WEALTH OF IDEAS

There is an abundance of it on US soil; it seems American publishers have discovered African writers (never mind that that haven't discovered me yet, because I haven't given them a chance to). I remember in the 90s, when I came to this country, I would scour book shelves, in bookstores and libraries, but it was hard to find many books by African writers. Yes, there was Achebe, and of course Ngugi, Soyinka. I needed more though. I couldn't find Marechera (I came to the realization that he had not penetrated the American market). I couldn't find Nervous Conditions, nor Why Don't You Carve Other animals. I couldn't find Bones, The Harvest of Thorns; I couldn't find  The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born; I couldn't find Song of Lawino, nor even The Breast of the Earth. I was okay I guess, because then I made it a mission to find more Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Charles Johnson and others in the African American canon. It was good that th...

Who are you?* That's a tricky question. I was born Emmanuel Hove Mhike but I think I'm just a crazy Prince, Prince of Mazvihwa. Why do you write? Writing is my life blood. I think the pen inhales the cabon dioxide I exhales and I inhales the oxygen it exhales :) How do you write? My writing is inspired by events. I do not think deeper. I write about my everyday experiences. Does it pays to be a writer in Zimbabwe? No, you pay to be a writer in Zimbabwe. Writers are living in abject poverty. The whole arts sector is languishing. What can be done? Writers, we are agents of change. Zim politics is the culprit. We don't need violence, Pen is mightier than the gun! Do you enjoy writing? Absolutely! I live to write. I enjoy readers' comments, complaints and complements What can you say about your poems? Here is the Universal remedy. This universe needs some healing, it is suffering from dangerous but curable diseases such as corruption, civil war...

            Straight Out Scribes  ��  NSAA Sean King  ��  Michael Ellis Monday ,  January 16 @ 7:30 pm Sacramento Poetry Center, 1719 25th St Host: Emmanuel Sigauke    Free Admission       Straight Out Scribes Dr. V.S. Chochezi and Staajabu     NSAA  Lawrence E Dinkins Jr     Sean King     Michael Ellis     Straight Out Scribes, Dr. V.S. Chochezi and Staajabu, Sacramento's unique mother/daughter dynamic poetry duo is still in full effect as they embrace the New Year.  If you want to get the year off to an uplifting, inspiring, start come share some positive vibes with Straight Out Scribes!  Dr. V.S. Chochezi and Staajabu also known as Straight Out Scribes have published and performed their original poetry at numerous venu...

This is the 10th Anniversary year for Munyori Literary Journal, and we plan to make it a great year of serious publications. Submit your best. We start the year with a captivating short story by Zimbabwean writer Rumbi Munochiveyi's "A Certain Time Ago", which has gotten a huge following on the site, so many captivated and inspired readers, as our page stats have shown. Rumbi Munochiveyi is a Zimbabwean writer who is currently completing her B.S. in Mathematics at the Worcester State University, Massachusetts. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and four children. This is her second story to appear in Munyori Literary Journal. Ambuya died on a breezy, early August afternoon, twenty-five minutes after six o’clock, with my mother sitting next to her bed, calmly watching life slip out of her. Mamma folded her mother’s arms over a bosom barely covered by a thin-threaded muslin nightdress my grandmother had worn each night for seven years, and covered ...

Stories Invited for a Zimbabwean Short Story Collection amaBooks Publishers are planning a collection of Zimbabwean short stories, to be published in 2017.  We are inviting submissions by February 14, 2017. There are no restrictions on the length of the stories, and there is no particular theme. Stories for consideration should be emailed as Word attachments, with no artwork or photographs included, to amabooksbyo@gmail.com . Unfortunately, we will be unable to give feedback on those stories that are not accepted for publication. The writers whose work is accepted will each receive a copy of the book and they will retain copyright of their stories. The previous collections of short writings published by amaBooks include Where to Now? Short Stories from Zimbabwe , Long Time Coming: Short Writings from Zimbabwe and Short Writings from Bulawayo I , II and III . Where to Now? was co-published by Parthian Books in the UK and Long Time Coming was selected by New In...

During the first week of August, 2015, we launched Chisiya Writers' Workshop at Gwavachemai Secondary School, in Mazvihwa, Zimbabwe. This workshop was made possible by the support and sponsorship of Muonde Trust. Gwavachemai Secondary School in Mhototi provided the venue (up to three classrooms for our breakout sessions) and the logistics of selecting participants, and offering clerical support and proving teachers who worked as the steering committee on the ground. Also, some of these teachers functioned as the moderators of the different group sessions, as well as time MC for the day-to- day running of the workshop proceedings. That allowed the three facilitators to focus on teaching and leading workshop and presenting speeches. In all, we had a productive week. My  co-facilitators. Memory Chirere and David Mungoshi, are some of the best writers in Zimbabwe. More reflections to come....

In August, we launched Chisiya Writers' Workshop in Zvishavane, Zimbabwe. This was at Gwavachemai Secondary School in Mhototi, which is in the Mazvihwa area of Zvishavane district, near Mberengwa. It had taken over two years planning, but when it finally was going to happen, I suddenly didn't know what to expect. This was going to be the first workshop of its kind, a rural model writers' workshop that draws facilitators from the urban areas (which is where they usually live) and ask them to come stay in the village for a week, teaching the people in the area how to write. But once I had landed in Zimbabwe, the doubts began to intensify; I didn't know what to expect, plus I started having these questions: What if this thing fails? What if it is going to be a total disaster? What if we are going to encounter participants who did not care about writing? What if? What if? I had a few days to think about these things in Harare. I was even distracted by the international book...