Writing Still - New stories from Zimbabwe

Description

The history of Zimbabwe has always been reflected in its oral and written literature. Much of the serious fiction written in the 1980s and early 1990s focused on the effects of Zimbabwe?s war of liberation. Little has yet been written about post-independence Zimbabwe and the complex and challenging issues that have arisen in the last twenty years. This anthology of twenty-two short stories provides a representative sample of the range and quality of writing in Zimbabwe at the turn of the century, and an impressionistic reflection of the years since independence in 1980. Included are stories by established writers Shimmer Chinodya, Charles Mungoshi, Brian Chikwava; and some younger or less established writers, , Clement Chihota, Wonder Guchu, Chiedza Musengezi, Mary Ndlovu, Vivienne Ndlovu and Stanley Nyamfukudza. The collection also reflects a slightly broader perspective with stories by Alexandra Fuller, Derek Huggins, Pat Brickhill and Chris Wilson, who engage with historical memory of the conflicts out of which Zimbabwe arose, and the lessons to be drawn from living within a culture other than one?s own. Overall, the anthology reaffirms the persistent value attached to imaginative writing in Zimbabwe, and illustrates that the country?s literary tradition is alive and well, and reshaping itself for new times.

Sujets

• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Weaver Press
• Date de parution: 15 juin 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 4
• EAN13: 9781779221773
• Langue: English

