WEALTH OF IDEAS

So I am not as active on this blog as I used to be. There is a good reason for that. I once used this blog to discuss ideas, hoping to trigger some writing of my own, and to rave about African literature, to feature all the new names in African writing, to bring awareness of the literature, to shout from the top of the mountain about all the wonderful things coming out of African literature. There was a real need for that; I felt African literature (if you believe it exists) needed that kind of help, needed to be announced, to be talked about, to be singled out, to be revealed. And what do you know, a few years later, the literature doesn't need me to do so; it does just fine by itself, announcing, and sometimes rejecting, itself. And the bigger media has taken over the coverage, and now I can just sit back and watch from a distance, right? No. I will continue to feature things about world writing here: who has written what (and why? or why not?); who has gotten a book deal, who ...

Once again, I was waiting to hear the news that Ngugi wa Thiongo has won the Nobel Prize for Literature (2014), only to wake up and find out it was Patrick Modiano, described by the American media as "a little known writer". But that's okay; I welcome any writer who gets the award, whether or not the writer is "little" or "known little". Each time someone gets the award, a milestone has been realized in literature, and it gets me closer to the award. But you don't get that award for not writing. It is an inspiring moment; I get to write a few sentences here and there, still aware, of course, that it takes more than just a few sentences to get closer to the award. That said, I just know Ngugi should have won it. We have been waiting for too long, but again, what is too long? We will keep waiting. I could easily politicize the issue and say he didn't win because they don't like something about his writing?  Of course, I can, saying things l...

Mbeu yevanhu vosvika muno yati siyanei neyedu patakasvika. Isu taivinga chikoro, kana kuzotora twumakosi twekutiwanisa mabasa ane musoro, toshanda kwemakore, tichironga kuzodzokera kumusha takagukuchira upfumi nemagwaro efundoyo. Asi ava vouya mazuva ano ava, huri-i, mabasa chaiwo. Pane mukomana akasvika mwedzi wapfuura uyu. Hameno kwazvakanhongwa nemukadzi weChirungu anenge ane dzakadambuka dzose. Mungadai mavaona nhasi pavasvika pano kuzopemberera rusunguko rweZimbabwe nesu, chikara kusvika chichizvidhonza haikona, hanzi ndine wangu muRungu, isu tikati, “Tamuona!”  Ndamutarisa mukomana uyu ndikanzwa misodzi yoda kudonha. Nhai shiye zvayo, mwana akakurira kuruzevha, kunozvuviwa nechembere zvayo. Anga ashayei kumusha? Chero mumaruzevha zvamuzere vasikana vanogona  kutsvoda wani. Shuwa munhu kukwezwa neganda otadzawo kutarisa kuti patori nemhunhu chaiye kana kuti ringori dzunguwaya zvaro. Gore rino tichaonerera zvedu.  Iko kudaidzana kwacho kani. Inongovak...

Cordite Books, the new crime and spy fiction imprint of  Parresia Publishers Ltd ., has announced the winner its 2014 Crime Fiction Contest. The winner is Zimbabwean writer Blessing Musariri. She won with the manuscript Useful Knowledge for a World Class Detective.  The $1000 money prize also comes with a Cordite Books publishing deal. The second place winner is Demola Adeniran with Descent of the Hills and third place is David Oritogun with “The World is Your Oyster.” They will receive $250 and $200 respectively. The competition was announced in 2013 and received over 70 manuscripts from all over the continent.   The contest judge is Helon Habila, who is the editor of  Cordite Books. He has described  Musariri's manuscript  as  “intelligent and well written. A hardcore detective story in the tradition of No 1 Ladies Detective Agency – but totally original in its own way. The protagonist is a 25 year old, plucky, ambitious, girl with an intere...

The book launched in Harare at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair. Although I was not there to witness this birth, the first copies fell into the hands of friends Memory Chirere and Ignatius Mabasa, shown in the pictures above, standing with the book's editor, Emmanuel Makadho, on the right. This is important because Chirere and Mabasa are some of the friends who pushed me to consider publishing the Mukoma stories in a collection. Nearly all the stories in the book were originally published in American literary journals, so this puts them in one book, under one title. A Brief History of the Mukoma project The oldest story in the collection, "The Bull of Mototi", was written in 1997 in a journal book. In the original version of the story, the then nameless narrator is asked by a friend at the Students Union cafe at the University of Zimbabwe to talk about his childhood in Mazvihwa, Zvishavane, and he goes on to tell this specific story, before the two friends fini...

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT RELEASE DATE: 4/11/14 IN MEMOIR RELEASED ON NATIONAL DAY OF SILENCE, AFRICAN AUTHOR SHARES STORY OF SURVIVING ABUSE, FIGHTING DEPORTATION, AND COMING OUT AS LESBIAN In a story faced with obstacles where many people may give up, African author Ruth Marimo proves she is a fighter. OUTsider: Crossing Borders. Breaking Rules. Gaining Pride. is a heartfelt autobiography where readers are introduced to a fierce, forthright woman who has confronted life’s obstacles, and has overcome them with strength, courage, and honesty. Born  in  Zimbabwe,  Marimo  has  traveled  the  world,  gaining  insight  and  deep appreciation  for  the  plight  of  the  illegal  immigrant.  Living  as  an  undocumented immigrant, she details the daily struggles to survive as a health‐care worker and to thrive as a wife and mother. Complicating matters, for decades Marimo ...

