungoshi (in Waiting for the Rain) present myth in modern contexts. This also could possibly be said of Strife by Shimmer Chinodya in which issues of spirituality and religion are highlighted.
Spicing the evening were performances and readings from Batsirai Chigama, Julius Chingono, Phillip Chidavaenzi, Ethel Kabwato, and David Mungoshi who read excerpts from his newly published book The Fading Sun (2009, Lion Press, UK).
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