The fiery Zimbabwean poet, Batsira Chigama, has given us the latest review of Shamhu yeZera Renyu on her blog. Full Review Now Available on: https://www.batsiraichigama.com/2024/08/shamhu-yezera-renyu/ KURIMWA NEBADZA REPFUNGWA mubhuku raMemory Chirere, SHAMHU YEZERA RENYU - Batsirai Chigama
+NB We hope to give you a translation of this review soon.
A Book Review by Philip Matogo
Title: Inside Harare Alcatraz and Other Short Stories
Author: Andrew Chatora
Published: 2024
Available: support@kharispublishing.com/www.kharispublishing.com
Price: 50,000 UGX
Pages: 188
Ugandan author, book critic and poet, Philip Matogo interrogates and
lauds Andrew Chatora’s debut short story collection for bringing to the fore
aspects of contemporary Zimbabwe that are typical of African conditions and the
Diaspora, also indicating that the stories encompass the Sophoclean tragedy.
In
the main story, of this debut collection
by Andrew Chatora, a man with multiple identities goes to prison… (I know that
you thought he would go to a mental home with such a disorder). However, his is
no ordinary disorder
or condition. Going to prison in order to spy on prisoners is actually his
profession!
The
man is a political spy, a spook as some would say.
He is sent to prison for what in his line of work is called Wetwork, a euphemism for murder or assassination that alludes to spilling blood.
So,
he is secreted into Harare Alcatraz Maximum Security Prison by the security
police of Zimbabwe to eliminate political dissidents, Jacob and Hopewell. But
then, the two men that he is supposed to eliminate reveal their impeccable humanity
to him and things get hazier than any shade of colourful criminality.
Jacob
and Hopewell are well known fighters for democracy in Zimbabwe who have been in
and out of prison and this story uses real living characters in a work of total
imagination, something that Ignatius Mabasa, the other key Zimbabwean author,
is known to do. When fiction and fact come together, the spark becomes huge,
covering both its source and the starter.
“You
see, Chipendani, we are prisoners of conscience here at Harare Alcatraz; our
desire is not for us to benefit personally, but for posterity, our children,
their children and future generations to come,” Jacob tells the would-be
killer.
The
two men’s sincerity gets to Chipendani. His soul spins. He reaches the
proverbial Damascene moment.
Instead
of killing the two men, their would-be killer is gradually and convincingly converted
to their cause. This, as you might imagine, does not end well for him.
Several other stories animate the pages of this well-written book whose diction and turn of phrase will amaze and amuse anyone who reads it. These stories by Andrew Chatora are in keeping with Jarrell Randall’s view of the type of stories in-which-everything-happen and is so charged that the narrative threatens to disintegrate into energy!
In
the succeeding story, “Black Britain”, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is
articulated in a storyline that will keep readers
glued to each page.
As
some readers might be aware, BLM
activists seek to draw attention to the racism which leads to the criminal mistreatment
of black people. This movement has met with support and, predictably, virulent
opposition.
“Race
relations opinions are always sharply polarized in contemporary Britain and
framed within binary opposites of ‘us versus them’, and ‘whites versus
non-whites’. Thus, it was common to be targeted with a barrage of vitriolic and
disparaging insults and posts for advocating for racial equality and a fair and
just society,” says the protagonist Anesu, after the police, again predictably,
pull over the family car. As an essay short story, this piece
necessitates a delicate balance between storytelling finesse and analytical
prowess, making this book a must read in the BLM movement.
In
the story “A Snap Decision”, a mother of easy virtue ends up with a cavalcade
of men. Some of whom deflower and sexually abuse her daughter.
A
gruesome murder occurs, and the hapless child is given a 12-year custodial
sentence. In between the sexual trauma of her existence, she mercifully and
rather fittingly finds love.
In Uganda, we have Kafundas.
You know, the tumbledown drinking establishments famed for their affordability
and accessibility.
In South Africa and Zimbabwe,
there are Shebeens. These are informal and unlicensed drinking places in the
townships and mining compounds. But because these places stray away from the
ambit of the law, some of the most despicable things happen in there and these
spaces have been areas of interest for many writers who seek to search for
hidden social truths.
“Estelle, the Shebeen Queen and
other Dangamvura Vignettes” captures the heartlessness and soullessness in
these establishments, particularly in Mutare,
Zimbabwe where the story is set.
The men who frequent them are
left riddled with disease and debt as the opportunistic women who have the run
of these drinking joints ensnare them in proverbial honey traps. They hobble
back into open society laden with stories which they may not be able to narrate.
Supported and promoted by cunning
members of the ruling party of Zimbabwe, these joints make the poor poorer as
they fritter away their pennies to purchase the charms of Mai Kere, MaSibanda
and other floozies.
These
women are nothing but enchantresses. They are in the mould of the Latin succubus
or female-looking demons or supernatural entities in folklore who appear in dreams to seduce men, usually through sexual activity. It is said that a succubus
needs semen to survive. Repeated
sexual activity with a succubus will result in a bond being formed between the
succubus and the person. A succubus will drain or harm the man with whom she is
having intercourse. Andrew Chatora’s stories will surely titillate Ugandan
and other African readers. These stories overflow beyond Zimbabwe.
However, what you have in these
stories is more than a dream. It is a veritable nightmare.
Later, in another story “Smoke
and Mirrors”, a man living abroad has to support two families in a
clandestine bigamous relationship. He is unable to do
so. This leads to a number of untoward consequences.
On the whole, the 11 short
stories in this book represent what looks like a typical Sophoclean Tragedy.
The characters are often
portrayed as noble figures brought down by a single tragic flaw or ‘hamartia.’
This line of storytelling raises several moral questions, with few easy
answers. Andrew Chatora joins a list of key short story writers from his
country, the best of whom are Charles Mungoshi, Doris Lessing and Dambudzo Marechera. Their
country has once been described as “a short story country” because nearly every
Zimbabwean who has become prominent today started with short stories or has a
short story collection somewhere along the way.
* This review first
appeared in The Daily Monitor, a Ugandan independent daily newspaper. The
reviewer, Philip Matogo is a newspaper columnist, book critic and poet. He has
published two books, Fabric of Grey and Whispers in the Sky, and has
contributed to numerous international poetry anthologies. He lives in Kampala,
Uganda.
