WEALTH OF IDEAS

  I will be in conversation with NoViolet Bulawayo on Wednesday, March 16, for the California Virtual launch of the her new novel, Glory.   You can register on Crowd Cast to be part of this even t. Below a description of the event offered by the organizers:    From the award-winning author of the Booker-prize finalist We Need New Names, a blockbuster of a novel that chronicles the fall of an oppressive regime, and the chaotic, kinetic potential for real liberation that rises in its wake. Glory centers around the unexpected fall of Old Horse, a long-serving leader of a fictional country, and the drama that follows for a rumbustious nation of animals on the path to true liberation. Inspired by the unexpected fall by coup, in November 2017, of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president of nearly four decades, Bulawayo's bold, vividly imagined novel shows a country imploding, narrated by a chorus of animal voices who unveil the ruthlessness and cold strategy required to uphold the illusi

 A new Zimbabwean online journal has just been launched. This journal is the first of many planned initiatives by the Zimbabwe Poetry Society, a new organization that brings together Zimbabwean poets at home and abroad.  The journal's mission is "to  make Zimbabwean poetry more visible and accessible locally and around the world and to make an impactful contribution to the global community of poets."  Ipikai Poetry Journal plans to publish one issue every quarter. Visit their   submissions  page for more information. There you will see detailed instructions on how to submit. 

  HARARE, ZIMBABWE: I t was all glamour and glitz at the recent National Arts Merit Awards held at Rainbow Towers on Friday last week in what National Arts Council of Zimbabwe - NACZ Executive Director Mr Nicholas Moyo said was an event to 'celebrate artists who have continued to subscribe to NAMA'. The 20th edition of the prestigious awards was themed 'Zimbabwe and Beyond' with the hash tag #Amalevels . Emerging from a dormant state of seasons spent away from the night life due to Covid 19 people came out in droves dressed to kill and some to 'reveal' a lot of skin, as they strolled and sashayed down the red carpet. Inside the venue what struck me as I took my seat was the visual aspect of the production on the LED backdrop screens and how the stage was set up making it more spacious, stage design is art, good visual composition is a necessity. Kudos to Leroy Gopal the official master of ceremony of the night for his enthusiasm and great sense of humor which

 Short Stoy Day Africa, in association with  LAXFIELD LITERARY ASSOCIATES, is calling for applications in a writing fellowship entitles SSDA Inkubator. The application period opened on March 1st and will be open until March 31st. According to the organizers, SSDA Inkubator is an intensive, three-month, online seminar designed by Short Story Day Africa and Laxfield Literary Associates, for writers to develop, grow and hone their fiction writing and self-editing skills, as well as create an environment for cultural exchange and dialogue between writers from different backgrounds. It is a place for writers to support writers: to learn, to teach, and to mentor each other and create new, ongoing support networks. The 12 successful participants will be mentored through an extensive curriculum that covers writing, editing, preparing work for submission, as well as how to approach agents and publishers. Inkubator consists of six online workshops and a moderated online forum, with professional

 This untitled page started As a glaring  But inviting Blank page  Of memories.  The spirit is to continue Not ignore the call of blankness to populate emulate involve  all those from the past who know a little about the present of presents for tomorrow is another blank page Taken over by an incipient storm of words. 

We built this school with our own hands. We the students, one block at a time, brick by brick. We were the pioneering group of students, who for nearly a year rented a room at Mototi Primary School, the main feeder school to the secondary school. I remember that when we started Form 1, our school didn't even have a name. Some wanted it to be called Mototi Secondary School, others wanted a slew of other names, such as Chomumbuyu, Manhivi, Mutoti, Runde, since Gwen'ombe was already taken. But they deliberated and deliberated, and we were told they--the parents mostly--had settled on the name Gwavachemai, which is the name of the mountain range on east of the current location of the secondary school.   Talking of location, many sites were considered. I remember three. One was going to be in Chimiti forest, near the old location of the primary school; perhaps that turned out to be too close to Chivi but too far from any of the feeder schools. The second location was in my neighborh