Interview with Primrose Dzenga, Zimbabwean Poet
Primrose
Dzenga is a gifted poet, author and lifestyle coach born in Wedza, Zimbabwe, in
1982. Her debut biographical book The
Unsung Heroine: Auxillia Chimusoro was published by Zimbabwe Women Writers
in 2009. She has also published another poetry collection called Destiny in My Hands. Literary
journalist Beaven Tapureta (BT) caught up with Primrose Dzenga (PD) to share
her thoughts on life and writing.
BT: May you tell us more about your other works and where readers can find them.
PD: Apart from the Unsung Heroine, I have been published in different places abroad, that is, my latest collection Destiny in My Hands was published in Ireland by Salmon Poetry, and I was published in another 2009 poetry anthology called ‘Poetry: Reading It, Writing It, Publishing It’, also done in Ireland. This is an anthology of essays by writers and publishers from all over the world and I was really honored to present an African voice to the anthology and the book was voted best book during the Irish Book Week in 2010
BT: When you look back what is it that you remember most about your mother?
PD: My mother is an amazing woman. I look at her and think I could never be a quarter of the woman she is. She is very strong, intelligent yet extremely compassionate, she has the biggest heart I know.
BT: What would you want to see Zimbabwean women writers achieving?
PD: I would like to see us achieving a level of writing without self-censorship, respecting that our work does not define us, it has life of its own and hence our characters have the right to be, without us giving them to the world either prematurely or still-born. This is our greatest challenge because of our fear of being judged as either wayward or being identified with the characters we create in our work.
BT: At a previous Zimbabwe Writers Association meeting you indicated that you are inspired my music. Who are your local favourite musicians and why?
PD: I love classical music in all its forms, for this reason I love Thomas Mapfumo´s old mbira music because its classical. I also love the late James Chimombe´s music; there was something graceful and international about his music, very rare. I also like a lot of Shona music because its full of poetry, the Shona language and culture is poetic.
BT:
Who is Primrose?
PD: Primrose Dzenga is writer and poet born and raised in Wedza, and also lived in Chitungwiza. While writing has always been my life professionally I come from a background of accounts and banking.
PD: Primrose Dzenga is writer and poet born and raised in Wedza, and also lived in Chitungwiza. While writing has always been my life professionally I come from a background of accounts and banking.
BT:
Was writing The Unsung Heroine as much fun as it looked?
PD: It took me two years to research and write the book but two hours before the deadline for submitting the manuscript to the publishers I lost the file. I was not yet very good at saving documents on my laptop. The craziest thing is I rewrote the whole book in a week without looking at my notes except for the original documents that required transcription.
Writing About Auxillia´s life and coming into contact with her was a rite of passage for me, a coming of age experience, it changed my life and made me feel that even if I may not have as much courage as she had, I could share her story with the world because it would have been too stingy of us otherwise to keep her to ourselves and forget what she has done.
PD: It took me two years to research and write the book but two hours before the deadline for submitting the manuscript to the publishers I lost the file. I was not yet very good at saving documents on my laptop. The craziest thing is I rewrote the whole book in a week without looking at my notes except for the original documents that required transcription.
Writing About Auxillia´s life and coming into contact with her was a rite of passage for me, a coming of age experience, it changed my life and made me feel that even if I may not have as much courage as she had, I could share her story with the world because it would have been too stingy of us otherwise to keep her to ourselves and forget what she has done.
BT:
Describe some of the toughest aspects of your job as a writer
PD: Lol, the first one is that it’s not at all easy to make money from writing, so you have to think about keeping a roof over your head and the same time answer to the call that stirs in your soul. Apart from that, writing is a lonely profession, you need a lot of solitude, your own time with your thoughts and sometimes with your computer, which in a way is anti-social because you sort of shut people out, and at the end of the day you want someone to read your work.
PD: Lol, the first one is that it’s not at all easy to make money from writing, so you have to think about keeping a roof over your head and the same time answer to the call that stirs in your soul. Apart from that, writing is a lonely profession, you need a lot of solitude, your own time with your thoughts and sometimes with your computer, which in a way is anti-social because you sort of shut people out, and at the end of the day you want someone to read your work.
BT: May you tell us more about your other works and where readers can find them.
PD: Apart from the Unsung Heroine, I have been published in different places abroad, that is, my latest collection Destiny in My Hands was published in Ireland by Salmon Poetry, and I was published in another 2009 poetry anthology called ‘Poetry: Reading It, Writing It, Publishing It’, also done in Ireland. This is an anthology of essays by writers and publishers from all over the world and I was really honored to present an African voice to the anthology and the book was voted best book during the Irish Book Week in 2010
BT:
Who are some of the great people who have influenced you in your life?
