WEALTH OF IDEAS

Just as we had climbed up and down the pass of Gwavachemai range, we tiptoed back to the dirt road that linked the village and our school. There were five boys and one boy in our home group, home because we walked together always, to and from school. On this day, were walking home later than usual, because it had been Garden Day. The oldest among us was nine, I was seven or eight, and the other two were around eight. And we were walking, the distance between us and the school we had left behind increasing; we walked or played, but half the time, sometimes all the time, walking home was some form of playing, but if we played for too long on the way home, we would be too late arriving, and we knew what would happen after we arrived. At some point in our playing home we would just speed up and concentrate on walking and less playing to arrive home before anyone noticed we were late. But this one day I am about to tell you about, this one day that comes crushing down like a big rock fr...

For the second time here at OGOV, in lieu of a poem this week we will receive the privilege of "listening in" on a conversation on poetry held between some of Ghana's (and Africa's) brightest up and coming poets, moderated by One Ghana, One Voice 's own Julian Adomako-Gyimah, and featuring Prince Mensah, Martin Pieterson, Emmanuel Sigauke, and Mariska Taylor-Darko. So please have a read, and be sure to use the comment section to join the conversation yourself! The conversation is taking place at One Ghana, One Voice .

These poets were live at the Sacramento Poetry Center on February 18 to commemorate Black History Month. From left to right, the poets are: Dawn DiBartolo, Mario Ellis Hill, Khiry Malik Moore (back), Emmanuel Sigauke, Terry Moore, Indigo Moor, and Noah “SupaNova” Hayes. Indigo Moor reading from his debut collection, Taproot . Malik Moore, award-winning performer. Terry Moore. Noah Hayes, aka Supanova, comparable to Zimbabwe's Albert Nyathi. Dawn DiBartolo. You can read some of her work at Strangroard . Emmanuel Sigauke, reading Marechera's "Metamorphosis and Darkness (an extract)". I also read poems from a collection I am putting together for publication. Mario Ellis Hill, who hosts readings at Luna's Cafe. Audience poets -- sorry there was no open mic tonight, but your presence inspired us.

Valerie Tagwira's first novel, Uncertainty of Hope, has won the NAMA award for best fiction. The awards ceremony, held on February 13 at the 7 Arts Theatre in Harare, Zimbabwe brought together seasoned and new artists. The nominees of Outstanding Fiction Book were: White Man Crawling - John Eppel The Uncertainty of Hope - Valerie Tagwira Tears of Water - Christopher Gwata Valerie Tagwira has touched the hearts of many readers worldwide with her first novel, which has, to use Joyce Carol Oates's terms, provoked, disturbed, and aroused our emotions about life in contemporary Zimbabwe. Some readers have begun to request that the author start work on a sequel. VALERIE TAGWIRA TALKS ABOUT THE AWARD Sigauke: What does this award mean to you, considering that this recognition of your work has come this early into your career? Tagwira : The award means that The Uncertainty of Hope is being accepted and recognised as an outstanding work of literature. I am pleased and I feel honoured...

Question : Your persona in “Child of the Streets” presents a very interesting angle, all alone and lost among thousands of other city dwellers. Does he perhaps represent your own exile? Zvisinei Sandi's Answer: Giggs tends to look rather like a mental image, doesn’t he? Almost like the majestic bull with the evil leprechaun sitting on it’s back. But Giggs is a real person – a lonely, homeless teenager, strong and full of promise, but wasted among Harare’s rubbish pits. I met him a few years ago while interviewing homeless people for my novel, Vagrant Souls. We sat and talked, shared my packed lunch, I gave him the few Zim dollars in my purse, and then he walked away. I never saw him again. “Child of the Streets” is a mixture of what he told me, and the impression I had of him. On whether he reminds me of my own exile… Yes, he does. Rather poignantly. [Appearing in Munyori Poetry Journal on February 15].

The next issue of Munyori will showcase works by these ten poets: Zvisinei Sandi, Prince Mensah, Tim Kahl, Shilla Mutamba, Carol Lyn Grellas, Jerry Barrow, Tad Richard, Jason Viscanti, Gary Beck, and Gu Xie. Three new interviews will feature Zvisinei Sandi, Prince Mensah, and Tim Kahl. As always, Munyori welcomes essays and book reviews.

