BWAZ on Blogger
I had said I would only blog about toilets not writers this whole week, but that's not going to happen. So many things happening in the writing world. First I am happy to see that Budding Writers Association of Zimbabwe is now on Blogger, and it all makes sense because of the interactive nature of the blog style. They have posted an article about Memory Chirere giving advice to budding writers. Good advice. To get you started on what BWAZ is all about (because you don't want me getting started on talking about how I used to be this and that in the organization) see below:
WHAT IS BWAZ?
The Budding Writers Association of Zimbabwe was actually formed on February 8th 1990 in Harare at a young writer’s workshop. Before then, there was only one elitist writer’s organization in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Writers Union. Elitist in the sense that it catered for only established writers, neglecting the needs of aspiring authors who were part of this organization. The young writers felt they were being sidelined in the affairs of the organization and hence out of that dissatisfaction came the shared desire to form something of their own, so BWAZ they came up with.
When BWAZ was formed the main objectives were: “to equip male and female budding writers with writing skills through training workshops; to encourage and facilitate the writing and publishing of educational, cultural, fictional and other works by budding writers in Shona, Ndebele and English through the media, newsletters and anthologies; to develop an effective organizational structure and management systems for the implementation of BWAZ programmes through the training of office bearers and the secretariat; to develop a reading culture in BWAZ and within communities through reading groups and libraries....
Some of the published writers in Zimbabwe today were actually BWAZ-trained in one way or the other. These include Ignatius Mabasa who has published two novels Mapenzi and Ndafa Here? ;Memory Chirere, a magnificent poet and short story writer who has published two short story anthologies called ‘Somewhere in this Country’ and ‘Tudikidiki’; Ignatius Musonza a prolific children’s literature with ten books to his credit; the late award winning Steven Alumenda who published more than fifteen children books; Albert Nyathi who has become one of Zimbabwe’s best dub poets; Phillip Chidavaenzi whose first novel The Haunted Trail won a NAMA Award in 2007. All these stars have witnessed what it means to belong to BWAZ.
BWAZ has also trained its young writers in editorial skills. Quiet a number of BWAZ members have become accredited freelance journos for community and national newspapers and magazines and they have contributed to the organization’s newsletter called Writers Scroll.In 1998 and 1999 BWAZ published two poetry anthologies in Shona and Ndebele languages Ngoma Yokwedu {edited by Mr. Tafa} and Umthombo Wesizwe {edited by Z Gambahaya} respectively.
Then in 2004 when the country came in the spotlight with the land re-distribution programme BWAZ broke the silence about the controversial land issue by publishing a journal of epistolary stories that dealt with the issue from various points of view, offering a balanced diet of views of young and old citizens of Zimbabwe. The journal is titled Exploding the Myths About Zimbabwe’s Land Issue: The Budding Writers Perspective {Edited by D Nhengu}
BWAZ so far has twenty four branches across the country and forty two writers club and in all these chapters there are patrons appointed to help young authors at home. The Chapter patrons are there to help in the professional assessment of chapter members and to give advice to the chapter executive committees in programmes implementation. Chapter patrons are appointed on the basis of their writing experiences.
Visit the BWAZ blog to read more.
WHAT IS BWAZ?
The Budding Writers Association of Zimbabwe was actually formed on February 8th 1990 in Harare at a young writer’s workshop. Before then, there was only one elitist writer’s organization in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Writers Union. Elitist in the sense that it catered for only established writers, neglecting the needs of aspiring authors who were part of this organization. The young writers felt they were being sidelined in the affairs of the organization and hence out of that dissatisfaction came the shared desire to form something of their own, so BWAZ they came up with.
When BWAZ was formed the main objectives were: “to equip male and female budding writers with writing skills through training workshops; to encourage and facilitate the writing and publishing of educational, cultural, fictional and other works by budding writers in Shona, Ndebele and English through the media, newsletters and anthologies; to develop an effective organizational structure and management systems for the implementation of BWAZ programmes through the training of office bearers and the secretariat; to develop a reading culture in BWAZ and within communities through reading groups and libraries....
Some of the published writers in Zimbabwe today were actually BWAZ-trained in one way or the other. These include Ignatius Mabasa who has published two novels Mapenzi and Ndafa Here? ;Memory Chirere, a magnificent poet and short story writer who has published two short story anthologies called ‘Somewhere in this Country’ and ‘Tudikidiki’; Ignatius Musonza a prolific children’s literature with ten books to his credit; the late award winning Steven Alumenda who published more than fifteen children books; Albert Nyathi who has become one of Zimbabwe’s best dub poets; Phillip Chidavaenzi whose first novel The Haunted Trail won a NAMA Award in 2007. All these stars have witnessed what it means to belong to BWAZ.
BWAZ has also trained its young writers in editorial skills. Quiet a number of BWAZ members have become accredited freelance journos for community and national newspapers and magazines and they have contributed to the organization’s newsletter called Writers Scroll.In 1998 and 1999 BWAZ published two poetry anthologies in Shona and Ndebele languages Ngoma Yokwedu {edited by Mr. Tafa} and Umthombo Wesizwe {edited by Z Gambahaya} respectively.
Then in 2004 when the country came in the spotlight with the land re-distribution programme BWAZ broke the silence about the controversial land issue by publishing a journal of epistolary stories that dealt with the issue from various points of view, offering a balanced diet of views of young and old citizens of Zimbabwe. The journal is titled Exploding the Myths About Zimbabwe’s Land Issue: The Budding Writers Perspective {Edited by D Nhengu}
BWAZ so far has twenty four branches across the country and forty two writers club and in all these chapters there are patrons appointed to help young authors at home. The Chapter patrons are there to help in the professional assessment of chapter members and to give advice to the chapter executive committees in programmes implementation. Chapter patrons are appointed on the basis of their writing experiences.
Visit the BWAZ blog to read more.
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