PD: I have met many incredible people in my life, each of them giving me and leaving me with something special, contributing to who I am, for which I’m eternally grateful. But I would say my parents have had the greatest influence in my life. My father was my first teacher who taught me how to write my name in the sand and my mother is such a rock, not only did she raise me and my sibling but she taught me how to analyse and critic literature when I was five. She would tell me a folktale then ask me “So what do we learn from the story? What does it teach us?” And unless I decipher the parable of the hidden meaning in the story I would not be told another one and I was addicted to the folktales. I loved them the way I love books, so I learnt to analyse them, and from then I think I became analytical of life situations, circumstances, and literature in different forms. I’m not sure if this is a blessing or a curse but sometimes I think I am too analytical. I’m always asking the ‘Why’ question. Once a friend of mine said in child psychology I’m stuck at four years, the ‘why phase’ which is interestingly the age when my mom started telling me folktales.
PD: I have met many incredible people in my life, each of them giving me and leaving me with something special, contributing to who I am, for which I’m eternally grateful. But I would say my parents have had the greatest influence in my life. My father was my first teacher who taught me how to write my name in the sand and my mother is such a rock, not only did she raise me and my sibling but she taught me how to analyse and critic literature when I was five. She would tell me a folktale then ask me “So what do we learn from the story? What does it teach us?” And unless I decipher the parable of the hidden meaning in the story I would not be told another one and I was addicted to the folktales. I loved them the way I love books, so I learnt to analyse them, and from then I think I became analytical of life situations, circumstances, and literature in different forms. I’m not sure if this is a blessing or a curse but sometimes I think I am too analytical. I’m always asking the ‘Why’ question. Once a friend of mine said in child psychology I’m stuck at four years, the ‘why phase’ which is interestingly the age when my mom started telling me folktales.
BT:
Have your values and beliefs changed over time?
PD: I was raised to believe in what is right, in honesty and the general goodness in people, these beliefs have not changed over time, if anything they have been reinforced, and I have been immensely blessed to have met very good people from whom I have learnt a lot and in a way they have reinforced these beliefs which my mum instilled in me as a child.
PD: I was raised to believe in what is right, in honesty and the general goodness in people, these beliefs have not changed over time, if anything they have been reinforced, and I have been immensely blessed to have met very good people from whom I have learnt a lot and in a way they have reinforced these beliefs which my mum instilled in me as a child.
BT: When you look back what is it that you remember most about your mother?
PD: My mother is an amazing woman. I look at her and think I could never be a quarter of the woman she is. She is very strong, intelligent yet extremely compassionate, she has the biggest heart I know.
BT: What would you want to see Zimbabwean women writers achieving?
PD: I would like to see us achieving a level of writing without self-censorship, respecting that our work does not define us, it has life of its own and hence our characters have the right to be, without us giving them to the world either prematurely or still-born. This is our greatest challenge because of our fear of being judged as either wayward or being identified with the characters we create in our work.
BT:
How has Zimbabwe Women Writers helped you?
PD: I am very grateful to them for publishing my first book but most especially for their former Editor and projects officer Eresina Hwede who one day read my work, called me and asked me why I was sitting on those good works I gave her. From that day my life changed and I the writer in me was convinced.
PD: I am very grateful to them for publishing my first book but most especially for their former Editor and projects officer Eresina Hwede who one day read my work, called me and asked me why I was sitting on those good works I gave her. From that day my life changed and I the writer in me was convinced.
BT:
Looking back, do you think you have done as well as your parents? What are some
of the advantages you had?
PD: I feel that if my mum had been sent to school she would have been ten times better than I am and as such, for a person in her circumstances I think she did extremely well. Whatever good fortune comes into my life I feel it’s more for my parents´ sake than for me. Sadly my father died when I was ten, I was still very young, but for the time he was given, he had in a way achieved more than his peers until he lost it when he became ill.
PD: I feel that if my mum had been sent to school she would have been ten times better than I am and as such, for a person in her circumstances I think she did extremely well. Whatever good fortune comes into my life I feel it’s more for my parents´ sake than for me. Sadly my father died when I was ten, I was still very young, but for the time he was given, he had in a way achieved more than his peers until he lost it when he became ill.
BT: At a previous Zimbabwe Writers Association meeting you indicated that you are inspired my music. Who are your local favourite musicians and why?
PD: I love classical music in all its forms, for this reason I love Thomas Mapfumo´s old mbira music because its classical. I also love the late James Chimombe´s music; there was something graceful and international about his music, very rare. I also like a lot of Shona music because its full of poetry, the Shona language and culture is poetic.
