WEALTH OF IDEAS

  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 ...

Shevonna Blackshire, Munyori Literary Journal's poetry editor The poetry editor for Munyori Literary Journal , Shevonna Blackshire , will be one of the features at the Sacramento Poetry Center's reading in celebration of Women's History Month. Shevonna has been a creative writer/poet since the age of 8. She watched the 1990's movie about spoken word poetry called "Love Jones" and was inspired to start her own open mic at Touch a' Class nightclub in Sacramento in the late 1990's. Her motto is "Say What You Feel and Feel What You Say!". In this great line-up, the other features are as follows: JoAnn Anglin grew up in South Sacramento, attended local schools, then worked for the State of California, writing copy for exhibits, newsletters and brochures. JoAnn has written poetry her whole life, and she has also written numerous articles on the arts and poetry. JoAnn coaches students in the national Poetry Out Loud program, and when she works wi...

I would like to thank all the poets who have sent hundreds of submissions to Munyori Literary Journal , which, after all, started as a poetry journal. Keep sending! We have also seen an increase in fiction submissions, thanks mainly to Indian and Zimbabwean writers. We recently made a call to submissions for a publication of an Indo-Zimbabwean short fiction collection, and that's a project separate from the regular Munyori Lit Journal . We have also received works for this project. Keep them --the short stories--coming. Submissions to Munyori should be sent to fictioneditor@munyori.com, with a copy to manu@munyori.com. Submissions to the Indo-Zimbabwean short fiction collection, which I will co-edit with two committed Indian writers/scholars, should be sent to indozim@munyori.com . Flood our emails with your submissions to this project; we plan to look for the highest quality, and will take our time until we have a collection that sings...something to that effect. I am also involve...

We have been receiving lots of poetry and fiction (by our modest standards), and we are convinced that we are ready to make selections for he next issue, which should be out by November 5. We could use some more work in the following areas: Book Reviews Essays Artwork/photos author profiles interviews send your works to manu@munyori.com, or visit Munyori for guidelines.

The new issue of Munyori Literary Journal is going to feature Memory Chirere, Jennifer Armstrong, NoViolet Mkha Bulawayo, Sunil Sharma, Joseph Masanga, Colwin Mhlahlo, Georgia Banks-Martin, Salisu Ahmed Koki, Jennifer Pickering, and more. It showcases short stories, interviews, poetry,and essays... I am in the process of updating the site, which should be up by Friday.

The next issue of Munyori Literary Journal is going to post on June 15. My team is currently reading the submissions for different genres. Feel free to send your poetry, short stories, essays, reviews, interviews, etc.

mark jackley Mark Jackley , a regular contributor to Munyori Literary Journal , has published a new poetry chapbook entitled Cracks and Slats . Edited by Cindy Kelly, the book was published by Amsterdam Press. Some of the poems in this book were featured on Munyori, a fact the author has indicated he is proud of. The Munyori Staff (Shevonna, Doeba and yours truly,) are pleased to hear this and give our best wishes to Mark in his endeavours.

In Karanga we say 'tava pedo', which means that we are close. I am talking about Munyori Literary Journal ; if all goes well on my computer, I should be able to post an evolving issue. Evolving in this case means I will continue to tweak it aftet it has been posted, although many readers will not notice the changes. Given what we have in store for you, it's no use keeping you waiting. We have: An interview with Petina Gappah An interview with Tanure Ojaide An essay by Memory Chirere on Southern Africa and the short story. An essay on Yvonne Vera by Ivor W. Hartmann A short story by Valerie Tagwira A short story by Catherine Mark-Beasant A short story by Naomi Benaron Lots of poetry News News We are happy with the content, but we will continue working on the design until we are satisfied. Join us to celebrate the launch of the first multi-genre issue of Munyori on March 9, 2009.

Tenure Ojaide In addition to all the great works to be featured on the firt-ever multi-genre issue of Munyori Literary Journal is an interview with the renowned Nigerian poet Tenure Ojaide, conducted by the poet Dike Okoro. Here is an excerpt: Dike Okoro : What would you say the African writer’s role in society should be? Tenure Ojaide : The writer should be a pathfinder in the sense of his or her vision. So the writer must be truthful about the conditions of his people but must hold on to their hope. The African writer must be an activist in a way to fight the negative forces that dehumanize his or her people. The African writer must praise the good and condemn the bad but must focus on uplifting the overall ethics of his or her people. This said, each writer should be free to write as he/she pleases or take the direction he/she best leads to the ideal society or humanity.