The owner and publisher of Author-Me-com, Bruce Cook, has claimed primary responsibility for his company’s reference to Africa as a country. In a letter to Wordsbody, the blogger who first exposed this error, Cook said, “I agree that this is quite serious, although I imagine that similar errors occur with many who have not had the opportunity to visit a distant country.” Author-Me.com has been instrumental in promoting budding writers from African countries, including such award-winning authors as Monica Arac de Nyeko of Uganda and others. Cook told the Nigerian Vanguard in January 2008 that helping African writers was a dream come true for him since he had always wanted to provide a forum for the talent Africa had to offer. So to have his managing editor, Winona Rasheed, make this error must have come as a shock. “Please permit me to speak in Winona’s behalf here, for I read your blog as an unfair personal bashing of her, with complete failure to recognize her work, ” wrote Cook , add...

This week witnessed what Wordsbody called a "stunner" in the world of literary contests when Zadie Smith announced that she had failed to find a winning story from the 2008 entries to The Willesden Herald Short Story Competition . In a letter to interested parties, she revealed that the literary world was in an appalling state, with bookstores increasingly stocking their shelves with poor quality, mediocre, "cookie-cutter" stories. Smith, a writer whose novels I own, went on to state that she and the other judges had been turned off by "hundreds of jolly stories of multicultural life on the streets of North London. Nor are we exclusively interested in cutesy American comedies, or self-referential post-modern vignettes, or college satires." She revealed what may count for good writing: "To be even clearer: if these things turn up and are brilliantly written, they will not be ignored. But we also welcome all those whose literary sympathies lie with Ri...

On February, 18 2008 Indigo Moor, Sacramento poet, will lead an Arfrican- American Poetry Night @ The Sacramento Poetry Center 1719 25th Street, Sacramento, California 95816 Cost : Free. The event is in honor of Black History Month and it will start at 7:30pm.

Contest 1 : The SPC has announced its 2008 Poetry contest, open to all poets. This year's entry fee is $4 per poem. First, second and third prizes will be awarded [$100, $50, $25]. In addition, 10 honorable mentions will receive $10 gift certificates. Please send two copies of each poem, one with your name and contact info, another without any identifying information on it. No restrictions on length, subject or style. Judging will be done by a suitably notable area poet whom SPC will announce [in other words, a poet to be named later]. Deadline: February 15, 2008 Fee: $4 per poem Send poems to: Sacramento Poetry Center Poetry Contest The Sacramento Poetry Center 1719 25th Street Sacramento, CA 95816 Contest 2: For High School students Winners will receive prizes including a $100.00 Grand Prize, books, scholarships to the SPC Writers’ Conference (April 5, 2008), and publication in The Tule Review, Sacramento Poetry Center's literary journal, or in Poetry Now, the officia...

Valerie Tagwira etched a spot for herself in the Zimbabwean literature by producing a whopper of a novel, Uncertainty of Hope , described by early reviewers as an honest statement to the political, economic, and social situation in contemporary Zimbabwe. Now she has turned to another literary medium– the short story– and has just produced “Mainini’s Grace’s Promises”, which deals with the effects of HIV-AIDS to children in Zimbabwe. She has touched the hearts of many readers again, receiving so many favorable responses that it would be easier to predict that this genre might widen her readership more rapidly than the novel. In fact, the compact message in the short story is as suitable to the subject matter as it is to the interest of a reader who would like to read something in a short span of time. Several readers have posted comments on Tagwira’s website, expressing the different ways in which the story touched them. All but one of the readers found the form and content of the sto...

“It is a constant source of frustration, despair almost, for the average African - this Western mindset that insists on seeing the African continent as one unfathomable mass of misery ,” writes Wordsbody in response to Winona Rasheed’s reference to Africa as “a courageous country”. The occasion: Publication of a new collection of short stories by African writers. Platform: The Foreword section of the Africa 2008 anthology. Context: Author-Me.com (and Lulu?) African writers publication opportunity. I don’t know what Winona’s reasons for labeling Africa a country in two different anthologies were, but I can’t find words to express how I felt as I read the article on Wordsbody. The Africa series is part of Author-Me.com, a playground for emerging writers from more than 41 countries. The participating African countries are listed individually as countries, each with its own editor. Winona Rasheed is listed as the Managing Editor, “presiding over” the numerous country editors. So, Words...