BT:
How do you think the local book industry will be affected now that readers
are spending little time reading books because of the internet?
PD: I think the Zimbabwean book industry needs to be aggressive by also attacking and availing its products on the internet, that way it will not only survive but grow as well.
PD: I think the Zimbabwean book industry needs to be aggressive by also attacking and availing its products on the internet, that way it will not only survive but grow as well.
BT:
Who is your favourite author?
PD: I love different writers but I love Wilbur Smith’s historical fiction because its so vivid, poetic and believable. I also love Jeffery Archer and Charlotte Bronte. Jayne Eyre is poetry from the first page to the last
PD: I love different writers but I love Wilbur Smith’s historical fiction because its so vivid, poetic and believable. I also love Jeffery Archer and Charlotte Bronte. Jayne Eyre is poetry from the first page to the last
BT:
How does he/she set the scene or introduce his/her characters into the story?
PD: Oh and lately I’m re-reading Eric Linklater’s book Private Angelo, set in 1943- 1945 when German occupied Italy towards the end of the second world war. He explores life issues of love, loss, tragedy and greedy through the life and eyes of a cowardly private soldier Angelo, whose greatest strength is admitting his lack of courage. In admitting his weakness, Angelo is ten times stronger than the other people who would rather die than be labeled cowards and yet this gives him compassion and wisdom to be a great stepfather and husband to his wife and her rape child from the war.
PD: Oh and lately I’m re-reading Eric Linklater’s book Private Angelo, set in 1943- 1945 when German occupied Italy towards the end of the second world war. He explores life issues of love, loss, tragedy and greedy through the life and eyes of a cowardly private soldier Angelo, whose greatest strength is admitting his lack of courage. In admitting his weakness, Angelo is ten times stronger than the other people who would rather die than be labeled cowards and yet this gives him compassion and wisdom to be a great stepfather and husband to his wife and her rape child from the war.
BT:
Which awards have you won to date?
PD: In 2010 I won the National Arts Merit Award (NAMA) in the literary category for the book The Unsung Heroine.
PD: In 2010 I won the National Arts Merit Award (NAMA) in the literary category for the book The Unsung Heroine.
BT:
What regrets have you?
PD: None, if I would live my life all over again, I would live it the same way. I would not take away or change anything. I am grateful for everyone and everything that's happened to me, even the hard times and painful experiences have taught me a lot, especially humility; they keep me grounded, I think its easy to grow a big head if everyone seems to think you are gifted.
PD: None, if I would live my life all over again, I would live it the same way. I would not take away or change anything. I am grateful for everyone and everything that's happened to me, even the hard times and painful experiences have taught me a lot, especially humility; they keep me grounded, I think its easy to grow a big head if everyone seems to think you are gifted.
BT:
What do you do in your leisure time?
PD: I love cricket, so I play ladies cricket, I play chess, I read but I can’t even describe reading as a hobby because it’s always been a part of my life and recently a very good friend of mine introduced me to rock climbing, its an amazing sensation to climb and sit on top of a mountain, so that's something I like doing as well. I also spend as much time with my mum whenever I can and visit all the old women who were my friends and helped raise me when I was a child. Sometimes I get the same sensation I get from sport by being with them, its refreshing.
PD: I love cricket, so I play ladies cricket, I play chess, I read but I can’t even describe reading as a hobby because it’s always been a part of my life and recently a very good friend of mine introduced me to rock climbing, its an amazing sensation to climb and sit on top of a mountain, so that's something I like doing as well. I also spend as much time with my mum whenever I can and visit all the old women who were my friends and helped raise me when I was a child. Sometimes I get the same sensation I get from sport by being with them, its refreshing.
BT:
What are your plans?
PD: I don't know. I guess I am planning to live life as long as I am allowed to and hopefully use the few gifts I have been given for a greater good.
PD: I don't know. I guess I am planning to live life as long as I am allowed to and hopefully use the few gifts I have been given for a greater good.
BT:
What's your word of advice to new writers?
PD: That they should write and write and try and belong to different networks so that they can have an outlet for their works and to also use the internet for advice and to look for publishers. Locally, they should try and affiliate to cultural organisations like the British Council, Pamberi Trust, the Zimbabwe-German Society and different embassies which support and champion the arts.
PD: That they should write and write and try and belong to different networks so that they can have an outlet for their works and to also use the internet for advice and to look for publishers. Locally, they should try and affiliate to cultural organisations like the British Council, Pamberi Trust, the Zimbabwe-German Society and different embassies which support and champion the arts.
Comments