selected pictures from Manu Sigauke's Chisiya Writers Workshop

Am coming from a unique 4 day writing workshop at Gwavachemai Secondary School in Mazvihwa, Zimbabwe. It was organised by a son of Mazvihwa, Emmanuel Sigauke himself, now based in California. 1. It had the young and old, male-female. 2. It was not set in a city or town or at a hotel. It was in the countryside and from the classroom you could see the legendary acacia trees of Mazvihwa, the many goats... 3. It was not a one hour early August workshop. No! We were at it for 4 full early August days in the year 2015! 4. The forty participants, David Mungoshi, teachers and I, finally accompanied Emmanuel Sigauke up the Chisiya hill where he would go as a boy to read Achebe, Dangarembga, Ngugi, Mungoshi and others...or just meditate... and see the valley below...  5. I have never felt as blest as I felt, reading ‘Roja Rababa vaBiggie’ to an attentive audience - up there, near the clouds…