WEALTH OF IDEAS

Harare, Zimbabwe : Followers of Dr. Charles Mungoshi literature all over the world will be delighted to know that although he has not been feeling well for the past one year, a new book by the veteran writer (completed before he was taken ill) is soon to hit the streets! His family has decided to go it alone and publish his novel script called 'Branching Streams Flow In The Dark'. The typeset is ready. Those who would want to assist the family to publish this book can contact, Jesesi Mungoshi +263774054341, +263773616247, +263772634918 or email: themovietrain@gmail.com, info@cjmf.com ." Source: KwaChirere

I received my author's copies of "Writing Free", a collection of short stories by  Zimbabwean writers. I have an extra copy to give away, but I have to run a mini contest, right here on Wealth of Ideas (WOI). Make your entry as a comment on the blog. The deadline for all entries is Friday, September 30, at 11:59 PM. Here are the editor's remarks on the idea of writing free: "...words that perhaps offer a small provocation, a small challenge to writers to extend their boundaries, to think something through from a lateral perspective, to approach a topic differently, to turn a perspective inside out..." Irene Staunton, the editor, asked each of the writers in the collection to describe how their story embraced the idea of writing free. I enjoyed doing this metafictional activity, and judging by   descriptions of their stories, the other authors enjoyed this exercise too. So, dear reader, where do you come in? You can win a copy of this book by sharing y...

In 2008 I blogged about how the hardships in Zimbabwe had inspired some more courageous, risk-taking writing. Writers with much to say were emerging in bigger numbers than ever before, it seemed. I predicted that this new literature would reveal a lot about what had been, and was still, happening in the country. I even declared that the true story, which could not be found on CNN or BBC, would finally come to light. I was aware that what seemed inexplicable in real life, the complexities the media could not capture, would find expression in art, that new and interesting voices would emerge, not to replace the old ones, but to add to the diversity of the literary landscape of Zimbabwe. And I was right: since then, some important writers have emerged: Petina Gappah, Brian Chikwava, NoVioet Bulawayo, Christopher Mlalazi, and many others. The short fiction anthologies published by amaBooks and Weaver Press bear wi...

Wealth of Ideas occassioanaly features guest blogs, and we are now planning to feature one every week. If you are interested in the reading and writing processes, and would like share some advice or a personal story of inspiration or success, let us know. The best email to contact us with is manu@munyori.com , or you can use the contact link of this blog. In this post we are featuring a blog by Anthony Garcia, who writes about the importance of keeping the writing process going. Enjoy, and feel free to leave comments. Writing through Life by Anthony Garcia After graduating from school, it grows increasingly difficult to stay motivated to come up with new ideas for writing. However, if writing is something you love and are dedicated to, you will need to find ways to keep writing throughout your life. This might include continuing your education through an online graduate program , taking a notebook with you everywhere to write tho...

I am excited about the upcoming launch of "Writing Free" in Harare on September 19 at Da Eros (86 East Road, Belgravia), from 5:30 - 7:00 PM. Published by Weaver Press and edited by Irene Staunton, the book features short stories by writers like Petina Gappah, Ignatius Mabasa, Tendai Huchu, NoViolet Bulawayo, Ambrose Musiyiwa, Christopher Mlalazi, Fungisayi Sasa, Blessing Musariri and others. I have a story in there as well, and I am happy about it. My story, entitled "African Wife", opens a new chapter in my writing; it is set in the USA and introduces one of the many Diaspora issues my new stories are exploring. I am excited too because of company of writers I have in that collection, and because of the fact that it's a book being published in Zimbabwe... it feels like writing a letter (maybe an email) back home. Working with editor Irene Staunton by email was a wonderful experience.

If you were to go on a mission to locate and peruse all the creative writing manuals out there, you wouldn't exhaust the possibilities. To state the obvious, much has been published that tells much about the creative process and the craft that enhances it. It's good that we have so many options, although some writers work without knowledge of such resources, and that could be good, but access to, and effective use of, books on craft  improves your writing. Over the years, I have been exposed to different manuals, many of them great, but I have narrowed down my selection to no more than twenty, and here I am going to share information about the six that I always seek out when I want to consult with a companion, either because I am stuck on some craft element, or I am preparing to teach a workshop. I regard these books reliable friends. 1. What If?: Writing Exercises for Writers by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter : I have used this text the longest. Its focus is on...

It is going to be a long weekend, so what better way to begin it than by blogging. I have been itching to blog again without announcing anything happening in the book world. Just to blog (like I used to do before I knew I had an audience), to pour myself out without necessarily being too autobiographical...without being too personal. I was never trained to associate my writing with the personal. My writing in the Zimbabwean education system was always associated with something serious, academic, and anything personal seemed and sounded informal, non-academic. I had to learn to begin to share  personal experience in graduate school in the USA, because everyone was talking about what a wife, a husband, an uncle....a dog...had done, and for the first time I was sitting there feeling bad for those spouses who were being dissected in the classroom; then it dawned on me that such material could be useful, and I started going a little personal, and personal became, slowly, anything to d...