Extrait

Writing Still
New Stories from Zimbabwe
Writing Still
New Stories from Zimbabwe
Edited by
Irene Staunton
Published by Weaver Press, Box A1922, Avondale, Harare. 2003.
< www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com >
Reprinted 2011, 2012
Weaver Press, 2003.
Each story: the author.
The Ugly Reflection in the Mirror by Alexander
Kanengoni was first published in The Daily News , Harare, 25 March, 2003.
Sorting it Out by Yvonne Vera was first published in World View , Fall, 1999.
Typeset by Fontline Electronic Publishing, Harare
Cover Design: Danes Design, Harare.
Cover picture: Planes at Headlands by Mishek Masamvu
Printed by Sable Press, Harare.
The editor and the publisher would like to express their gratitude to Hivos for the support they have given to Weaver Press in the development of their fiction programme.
All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise -without the express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 1 77922 018 9
Contents
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Universal Remedy Pat Brickhill
The Kiss Clement Chihota
Seventh Street Alchemy Brian Chikwava
Maria s Interview Julius Chingono
Queues Shimmer Chinodya
Maize Memory Chirere
Fancy Dress Alexandra Fuller
The Wooden Bridge Wonder Guchu
When Samora Died Annie Holmes
The Revolutionary: a brief encounter Derek Huggins
The Ugly Reflection in the Mirror Alexander Kanengoni
Mea Culpa Rory Kilalea
The Grim Reaper s Car Nevanji Madanhire
The Sins of the Fathers Charles Mungoshi
Mermaid out of the Rain Stanley Mupfudza
Mukoma Amos Chiedza Musengezi
Torn Posters Gugu Ndlovu
New Mourning Mary Ndlovu
Homecoming Vivienne Ndlovu
Uncle Francis Stanley Nyamfukudza
That Special Place Freedom Nyamubaya
The Winning Side William Saidi
Sorting it Out Yvonne Vera
The Twelve Chitenges Chris Wilson
Glossary
Notes on Contributors
Pat Brickhill is the mother of three wonderful children. She grew up in a large extended family in Durban, South Africa, where both her parents were prominent trade unionists. She has had a life-long love affair with books - her first job was working in the Musgrave Library in Durban. She lived in Zimbabwe for 21 years and co-founded Grassroots Books, now known as the Book Cafe. For five years she was Events co-ordinator at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair. She lives in West Sussex although her heart is still in Zimbabwe. She has recently completed her first novel - and hopes one day to write for a living.
Clement Chihota (born 1964) teaches Applied Linguistics at the Zimbabwe Open University. Currently, he is based at the University of Cape Town where he is reading for a Ph.D. in English (on interfaces between Marxist criticism and critical stylistics and the possibility of integrating them into Marxist stylistics .) Clement has published a collection of poems, Before the next Song (1999) and seven short stories in No More Plastic Balls (2000), one of which (entitled Shipwreck ) has been republished in the San Franciscan literary journal, Tripwire .
Brian Chikwava was born in Victoria Falls in 1972 and grew up in Bulawayo. He completed his schooling in Zimbabwe before leaving for university in Bristol, UK, where he graduated with a B.Sc (Hon). Apart from writing Chikwava is also a blues/Afro-jazz guitarist/singer/songwriter and a keen follower of the visual arts scene. He was once a member of the now defunct Zimbabwe Association of Art Critics and has spent a lot of time collaborating with some of Harare s upcoming jazz musicians on experimental shows trying to fuse action painting and live music. Brian is currently working on some short stories and a music album.
Julius Chingono who was born on a commercial farm in 1946, worked for most of his life on the mines. A poet, he has had his work published in several anthologies of Shona poetry including Nhetembo, Mabvumira eNhetembo and Gwenyambira between 1968 and 1980. His only novel, Chipo Changu was published in 1978 and an award-winning play, Ruvimbo , was published in 1980. His poetry in English has also been published in several South African and Zimbabwean anthologies: Flags of Love (Mireza yerudo) (1983) and Flag of Rags (1996).
Shimmer Chinodya was born in Gweru in 1957 and educated in Zimbabwe. On completion of his first degree he went to the Iowa Writers Workship where he did an MA in Creative Writing. His publications include the novels Dew in the Morning (1982) and Harvest of Thorns (1989): and anthology, Can We Talk and other stories (1998). Harvest of Thorns won the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa region) in 1990; Can we Talk was short-listed for the Caine Prize in 2000. Chinodya has also written children s books under the pen name, Ben Chirashe, and he has developed a highly acclaimed O-level textbook series Step Ahead: new secondary English course . Shimmer Chinodya works as a free-lance writer and consultant.
Memory Chirere comes from Mount Darwin. He belongs to the younger generation of Zimbabwean writers. Chirere published short stories in No More Plastic Balls (1999) and A Roof to Repair (2000). He teaches African Literature courses in the English Department of the University of Zimbabwe
Alexandra Fuller is the author of a memoir, Don t Let s Go To The Dogs Tonight . She was born in England in 1969. In 1972 she moved with her family to a farm in Rhodesia. After that country s civil war in 1981, the Fullers moved first to Malawi, then to Zambia. Fuller received a B.A. from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1994, she moved to Wyoming in the United States, where she still lives. She has two children.
Wonder Guchu a freelance journalist, was born 1969 in Mvurwi area. Trained as a teacher of English at Gweru Teachers College between 1988 and 1990. Taught in Masvingo for five years and in Harare for six years. Started writing short stories for The Sunday Mail Magazine in 1992. Contributed poems to Tsotso and Moto magazines. Reviewed books for The Masvingo Star, The Independent, Parade magazine, The Herald, The Sunday Standard and The Daily News . Was music critic for the now defunct Masvingo Tribune . Married with two children.
Annie Holmes works as an editor, writer, and filmmaker. Born in Zambia in 1958 and raised in Zimbabwe, she studied English, African and Comparative Literatures at the Universities of Cape Town and the Witwatersrand in South Africa. She returned to Zimbabwe just after Independence, taught at Highfield High School for two years, and then worked in educational publishing. Later, combining book editing with film work, she went on to make documentary films all over southern Africa and produced a number of TV series for SABC Education. In 2001, she took a temporary leave from home and a sabbatical from film to study, write and work in California, USA. She likes to write about journey, having been on quite a few.
Derek Huggins is an Englishman who emigrated to Southern Rhodesia in 1959 at the age of eighteen to join the British South Africa Police. He rode horse patrols in Matabeleland and later became a detective with the Criminal Investigation Department. He married Helen Lieros, artist painter, in 1966. Resigning from the police in 1974, he opened Gallery Delta for the promotion of contemporary painting. Concurrently, he was the Chief Executive of the National Arts Foundation from 1975 to 1988. Presently, he continues to manage Gallery Delta, and to publish Gallery magazine in which he is a frequent contributor. He has, intermittently, over a period of thirty years, endeavoured to write stories but which have remained unpublished until now.
Alexander Kanengoni was born in 1951. Trained as a teacher, he taught briefly before going tojoin the liberation struggle in 1974. After Zimbabwe s independence in 1980, he went to the University of Zimbabwe and majored in English literature. In 1983 hejoined the Ministry of Education and Culture as project officer responsible for the education of ex-combatants and refugees. In 1988 hejoined the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Service and worked there until 2002, when he became a farmer. Alexander s previously published work includes the novels: Vicious Circle (1983), When the Rainbird Cries (1988) Echoing Silences (1997) and a collection of short stories, Effortless Tears (1993).
Rory Kilalea (pen name - Murungu) was born and educated in Zimbabwe. He works as a filmmaker, having picked up the skills on the anti-apartheid movies shot and Zimbabwe television. He has worked in the Middle East and throughout Africa, directing and writing documentaries and an Aid-related television series. His short stories have been nominated twice for the Caine prize and his poetry and short stories have been published in South Africa, USA, Malaysia, UK and Ireland . He is currently writing a novel based in Zimbabwe.
Nevanji Madanhire , born in 1961, has lived a varied life reflecting the restlessness of growing up in an amorphous fledgling Zimbabwe. As a teenager, Nevanji saw the political fission resulting from the dying years of the war of liberation when most of his classmates were forced to either join the liberation forces or be conscripted into the Rhodesian army. Because of cowardice he only chose to throw a few stones at the establishment from the safety of the mobs of demonstrating students. The two decades of independence saw the pain of a nation dismally failing to define itself, and became for Nevanji, a period of soul-searching during which he worked as a teacher, a curric