WEALTH OF IDEAS

Showing off my copy of Long Time Coming in San Franciso, after the Mabasa reading. I chose to stand by the lion statue because I was reminiscing on the on days when the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association, led by Miriam Bamhare, with some of its processes coordinated by Ignatius Mabasa, used the motto: A Lion's Share of Reading1 . So these short writings from Zimbabwe are really short, the length of the standard flash fiction,snippets of life in contemporary Zimbabwe. We have Petina Gappah writing about a dying bridegroom, a story that woes you with its humor and musicality, but sends you to tears with the grimness of its subject; Ignatius Mabasa, writing about a man who has forgotten his name in "Some Kind of Madness", a story that echoes Charles Mungoshi, but retains Mabasa's signature treatment of the theme of madness; there is the expected Chris Mlalazi (he has an intrusive voice that will uncover the filth and beauty of Bulawayo in a sweep of fast-paced prose;

Ignatius Mabasa at the Western Addition Libray in downtown San Francisco. This has got to be one of the best poetry events in the United States, its magnitude and the display of international talent. Listening to the poets read in their languages, you could tell that they had to be some of the best in their countries. Syrian poet Maram al-Massri who read with Mabasa. Of course, there was one of Zimbabwe's best poets, Ignatius Mabasa, who read in Shona. I caught him in action at an event that featured him and the Syrian poet Maram al-Massri. It was a wonderful reading. Each poem was read twice, first in Shona, then in English. Mabasa was paired with San Francisco poet Michael Warr, who read the English versions of the poems. Of course, I sat there laughing long before anyone else in the room understood what was happening. It felt like an honor for my family to be the only people in the audience who understood what the poet was saying in Shona; then I laughed again (there is humor