Sacramento-based poet among the shortlisted. Shortlist Announcement: PRESS RELEASE This is the second year of The Brunel University African Poetry Prize, a major new poetry prize of £3000 aimed at the development, celebration and promotion of poetry from Africa. The prize is sponsored by Brunel University and Commonwealth Writers. Last year the prize was won by Somali poet, Warsan Shire, who has since been awarded an American publisher for her poetry, travelled to six countries as a writer and become the first Young Poet Laureate for London. T he winner will be announced on 12th May 2014.
 The judges this year are poets, critics and academics: Kwame Dawes, Kadija George, Daljit Nagra, Mpalive Msiska and Chair, Bernardine Evaristo. Out of 579 entries, the judges produced a shortlist of six poets, none of whom has yet published a full length poetry book. The shortlisted poets are:  Viola Allo  from Cameroon;  Inua Ellams  from Nigeria;
  Amy L...

  Happy Birthday Africa President   We get to Number 10 to find the president raising fists all over. On the big wall around the power station that caught fire last Sunday, on the tall gates of the blue Zioja church, on the fat pole where we sometimes play spin, on the shed where Clifford cuts hair, on the durawall that surrounds the tuck-shops where old ladies sit selling all sorts of stuff, on the sides of the shed where people wait for combis to town, on the trees along the main road—the posters are everywhere. We stand in a huddle by the power station wall and tilt our heads and look at the posters one by one even though they are exactly the same.   Godknows says, Who put him up there? Why did they put him up?   Well, whose face would you rather, your father’s? Bastard says. He elbows Godknows out of the way and steps to the wall to study the president. It’s early morning but the sun is already high above our heads, searing us like we owe it money....

Nkiacha Atemnkeng   "NoViolet’s debut novel parallels the media narrative of that lost decade era which peaked in 2008 perfectly. I remember following events in Zimbabwe from the news and this book is a wonderful evocation of all I heard, saw and so much more. (Well, except the juicy guavas). So it’s a blend of reality and imagination. There were media reports about hectares of farmland being seized from white farmers and handed over to black farmers, homes seized and others destroyed. I heard of galloping inflation, hunger, empty store shelves, rigged elections, violence as a result of that, incarceration and torture of MDC opposition leaders and political activists, some to the point of death, fed up Zimbabweans running away across the border into South Africa, a few knee deep across a bridgeless, crocodile-infested dangerous river, fed up Zimbabweans emigrating to America, emigrating to Europe, emigrating to Asia in droves and droves and droves,"  writes Cameroonean ...

The organizers of the conference give the following as the ten reasons to attend the conference: Launch your writing career– or take it to a more professional level–with direction from bestselling authors and publishing experts. Choose from a schedule  of workshops, panels and sessions that fit your specific writing needs and goals. Get your questions answered at the Ask-a-Pro session featuring New York and California editors…included in your registration fee. Go to  Speed Dating for Agents – Pitch your book ideas one-on-one in a room full of literary agents ($50 option for registered attendees) Receive free feedback on your work from freelance book editors. Kick back in  Cafe Ferlinghetti with writers from all over the country…and foreign countries, too. Talk with  exhibitors and find out what’s new for writers. Browse our onsite bookstore (produced by BookShop West Portal) and you can get the books you purchase autographed by the presenters. Ju...

The Caine Prize has announced the judges of the 2014 award as follows: Jackie Kay MBE (Chair)   photo credit: Denise Else Jackie Kay was born and brought up in Scotland. Her novel The Adoption Papers won the Forward Prize, a Saltire prize and a Scottish Arts Council Prize. Her most recent collection of poems, Fiere , was shortlisted for the Costa award. Jackie won the Guardian Fiction Award for her novel Trumpet, which was also shortlisted for the IMPAC award. She won the Scottish Book of the Year Award and the London Book Award for Red Dust Road , and the Decibel British Book Award for her book of stories entitled Wish I Was Here . Jackie’s book for children, Red Cherry Red , won the Clype award and her most recent plays, Manchester Lines (produced by Manchester Library Theatre) and The New Maw Broon Monologues (produced by Glasgay) were a great success. Her most recent book, Reality Reality , is a collection of stories and she is current...

The heightened literary activities in Zimbabwe are quite refreshing and inspiring. Of course, throughout Africa, and especially in English-speaking Africa, which I have immediate access to, due to a shared language, there seems to be a huge literary awakening. I like most the sudden availability of African books online and in  American bookstores. Zimbabwean writers  have many reasons to work harder, with a measure of optimism, because our literature has returned on the map. (It's hard to think it ever left, yet more readers seem to have (re-) discovered it). We have recently had considerable successes, both locally and internationally, in terms of output and discovery of new talent. And on the international scale, our sitting on the shortlist of the 2013 Booker Prize, for instance, was one of the many signs that the literature is alive,  and all the other signs of a strengthening literature--a recent winning of the Caine, the Guardian, and gett...